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Emergency Video Card Upgrade Help

NumerosNumeros GoodnessGraciousRegistered User regular
edited March 2010 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
So, this afternoon, my XFX brand nVidia 8600GT (256 MB DDR3) shit the bed. I was just going about my business when I started getting crazy graphic glitches and display driver failures in Win7. Rebooted, and I was getting the same display glitches before the OS even started. Checked the card and noticed two popped capacitors; yeah, the thing is toast.

A friend has offered to sell me a EVGA 9500GT (1 GB DDR2) for $40. Trouble is, I can't seem to find any comparisons between the two cards to make sure its worth the paltry sum (money's a bit tight right now). I'm wondering if you guys think this is a good deal, or if I would be better served spending my money (and perhaps a tad bit more) on Newegg. If so, what would you suggest?

Numeros on

Posts

  • travathiantravathian Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    If you can use onboard video in the meantime, RMA the card. Pretty sure XFX has lifetime warranties on their cards. Have you price checked a new 9500GT? What are the specs on the rest of the system?

    travathian on
  • NumerosNumeros Goodness GraciousRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Yeah, no onboard video to speak of. The card itself was a hand-me-down from a friend, so I don't have the box or original documentation or anything needed to RMA it. Prices on this particular 9500GT seem to be about $60.00 - $65.00, so I'm actually getting a good deal on it. I'm just more concerned with whether or not there is another, better card I should be considering for around the same price point.

    As for the rest of my rig:

    AMD X2 5000+
    4GB DDR2 800
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium
    Antec TruPower 500W PSU

    Numeros on
  • travathiantravathian Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I'd try to RMA regardless, I have heard good things about their support; and why I chose them for my 5770.

    Your PSU can handle any video card that would be supported by that mb. Check the stickied build thread, it has a GPU suggestions section and might be worthwhile to spend a bit more a jump up to something really good. You'd need to find online gpu reviews for head to head comparisons. I had a 512mb 9500GT and it was pretty decent for the $35 I got it after rebate.

    travathian on
  • Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    I would go for the RMA first. XFX is known for their warranties. Maybe see if you can borrow that card from your friend or bargin him down.

    Dark Shroud on
    http://gplus.to/DarkShroud
  • NumerosNumeros Goodness GraciousRegistered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Just put a support ticket in on the website. Hopefully this won't take too long.

    Numeros on
  • corky842corky842 Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    It looks like it's a bit better, but like everybody else said, RMA it and get something even better.
    If you upgrade to another Nvidia card, you can keep that one and use it for their Physx, which i hear is actually pretty nice now that it doesn't require a $200 dedicated card.

    corky842 on
  • AlectharAlecthar Alan Shore We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Well, if you upgrade to an ATI card you can still run Phsyx, you just have to download some community drivers and maybe try a few other tricks.

    Alecthar on
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  • General_WinGeneral_Win Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    corky842 wrote: »
    It looks like it's a bit better, but like everybody else said, RMA it and get something even better.
    If you upgrade to another Nvidia card, you can keep that one and use it for their Physx, which i hear is actually pretty nice now that it doesn't require a $200 dedicated card.

    I question how many people use this, how useful it is to the average person, and the power requirements.

    General_Win on
    tf2_sig.png
  • ScrubletScrublet Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Alecthar wrote: »
    Well, if you upgrade to an ATI card you can still run Phsyx, you just have to download some community drivers and maybe try a few other tricks.

    Do you have any firsthand experience on this? I was slightly disappointed that my ATI purchase would lose me this feature but ATI is just flat out the smarter buy right now.

    Scrublet on
    subedii wrote: »
    I hear PC gaming is huge off the coast of Somalia right now.

    PSN: TheScrublet
  • travathiantravathian Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    General_Win wrote: »
    corky842 wrote: »
    It looks like it's a bit better, but like everybody else said, RMA it and get something even better.
    If you upgrade to another Nvidia card, you can keep that one and use it for their Physx, which i hear is actually pretty nice now that it doesn't require a $200 dedicated card.

    I question how many people use this, how useful it is to the average person, and the power requirements.

    A 9500GT will do PhysX and has pretty damn low power requirements. I'll have to look into these community drivers to see about using mine with my new 5750.

    travathian on
  • Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Nvidia has decided to disable hardware decoding of PhysX when ATI cards are detected. You have to use a special patch to enable it.

    http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/16223-nvidia-disables-physx-when-ati-card-is-present.html. The first patch is on page 13. You have to scroll through the damn thing for updates, the current is after page 100.

    After doing a decent amount of reading on this I've decided screw Nvidia & PhysX. I'll spend the $200 I would have spent on a 260 elsewhere in my system. Probably towards an Asus Ares ROG, I'm praying those don't cost more than $800.

    Dark Shroud on
    http://gplus.to/DarkShroud
  • AlectharAlecthar Alan Shore We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    Scrublet wrote: »
    Alecthar wrote: »
    Well, if you upgrade to an ATI card you can still run Phsyx, you just have to download some community drivers and maybe try a few other tricks.

    Do you have any firsthand experience on this? I was slightly disappointed that my ATI purchase would lose me this feature but ATI is just flat out the smarter buy right now.

    I don't have personal experience, but I 100% know that it's possible.

    Alecthar on
    steam_sig.png
    Battle.net
  • AlectharAlecthar Alan Shore We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?Registered User regular
    edited March 2010
    General_Win wrote: »
    corky842 wrote: »
    It looks like it's a bit better, but like everybody else said, RMA it and get something even better.
    If you upgrade to another Nvidia card, you can keep that one and use it for their Physx, which i hear is actually pretty nice now that it doesn't require a $200 dedicated card.

    I question how many people use this, how useful it is to the average person, and the power requirements.

    Not many, not very, and it depends on what GPU you're using for the acceleration.

    Alecthar on
    steam_sig.png
    Battle.net
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