Recommend a PCI-E Video Card

[hankerford]

I just built a system with a GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard.  I was using a Radeon HD 3850 512MB AGP in my old system.  Presently, I am using the onboard Radeon HD 4200 video.  I have never used a PCI-E video card before.  I was wondering what PCI-E video card would be recommended for me that has at least the qualities of the Radeon HD 3850 AGP.  I am not a gamer however I do want my graphics to be able to handle very good quality as well as moderate performance compared to my old HD 3850 AGP.

Thank you in advance.

[Vezina]

You can use an ATI 5670 or a ATI 6670 with DDR5 just fine.
Good price and you can run even Crysis with something like AMD P2 X2 550BE
Or if you want a little more an ATI 6850.
That 4200 doesn t even run CS Source at 1080p  

What is your budget and your actual power supply ?!

[agros]

Which card is better, Ati 2400 pro or Ati 5450 (both 512MB)?

[autotech]

The 5450 as the 2400 is now a legacy card. I used a 4870 to run dual monitors and played all games on high used it till i got my 6970 and gave my 4870 to a friend and he still uses it to play his game L4D2 and so on with high specs.

[agros]

There is a friend's system who has an Ati 2400 pro card on.
I recently replaced my htpc's Ati5450 with a Shapphire 6450. Should I give it to him as 2400's replacement?

[autotech]

You would be doing him a huge favor. I loved the 2600's when they came out and went to the 3850 from there then the 4870 and now the 6970. Every one of my old cards still work and are in friends or reltives computers.

[tazmo8448]

I know this is a little late but the SapphireHD 6870 for around $210-220 is a standalone PCI-E as good as u can get and it will play anything I throw at it with 1920x1080 resolution and we're talkin' BF3-Crysis3 and all the rest plus its quiet as a mouse and rarely goes over 40 degrees C.