My 8800GT is dieing, although im sure it could last a while longer I got my eyes on a Sapphire 4850 1GB, but would it really be a noticable upgrade? Although the stream processors are multiplied by 8 on the 4850, memory clock and core clock is seemingly the same.

Thoughts?

Okay, I can also go for broke and get a HIS Radeon HD 4890 1GB, but like I said im going for broke, it's gonna have to be absolutely amazing in every possible way.
It looks 4 times faster in general then the 4850, and has GDDR5 instead of 2, will that make a difference?

If I were you I would go for broke and get the 4890. It's a much better match for your i5.

Plus the 8800gt -> 4850 while a worthwhile upgrade, it wont be amazing. When I upgrade I like to really feel it.

So do I, But I won't be able to get anything else for a good long time so I want to be sure.
Seems the consensus is to go for broke with everyone I asked.

I like my 4890. However, I hear good things about the upcoming 5770...

The only preview I could find says it's slower then the 4890:
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=20640
Unless you have other sources, Im drawing a blank.

I heard it was between the 4870 and 4890, and with about half the power consumption. Could be wrong though!

Source?

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2341250&enterthread=y

November's PC Gamer are using the HD4890 in their "cheap but useful for the next three years" rig, and they're suggesting holding off for a month.

I when I upgraded, I had an 8600 GT and upgraded to a 4870HD. Very noticeable for me.

Reviews of the 5770 are coming out this week, and the reviewers at HOCP are hinting that it will be awesome.

I went from a 8800GT to a HD4850 512mb awhile back. It really wasn't much of an upgrade. I mostly was just sick of waiting for a few broken features in nvidia's drivers to get fixed.

yeah, I'd give it a week or so and wait till the new ATI range is filled from top to middle-range.

Although none of the new ATI cards stand out as being amazing (although they are nearly x2 the performance of the old ATI generation), they offer so much in terms of future-proofing new tech (DX11 mostly) and power saving that it'll be a 2-3 years before you'll need to replace it.

The previews I have seen on the 5770 are putting it around 4780 1gb performance. Havent heard anything on pricing yet.