Capacitor blew on my 4870. Need a new card for around £100 - Hardware & Software

I'm not looking for anything crazy. My 4870 was serving me perfectly well until it blew tonight, and while I haven't kept up with PC hardware for around two years, I know that the 5770 is basically a die shrink of my 4870. It looks like I can get this for around £80-90, which is alright, but I'm wondering if anyone has any better ideas? I don't have a preference RE: nVidia or AMD née ATI, but last time I swapped brands I had to reformat my PC, so I guess AMD is the easier choice to make sure nothing fucks up again. I shouldn't think it will matter but my PSU is 500W or 550W. It powered a 4870 perfectly with my Q6600 so that's not an issue really.

A [url=http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-5830-pci-e-21-(x16)-4500mhz-gddr5-gpu-840mhz-1120-cores-dp-2xdl-dvi-i-hdmi]5830[/url] is better than a [url=http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-5770-pci-e-21-(x16)-4800mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-800-cores-2x-dvi-mini-dp-single-slot]5770[/url] right? (I could be wrong on this, but from the specs it looks like it.)

What about warranty?

It's not a die shrink, it's a whole different core that supports DX11. I would suggest something else but I don't know any sites available to you since it seems you're in the UK/Europe.

[QUOTE=acid;30269071]A [url=http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-5830-pci-e-21-(x16)-4500mhz-gddr5-gpu-840mhz-1120-cores-dp-2xdl-dvi-i-hdmi]5830[/url] is better than a [url=http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-5770-pci-e-21-(x16)-4800mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-800-cores-2x-dvi-mini-dp-single-slot]5770[/url] right? (I could be wrong on this, but from the specs it looks like it.)[/QUOTE] this is probably the best you'll find, I've yet to see something that matches it it may show up on their today only offers, wait until after 2-3pm for the updated offers and check then because it hasn't been on this weekend but I've seen it on a few times

I don't see why you don't just replace the capacitor then, it shouldn't be that hard.

[QUOTE=DrLuke;30269081]What about warranty?[/QUOTE] The card was around 3 years old as I got it right as the 48xx line was released, when GDDR5 was the hot new thing and the 48xx series was the light at the end of the tunnel for ATI so the warranty will be gone. It's a GeCube card, nothing fancy like an XFX life warranty or anything. [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=drummerundrcovr;30269106]It's not a die shrink, it's a whole different core that supports DX11. I would suggest something else but I don't know any sites available to you since it seems you're in the UK/Europe.[/QUOTE] You can still suggest a card. I was planning on buying from either scan as someone linked here, or ebuyer anyway. I'm more interested in what card to buy, and I can do the shopping around myself [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=reapaninja;30269371]this is probably the best you'll find, I've yet to see something that matches it it may show up on their today only offers, wait until after 2-3pm for the updated offers and check then because it hasn't been on this weekend but I've seen it on a few times[/QUOTE] Am I looking for the 5830 or 5770 to turn up on the deals? [editline]6th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Shadaez;30270153]I don't see why you don't just replace the capacitor then, it shouldn't be that hard.[/QUOTE] I don't actually know if it was a capacitor, but it was a tiny(2mm or something) thing on the underside of the card. There was a bang and some flames, so I guess it was that. At any rate, even if the piece was big enough to replace myself, I have no skills in that area, so I'd just buy a new one anyway.

[QUOTE=Dr Egg;30270292]I don't actually know if it was a capacitor, but it was a tiny(2mm or something) thing on the underside of the card. There was a bang and some flames, so I guess it was that. At any rate, even if the piece was big enough to replace myself, I have no skills in that area, so I'd just buy a new one anyway.[/QUOTE] I'll pay shipping on the card if you're just going to toss it, I know how to fix stuff like that.

[QUOTE=Dr Egg;30270292]Am I looking for the 5830 or 5770 to turn up on the deals?[/QUOTE] 5830 performs between a 4870 and 4890 so at least you'll be getting some sort of upgrade over your current card even if it's not a massive difference, but its almost the same price as a 5770 so reason to get that

[QUOTE=bohb;30270488]I'll pay shipping on the card if you're just going to toss it, I know how to fix stuff like that.[/QUOTE] Thanks but no thanks. I like to hang on to my old tech :v: Also after some consideration, I'm wondering whether basically rebuying my card is really a wise move, and I'm leaning towards getting a high end card again. However the rest of my PC is about 3 years old too (Q6600 at 3GHz, 4GB DDR2 RAM) so I'm wondering if it is even worth it? I've looked into the 6870, but that seems to basically be a redone 5870 more or less (with less cores). The card that occupies the £180 bracket my 4870 sat in seems to be the 6950 atm (if you find a deal on it that is) Basically, is a 6950 a wise choice given my current Q6600, or should I stick to my lowly C2D era roots and just get a 5830? Also the equivalent nVidia cards would be good too for reference(the GTX 560?)

My Q6600 @ 3.5GHz and caps my 6950 1GB in (modern) benchmarks (really bad) but games don't suffer all too bad.