Replacing a GPU

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My brother and I are the lucky owners one GTX 280 each. Long story short, Nvidia screwed up with that particular model. I'm not replacing mine yet, but he is. He doesn't want something capable of a lot more, he just wants something relatively cheap that can do whatever the 280 could and the 280 is at least three years old.
Any advice? :3

I've heard good reviews of the GTX 280. What issue are you having with it?

The solder is weak. I read some cases where the GPU caused artifacts right out of the box. Luckily ours lasted three years without doing anything. Now, however, starting the computer requires several reboots, waiting for the GPU to get so hot the solder melts and connects again. I usually crash it with a game, but his crashes on anything. Today he took him over ten reboots before he gave up.

Edit: Try google the Pink Screen Of Death. Here's a nice one: http://i25.tinypic.com/wqrq5c.jpg

No, it is not possible to bake it. Mine is a LeadTek WinFast, on which the screws died the very moment I inserted the screwdriver. It's impossible for me to remove the plastic wrapping without resorting methods that would likely destroy the interior. I'm pretty decent with tearing apart electronics and it was a bitter loss to forfeit after breaking the majority of the wrapping apart. ._.

What I'm really asking for is what is a decent alternative. :3

You might look at AMD cards, as previously suggested. I would put my 6870 up against a GTX280 any day of the week. They can be found for under $200 fairly easily.