I would put the extra money towards a 5870, more than 1gb is overkill for GRAM, games just dont use it all. No no no You wont be able to fit your shiny new core i7 in there, nor your DDR3 RAM If you were to keep your mobo, CPU and RAM then it would be a bottleneck for your card. I actually doubt that very much, measuring the temperate of the plastic shroud around the Graphics card would be horribly inaccurate, the temperatures you see in a program like GPU-Z are very accurate as it takes that information straight from the thermal sensor(s) built into the card. EDIT: I should add that the 5870 is no longer the card of choice in this price bracket, i just read this review: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/20/zotac-geforce-gtx-470-amp-edition/8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphi ... -edition/8</a> The very people that slated it so long ago now recommend it, not only is the zotac amp edition heavily overclocked, but it sports a huge cooler that is quiet and effective, but it will take up 3 pci slots (so i hope you arnt planning on cramming lots of expansion cards in ) It is also a great deal cheaper than many of the 5870 cards. Some zotac cards also seem to have fan blades that catch on the metal shroud, but that can be removed. In the printed magazine review of this they do only recommend the zotac edition because of the cooler and overclock.
So in conclusion it would be pointless to buy any of the cards you've all suggested in my current PC basically and just wait ages till I actually have money for a whole PC. @_@ Gah, need more FPS now instead of months down the road.
No I'd rather not fiddle with my config anymore. I know I can always back it up I'd just like more FPS naturally with hardware without altering the look of TF2.
As I'm likely never to get enough money till I get a job I'm thinking of getting a 2nd hand GTX260 for £110. 1) Is that a good price for such an old card? It'll do for TF2/FFXIV. 2) What are the heat temperatures and reviews like? Bear in mind my case as well.
110£ is pretty expensive for a second hand GTX260, there almost new something like that... Its new for sell in the UK for 99£ http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ASUS-ENGTX260...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item4aa62de753 Always ask for at least half of the value on second hand pc material... Check ebay (its a reseller so trustful) before you get ripped off, amazon its aroun 109 £. Look around for cheap stores...
If you're going second handing, I think you would easily be able to get a better deal. Better card, less money.