7970 replacement?

[Ephraim]

OK, so my poor 7970 is borked. It was with me for a week, and now it has to go back, as it doesn't work properly.

I picked it up as a B grade bargain, spending £240 for it. It was an upgrade to go with my i5 4670k, and replaced a 6850 (which is back in the machine).

I'm not a massively heavy gamer, but I like the pretties when I do play. Current games are:

Guild Wars 2
The Secret World
Dragon Age 2
Mass Effect 3

and I'm planning soon to load Skyrim, Saints Row 3 and Grid 2.

Clearly I'm a generation of games behind, but I like to keep my hardware for a while.

So, given that there are no B-grade 7970s to replace it with, and it's unlikely to go for repair, what should I spend my £240 on? I don't mind throwing a bit of extra cash at it, if necessary, but would baulk at spending much more than £300 - and would need a good reason to do so.

I'm not adverse to another B grade or secondhand card, as long as it comes with some sort of warranty.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ephraim]

Yeah, I guess that that's sensible advice. The 6850 will see me through until either, another 7970 comes up on b grade at a price I like; or something else comes along in my price range that offers decent value.

I am quite tempted by a 7950 though, as I suspect that I'd notice no real difference in fps, and it comes with free games (and free games are the best sort!).

The monitor is only a 1080p one anyway, so it's not like I'm playing at super high resolutions either. It's just, you know, shiny toys are nice.