So I read your other thread and googled your psu. That nzxt 800w(if the one I found on newegg is the same
one. If it's on NZXT's website it isn't readily apparent) has 4 +12v rails(2x18A, 1x20A, 1x22A) with a max total
+12v output of 720w(average 15A per +12v rail). I don't think NZXT is exactly known for the stellar quality of their
power supplies, and if you've had it a while(not one of the shiny new one's on their site, discontinued at newegg),
then you may well be looking at a failing psu. So, while you contemplate the possibility of replacing it, you may
want to contemplate the possibility of replacing your gpu as well. I understand that when BF3 launched, dx10
video cards had difficulty rendering the game without graphical glitches. I don't know if those problems have been
ironed out, but you may want to consider a dx11 gpu. With that in mind, please read what I've been composing.
Hardocp showed that a mildly OCed xfx 7770 provides the same gameplay experience as hd6870 and gtx560ti.
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/02/14/xfx_r7770_black_edition_super_overclocked_review/
If you read the BF3 page, you will see that their 7770 allowed them to smoothly frag people online on ultra*(fxaa
instead of 4xaa, ssao instead of hbao, and no motion blur because it both lowers frame rate and obscures vision)
at 1920x1200. That was with launch drivers. Newer drivers enhance performance notably. OCs like crazy, too.
That was a 1GB model. 1GB of frame buffer is starting to become a bottleneck and will continue to do so.
This is the cheapest hd7770 I can find in the US. It's $114.99 with free shipping after a $15 MIR at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Here's an xfx model for the same price, shipping and rebate as the HIS on newegg, but at ncix instead:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=68528&vpn=FX777AZNF4&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1265
The cheapest gtx560 I could find is the one at the top of the link you posted of gtx560s at newegg.
Here's a Galaxy gtx560 2GB for $156.99 with free shipping after a $10 MIR at amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005XJWQKU/?tag=pcpapi-20
Here's a Galaxy gtx560ti for $154.99 plus $7.87 shipping after a $25 MIR at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162074&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Here's an Asus DC2 2GB hd7770 for $164.99 with free shipping at ncix:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74144&vpn=HD7770-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS
Here's an Asus hd7850 DC2 2GB slightly overclocked for $177.99 with free shipping after a $10 MIR at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Here's the same card, but a newer version with stock clocks for the same price, shipping and rebate at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121651&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
Here's an EVGA gtx480 for 179.99 with free shipping at ncix:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=68760&vpn=015-P3-1480-KR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1265
At stock, the hd7850 matches the hd6970 and gtx570(aka gtx480) in some games, and it too OCs like crazy.
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/09/13/asus_geforce_gtx_660_directcu_ii_video_card_review/
In this hardocp article, they are testing the new gtx660 against similarly priced cards, like a factory overclocked
hd7850. They didn't have that exact card on hand , so they overclocked their reference 7850 to the same clock
speeds as the other 7850(many would say this oc is weak and the card can go even higher, especially on a
custom cooled card like the asus being linked here). It nearly matches the gtx660, which in turn nearly matches
the hd7870, which matches or beats gtx580. You should be able to push this asus 7850 to around 1200mhz.
Also, I'd like to mention power consumption at stock speeds. The 7770 is only 80w(1pcie 6pin), 7850 is 130w,
gtx560 is 150w( I believe it has 2 pcie 6pin so you can overclock, but you won't get all that much out of it), the
gtx560ti is 170w, and gtx480 is 250w(requires 1 pcie 6pin and 1 8pin/6+2pin). Your gtx285 is 204w and was
matched or bested by hd5850. 6870 is the same or better than 5850, and a mild overclock lets a 7770 meet or
beat a 6870. 7770 is quite a bit less expensive than gtx560, but can provide the same gameplay experience as
gtx560ti which costs even more(and you can push the 7770 even higher).
You never said exactly what your budget is(though if you need a new psu, the cost of a new one will likely lessen
the amount available for a new gpu), but I would like to address the gtx600s flanking the cards already listed.
The gtx650 at a minimum of 110 bucks performs worse than a 7750 which can be had for 25 bucks less at $85.
It also has a high starting clock around 1050mhz, so has less room before it reaches the max clock the gpu will
allow(the pcie 6pin extending the 65w tdp won't help much). The 7750 is 800mhz at 55w but can reach close to
1200mhz on the core with the peg slot alone(less % oc on the memory, though).
The gtx660 is a minimum of 230 bucks(the same price you can buy a superior 7870) and has less overclocking
potential(140w tdp limited to 150w max on the PEG slot and a pcie 6pin combined vs 7870 with 175w tdp and 50w
headroom with 225w max on the PEG slot and 2 pcie 6pin connectors). I imagine the 7870 uses much less power
in games than the tdp(like how 7950 and 7970 mirror 6950 and 6970 with 200w max/140avg and 250w max/
190avg power usages respectively). I believe 6950 used less power than gtx560ti and 6970 used less power than
gtx570(their price performance competitiors). 7850(with its 130w tdp constrained to 150w max on the peg slot
and 1 pcie 6pin) also uses much less power when gaming. It has more room to grow as well, and at more than
50 bucks cheaper than gtx660(able to essentially tie it with a less than usual overclock) is a better deal.
I want to leave you with a potential power supply replacement. It has about half the rated wattage of your nzxt
800w(actual max of 783), but this is a high quality psu that can deliver more than its rated wattage at higher
case temperatures(vs some supplies merely loaded with parts at room temp)and do so with little variance in
output voltage and low amounts of ripple. It is also extremely cheap after rebate right now. Take a look:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
28A +12v rail(336w) and 1pcie 6+2pin. Most pc parts nowadays use +12v power in one way or another, and the
cpu and gpu are by far the biggest culprits. Even so, a system will never reach max tdp on all parts at the same
time(not even if you ran prime95 and Furmark at the same time, let alone playing a game). Even if you had an
overclocked 95-125w cpu and overclocked 7850(along with some drives, fans, usb powered devices, you ram and
expansion cards) you would be fine with this power supply. I don't know what speed your ddr3 is, but with some
ddr3 1333 you could probably oc you i7 920 to 3.33 pretty easy(matching i7 975x). Just a thought. Good luck.
Edit: In addition to its power use, the gtx 480 is hot(95c), loud, and doesn't overclock very well.
Edit: gtx480 is 10.5 inches long, but hd7850 is generally a much shorter card. The asus dc2 model is kinda long,tho.