I have an ATI Radeon 6870 graphics card fitted to my system, which was purchased in preference to some similarly priced, newer 7000 series cards as it outperformed quite a few of them.

I get rather confused these days with the AMD/ATI models and numbering system and numerous variations of the same chip (with markedly different speeds).

I’m looking for PCI-e graphics card recommendations for something that would noticeably out perform an ATI 6870 (and I don’t mind going down the nvidea route) at around the £100-£150 mark.

Think you need to read this graphic cards comparison.

I have just upgraded my graphic card to Geforce GT610 (from 210) … low end stuff. 😆

The Toms Hardware graphics card performance hierarchy chart will help you

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html

AMD wise your budget will easily fit the likes of the R9 270 as for Nvidia the 750Ti has had some great reviews

An R9 270/270X looks affordable. My system is a fairly middle of the road setup with a first generation i5 processor (2.6Gz), I just want to make sure that it’s up to the job of running The Elder Scrolls Online! (I can’t spend too much on the graphics card as I’ll have to fund an ongoing ESO subscription!!).

I have two systems, my workstation has a 6850 (slower version of what you have) my gaming system has an MSI R9-270X Hawk.

There is a considerable difference if gaming at 1080p type resolutions and enabling anti-aliasing etc.

You might be able to find an nVidia 760 just about within your budget which would give similar or slightly better results than the R9-270x.