Video Card on the fast track to the grave

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:29 am

My video card is near dead. Any graphic intensive program causes a complete system crash after a bit of artifacting. There have been no major changes to my system, airflow is good as the box is relatively spacious. I think the old guy is just near the end. I can lengthen the amount of time until the crash by removing the side panel and blowing air directly on the card... this is only effective for a short time. Long story short, I need a new card.

I need a cheap card that can run some games. World of Warcraft on low settings... actually that and Civ2 are all I have on my machine right now. I am poor. My wife is a stay at home mom and we have our second son coming... maybe today. I have very little money and just want a quick fix. At some point I may have the cash to buy a new comp, probably not for a few years so I am expanding the life of this one for as long as possible.

I'll check this evening on my actual computer specs as I built part this thing 5 years ago. It was a barebones.

XMEN Iceman · Post by **XMEN Iceman** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:28 am

What do you have now...I might have a few cards that I will give you. Is it AGP or PCI-X? I take a lot of trade-in when building custom systems.

Let me know bud.

David

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:48 pm

I have a Radeon 9800 XT.

My comp has PCI and AGP slots. (Pretty sure). No PCI-x. It is an nForce K8N Neo.

XMEN Iceman · Post by **XMEN Iceman** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:43 pm

Let me dig through the pile tomorrow and see what I have bud.

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:42 am

I appreciate it.

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:53 am

Wife went into labor on the 17th. My second son was born on the 18th. Video card died on the 20th.

Anyone have any leads on a good, cheap video card or inexpensive laptop?

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:44 pm

Here's the list of 48 i found at newegg.com for AGP cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... %204X%2f8X

XMEN Iceman · Post by **XMEN Iceman** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:09 pm

The best I have is a GeForce 6600 Toltec....sorry I forgot to check earlier.

You can have it if you want it...but I will test it first before I send it to you.

Oh...and your motherboard only supports AGP per the MSI info.

David

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:58 am

I see a few options on the list from Hat (thanks for that btw):

GeForce 6200 for $44 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150107

GeForce 6800XT Open Box for $27 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 814141075R
It is 128MB

GeForce 6800XT Open Box for $48 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 814141038R
This one is 256MB

What do you guys think of these? Or would I be just as smart to accept the 6600? I'm not playing much in the way of new games, and this computer will likely get replaced in two years or so.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:49 pm

The 6600 and 6800 are pretty comparable. If you're playing WoW and the like, the 6600 will be just fine. If you're playing anything newer than WoW, you may have to turn some detail down, but it'd still be playable.

Starmage21 · Post by **Starmage21** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:20 pm

Spinning Hat wrote:The 6600 and 6800 are pretty comparable. If you're playing WoW and the like, the 6600 will be just fine. If you're playing anything newer than WoW, you may have to turn some detail down, but it'd still be playable.

On those cards, you'll have to turn some detail down on WoW if you want to maintain 30FPS anywhere more crowded than inside a dungeon.

Im running a 6800GS

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 9:49 pm

Yeah, if you're pushing too many polys you'll notice a difference between the 6800 and 6600. But the 6600 is not a bad card at all!

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:51 am

I sent David a PM. Hopefully I can get this fixed soon.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:42 pm

You should be very happy with the 6600.

Toltec · Post by **Toltec** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:34 am

Haven't heard from Iceman in a while. Going to do some checking on a new card.