Video card just died, searching for a new one...

[nin96932]

So I've been running an MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS for the last few years,
been a pretty solid card until earlier today when it crapped out on me

I've got an older mobo, an MSI P35 Neo2-FR LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard.

I'm just wondering if anybody had any thoughts on a the best performance for price video card I could find
to replace this one.

Been out of the component upgrading for a while so my skills have gotten awfully rusty.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks

[Activate: AMD]

I know you said you wanted best bang for the buck, but how much is price a factor? the 7970 is actually a pretty good deal with its newly-lowered prices, and the new drivers out for it should give some pretty hefty performance boosts in games like BF3. That said, your platform in general is pretty long in the tooth and would almost certainly be a limiting factor at lower resolutions. In that case, something less expensive might make more sense.

What do you plan on using it for primarily?

[nin96932]

Mainly for gaming. I'm not as hardcore about it as I used to be.
I was able to run stuff like Skyrim and Sleeping Dogs pretty good.
I'm thinking if I could find one for under $100 that gives me equal or
better performance that what the 8800 was giving me, I'll be a happy camper

[Activate: AMD]

GTX 560 for $115 after MIR is a good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500225
It will be significantly faster than your 8800 and pretty much anything else in that price range. Your other choices would be the 550Ti, and AMD's 6850, 7770 and 7750. Out of all of those, that 560 is definitely the best choice performance/price wise, Next would probably be the 6850 or 550Ti. I'd say that going lower than 100 will make it tougher to meet or exceed the performance of the 8800 because you're talking about pretty low-end stuff

[nin96932]

I was also looking at a GeForce GTX 650 as well. I just wasn't sure if their would be a compatibility issue with my mobo since it's a bit older.

Thanks for the help and the ideas, I greatly appreciate it!

[Activate: AMD]

I was also looking at a GeForce GTX 650 as well. I just wasn't sure if their would be a compatibility issue with my mobo since it's a bit older.

Thanks for the help and the ideas, I greatly appreciate it!

There shouldn't be any issue with any new GPU's for you. It looks like your motherboard uses PCI-e 1, but I know PCIe 2.0 cards have no issues going to the earlier spec, and I believe the same is true for PCIe 3.0. You'll be operating at the lower link speed, but as long as you're in the x16 slot it shouldnt be a real negative.

[GTwannabe]

I know you said you wanted best bang for the buck, but how much is price a factor? the 7970 is actually a pretty good deal with its newly-lowered prices, and the new drivers out for it should give some pretty hefty performance boosts in games like BF3. That said, your platform in general is pretty long in the tooth and would almost certainly be a limiting factor at lower resolutions. In that case, something less expensive might make more sense.

What do you plan on using it for primarily?

A 7970 is going to be severely CPU limited by his rig. I know because I have a 7870 and recently upgraded from a Core 2 Quad 2.66ghz to an i5-3570k. Had to lower detail settings in Sleeping Dogs, Crysis 2, Mechwarrior Online, etc. to manage a playable 30fps. With the i5, I can crank them all to max and get high 40's to low 60's.

[Activate: AMD]

A 7970 is going to be severely CPU limited by his rig. I know because I have a 7870 and recently upgraded from a Core 2 Quad 2.66ghz to an i5-3570k. Had to lower detail settings in Sleeping Dogs, Crysis 2, Mechwarrior Online, etc. to manage a playable 30fps. With the i5, I can crank them all to max and get high 40's to low 60's.

I kind of figured as much, and alluded to it in my post. I was merely bringing it up because the 7970 is actually a pretty good bang for the buck right now, but "bang for buck" also needs to be taken in context. If you're talking about good value GPU's, its best to lay out a price range, because theres usually a better value option within different points in the range. For example: if my target range is 100-200, the "best value" GPU is different than whats best in the 200-400 range

[nin96932]

So I went to snag the Zotac GTX 560, but they sold out at Newegg

So I decided instead to grab a Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 instead.

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.