GPU help needed with a M4A87TD/USB3 mobo

[radioman970]

My system:
Processor : AMD Phenom II, Quad X4, 965, 3.4
Motherboard : ASUS AMD870 chipset,M4A87TD/USB3
RAM : 2Gx2|GEIL GVP34GB1600C9DC R
Hard Disks : 3x1TB
Graphics card : Sapphire 6870 HD (failed)/nVidia 9800 GT(previous card I had)
PSU : Corsair 750W
OS : Windows 7/64

Hi. I was hoping for some help finding a suitable GPU for my current setup. I plan to upgrade the memory RAM to 8gb as well. I can't afford to build a new PC at this time so I'd like to get the best I can at the moment.

The 6870 HD started acting late last year, re-seating the unit and driver upgrades seemed to keep it going for a while but ultimately it started crashing with a white screen (in Windows) or corrupt graphics (during bootup screens and in windows) and nothing seemed to help. So I backed up to the 9800 gt and got out my old game collection.

For the RAM, Crucial's website has a nice chart for my mobo. The GPU has been more difficult. pcpartpicker doesn't list my mobo. I'd like to get the best I can, with a nice speed increase over the 6870, without breaking the bank. After some searching I'm a little confused on what to get since many cards are now "out of stock" or at oddly high prices. Would a 380 or 970 work with this setup? I saw 280x listed for someone with the same mobo here last year.

I'm a gamer first and foremost but I also edit music and minor video projects. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[radioman970]

couple more tests:
Dying light Demo turn up runs sluggish but playable. Probably a small thing I could turn off to speed it up. Looks excellent.
Tomb Raider 2013. wow! all turned up looks stunning plays smooth.

 

[clutchc]

Keep in mind, your PhII X4 965 @ stock is probably the reason you get some of those issues. Tomb Raider should play well, it is all about the GPU in that game. My old Athlon II X4 645 on an AM2+ board can avg 47 fps at max settings with a R9-270X playing that game.

 

[radioman970]

starting to see that... The Vanishing of Ethan Carter was sluggish, but I didn't have the overwhelming lag when I reached the buildings across the bridge.
GTA IV is a mess. Ran better on my 6870. Used some kind of console command recommend in the steam forum just so I could move the settings up. Weird... it was telling me I was using up all my resources but everything was set to low.
ARMA 2 sluggish while maxed out.

Need to experiment. Although I'm thinking just getting GTA 5 and ARMA 3 would be better.

Adding: Dying Light demo works better after adding the 8gb of ram that came today. Still sluggish, but playable. I read the full runs smoother. Very good to know.