New
#11
I think after our discussion , the best advice I can recommend to the OP is to get a nice SSD and then start saving for a nice current generation graphics card. It seems to be the best option in my opinion and tbh I think I will more than likely be doing the same now. New card for xmas maybe.
By then the 7000's may be out and the 6000's a lot cheaper. But, I'm for the SSD, great improvement in normal usage. But, then again, I'm not a gamer.
I would think the 5850 is still a current generation card. I know that AMD released the 6000 series lineup....but generally speaking a 6850 gets beat by a 5850...so I'm not usually onboard with calling the 6000 series an upgrade. Now me personally, I'm running a 9800GTX+....I'm not current.
Many of the companies are dumping the 5000 serise cards. go to Newegg and see how many 5850's they have. The answer is 1. They are supposed to be coming out with the 7000 serise cards soon and i think that is why the better 5000 serise cards are in short supply. The lower end cards like mine (5770) are still around but I don't think there is but 1 5830 there. You can buy a 6970 for about the same price as a 5850 I think.