Upgrading my ATI radeon 5870? options?

[sparky88]

Just want to know what my options are! also I have no idea about bottlenecking in regards to my current cpu, so please advise.
I would consider switching to NVIDIA, if possible? budget £150-200


Specs:

CPU: Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache

GPU: 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5870 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable

Motherboard: GIGABYTE X58A-OC

Ram: 6GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 X 2GB)

Power supply: 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

 

[Cadwah]

The GTX 960 would fit within your price range, it would not be bottlenecked by your CPU.

 

[sparky88]

alright, so i can just swap it directly?
In terms of the GB on the card? do i go for 2? or the maximum 4? not too sure what impact this will have on my gaming.
Looking on scan, see many brands different prices,same card, is their a difference?

 

[Cadwah]

Yes, it is compatible with your motherboard. Get the best one you can afford.

 

[SpyderTracks]

alright, so i can just swap it directly?
In terms of the GB on the card? do i go for 2? or the maximum 4? not too sure what impact this will have on my gaming.
Looking on scan, see many brands different prices,same card, is their a difference?

Apparently some newer games are specifying 3Gb VRAM as a minimum, so I think it's worth getting the 4Gb version.

 

[sparky88]

Ive also been eyeing up the Radeon R9 290x 4gb....£239 on scan.
Would this one run well with my cpu ?

 

[Cadwah]

Yes, there would be no bottlenecks, although the 290x runs hotter and uses more power than the 960.