Best GPU for me? (gaming)?

Vista Home 64-bit


Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz


4.8GB RAM


680wPSU





My 9800GT just went goodnight on me.





1680x1050 resolution


Single monitor (22") no plans for larger/more monitors


not going crossfire with my machine


not particularly concerned with overclocking





Been looking around and most sites say to go for the 5870 but I'm not really sure if I need all that. I'm getting a new card as a gift so don't really want to take advantage of that by spending more than I need.





Just want to be able to run my stuff at v. high/max settings (WoW, Dragon Age: Origins, FO3 and so on)|||Yeah the 5870 is overkill.





Given your games and resoltuion, I'd say best bang/buck is the Radeon 4770. Why people overlook this card so often is beyond me.





On average it's 10% faster than the 9800GT and up to 40% in a few titles. And the sucker is down to $99 currently!





Or for $120 the GTS 250.... But those cards are hard to find at that price. Most places seem to want more like $140 for them, which is too high.





If you want a little more power as insurance for upcoming titles, then a Radeon 5770 for $165 can't be beat. It's the strongest card you can run with a 500W psu and a single PCI-E power connector. Performs just a fraction slower than the 4870 (very hard to find now) but doesn't suffer from the overheating problems.





Anything higher-end like a Radeon 4890 or GTX 260 seems pointless for your intended usage, and would probably require a PSU upgrade anyway.|||The go with the ATI 58 series cards. Any of them at this point are being hearlded as the best money can buy. That or Nvidia has a 200 series which work fairly nice for gaming, of course some better then others. I have 2 285's in SLI. I run all games in high.|||C-man has it right...best bet 5770 next best 4770..the 4850 and the 9800GTX are about the same...which makes the 4770 just a little less than either and could be about even with the 9800GT