HD 7000 series vs R7/R9 series

[blukatz]

Okay, so I've been looking into upgrading my GPU, mostly because it's getting a bit dated. Based on my budget range and the hierarchy chart on this site, I'm thinking something along the lines of the HD 7850/7870 or R7 265/R9 270. I'm trying to find something around $150 that will have noticeable benefit over what I have now. The older 7000 series cards tend to be cheaper on Newegg, but I'm curious if it's worth investing the extra couple dollars into the rebranded models. The bundled Never Settle games are not a big enough deal to me to make a decision based on them.

Pros and cons that I see so far, is the older cards are cheaper and well established with drivers and support, etc. while the newer cards use less power, which might be something to consider since I'm only running a 650W PSU. Otherwise, does anyone have any other thoughts/suggestions that could help me here? I'd appreciate any input, thanks!

Current setup-
CPU: AMD Phenom ii X4 970
GPU: Radeon HD 6850
Mobo: ASUS M5A88-EVO
PSU: OCZ ZS Series 650W

*as a side note, I'm thinking of selling my 6850 to a friend who has one already, so he can crossfire it, I've seen mixed reviews on this. Some say it makes the cards the equivalent of an HD 6870, others say it scales as much as the HD 7870 I'm looking at now. Thoughts on this as well?

 

[clutchc]

The R9-270/270X is basically the re-badged HD 7870/7870 OC. For ~$150, the GTX 750 Ti or R7-265 is about it.
The R7-265 will be a fair upgrade over the HD 6850: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R7-265-vs-Radeon-HD-6850
The GTX 750 TI, not as much: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-6850-vs-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti

GTX 750 Ti vs R7-265: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1130?vs=1127

Btw, dual HD 6850 cards in CF used to have a bad micro-stutter issue. It used to be very bad before the new drivers with Frame Pacing, but it may be better now. If he goes CF, be sure the 2nd PCIe x16 slot isn't one of those that are only x4 electrically.