Upgrading: 7900GS & 5700U equal today?

[CrimandEvil]

I'm thinking of upgrading two systems; a friend of mine with her 5700U AGP and my little brother's 7900GS. Cheapest options possible.

She doesn't really game beyond the Sims much so I'm wondering what would be better, but cheap, then her current 5700 Ultra? When I had my 8500GT I believe it was very comparable to the 5700U in gaming so that might make for a good baseline to compare too?

My little brother games and he's eagerly awaiting Starcraft 2 (who isn't?); I'd like to get a card that could run most games (except Crysis, he doesn't care about that) at around 1680x1050 with some pretty nice image quality options enabled while also last for a year or two gaming. I'm thinking 3870 might do the trick but not totally sure how much faster it is to his 7900GS (of course it's going to be faster but unsure if it'll also last a bit more for games coming out).

 

[needmorecarnitine]

the 9X00 series go on sale a lot. I picked up an EVGA 9600GT SSC for $114 before a $60 MIR at Fry's. Probably will see deals like that again. the 4670 just launched. Its definitely slower than the 3870 but its $80. Might be $60 deal on one of those within 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[PsychoFanatic]

look for a 9600GT for your brother

for you friend i'd just tell her to keep it i mean really if all she plays is sims then you don't need anything beyond what she already has.