Which card for a new system build?

ryan256

Platinum Member
Jul 22, 2005
2,514
0
71
I am building a new gaming system. My current video card is a ATI HD4870. I have not kept up with hardware changes so now I have no idea who now has the good cards. From what I've learned so far ATI and nVidia a pretty much even in price/performance.
The cards I'm looking at:
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 - One of my guildmates told me this card's performance is on par with ATI's top card but runs cooler than the ATI. Thats a big plus since my case has low fan speeds because of noise.
XFX Radeon HD 6970 - My past 3 cards have been ATI. Radeon 9800, ATI 1900XTX, and ATI HD 4870. They perform well and haven't really had a problem with them other than running a bit hot.

I do not want to spend more than $350 on a new card and less would definitely be preferable. Should I look at the HD 6950? I like to game at at least 1360x768 with 30 FPS. Bit I like to run WoW at 1900x1200.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or other input on which is the good card to get right now?

My PSU is: Ultra X3 800watt - have four 6-pin PCI-E and two 8-pin PCI-E power connections. 55 amps on the 12+ volt rail.
 
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LOL_Wut_Axel

Diamond Member
Mar 26, 2011
4,310
8
81
As far as price/performance goes, the current leader is the Radeon HD 6870, which can be had for $175 or $155AR. It should be enough to play most games at 1920x1200 with 4xAA/16xAF, except in a few ones like Crysis 2 and Metro 2033. If you want higher-end options, I recommend going straight for the GTX 570, even if it's $100+ more. The Galaxy card mentioned above seems like a good deal if you want to deal with MIRs. Otherwise, other cards can be had for $10 less.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
As far as price/performance goes, the current leader is the Radeon HD 6870, which can be had for $175 or $155AR. It should be enough to play most games at 1920x1200 with 4xAA/16xAF, except in a few ones like Crysis 2 and Metro 2033. If you want higher-end options, I recommend going straight for the GTX 570, even if it's $100+ more. The Galaxy card mentioned above seems like a good deal if you want to deal with MIRs. Otherwise, other cards can be had for $10 less.

I would say the current price /performace leader is the GAlaxy gtx560ti for 171$AR/code.
ANd if you overclock its a no brainer.
And WOW plays better on Nvidia cards.