I currently have a 9600GT which is really starting to feel inadequate for some of the new games I've acquired over christmas (woohoo!). I want to upgrade, but here's the deal. I will be building a ground-up new PC around June as a college graduation present (from me, to me). That will be a fairly high end build, probably around the $3000 mark including a couple of new monitors, etc. It will also include a high-end GPU.
So right now I want a GPU that will give me good performance when running games like Fallout: New Vegas and Mass Effect 2 at high settings at 1680x1050 with my current PC, an E8400 running at 3.6GHz and 4Gb of RAM (don't remember clock or CAS ratings, I remember it was a 2x2Gb GSkill kit with a Renault F1 car on the front). I think this is doable with a mid-range GPU under $200 and preferably under $150. I have seen GTX 460 768s at $140, that seems reasonable. But I guess if there is a newer GPU that would give me, say, better AA settings (since I'm pretty limited in max resolution) at the same framerate, I might spend a little more.
The other consideration is that I want to sell this GPU in about 4 months. I know nobody has a crystal ball, but would it be likely to pay off to spend a little more on a newer card like an 6850 which might still look more attractive come summertime?
So right now I want a GPU that will give me good performance when running games like Fallout: New Vegas and Mass Effect 2 at high settings at 1680x1050 with my current PC, an E8400 running at 3.6GHz and 4Gb of RAM (don't remember clock or CAS ratings, I remember it was a 2x2Gb GSkill kit with a Renault F1 car on the front). I think this is doable with a mid-range GPU under $200 and preferably under $150. I have seen GTX 460 768s at $140, that seems reasonable. But I guess if there is a newer GPU that would give me, say, better AA settings (since I'm pretty limited in max resolution) at the same framerate, I might spend a little more.
The other consideration is that I want to sell this GPU in about 4 months. I know nobody has a crystal ball, but would it be likely to pay off to spend a little more on a newer card like an 6850 which might still look more attractive come summertime?