Need a new videocard, Nvidia to ATI

solsovly

I have a new dell

Dim 9200, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6420 (2.13GHZ,1066FSB) with 4MB cache
2 GB RAM
Vista Home

I moved my old EVGA 7800gt to it and I think the card is dying on me. I'm getting some pretty bad artifacts with the card. I FRAPs'd a video of the artifacts I am talking about. I unfortunately lost my receipt for the card 2 years ago so EVGA says I'm out of luck.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Ba-m8P4pkc

At first it was only with FFXI, but now it has extended to some other games, notably STALKER. I don't seem to have any problems with Half Life 2 though, even in the lost coast demo with things cranked up. I'm going to try moving the card to my old XP machine to see if the problem still persists but assuming that the card is dying I'd like some recommendations on a new one.

Things I do on my pc:
First and foremost I play a ton of FFXI and nvidia cards are known to have some slowdown issues with certain effects so ATI would be ideal.
I normally game on a 20.1 LCD through DVI. However I do occasionally run a DVI-->HDMI cord into a 42" 1080p LCD for games and movies. I'm not interested in any current crop of DX10 games, so that's not a big issue for me although its obviously a plus for the future. I'd also like to keep the price at or below $150.

So far I'm looking at a Saphire x1950gt series but I am really confused on their performance on DX9 games versus their 2600XT series which is very simliar in pricing. I am leaning towards the 2600xt series as it has DX10 support... but the reviews all seem horrible for dx10 game performance on all cards. H/A I implore you for help.

Iroh

Honestly, I would be trying to avoid buying another card right now at all costs. This is the first crop of DX10 cards that you're talking about right now, and it's pretty standard procedure to never be an early adopter, especially when there are practically no games out to really test these cards in DX10.

As for trying to save the card you have, texture tearing and artifacting are symptoms of overheating and/or refresh rate issues. First thing to try is turning on V-sync to get rid of the visual problems. If you're doing any overclocking, you need to dial the card back down to stock speeds and try the games again. If not, make sure your case isn't caked with dust, that the fans are all operating, and that it's organized for good airflow.

If you find that you really need to upgrade, figure out what cards are in your price range, then go to a reputable site like HardOCP.com and check the benchmarks for it. That particular site is my favorite because they actually test for the highest playable settings, rather than just run off some spreadsheets with framerates.

Malkor

Do you have the newest drivers and such?

Etelmik

Direct X 10 cards aren't available at $150 or below. If that's seriously all you can afford, either buy a decent DX 9 that will tide you over, or save your money for a while.

A sweet listing of all the prices, stats, reviews, and ratings of many DX9 and below cards can be found here.

solsovly

Iroh wrote: »

Honestly, I would be trying to avoid buying another card right now at all costs. This is the first crop of DX10 cards that you're talking about right now, and it's pretty standard procedure to never be an early adopter, especially when there are practically no games out to really test these cards in DX10.

As for trying to save the card you have, texture tearing and artifacting are symptoms of overheating and/or refresh rate issues. First thing to try is turning on V-sync to get rid of the visual problems. If you're doing any overclocking, you need to dial the card back down to stock speeds and try the games again. If not, make sure your case isn't caked with dust, that the fans are all operating, and that it's organized for good airflow.

If you find that you really need to upgrade, figure out what cards are in your price range, then go to a reputable site like HardOCP.com and check the benchmarks for it. That particular site is my favorite because they actually test for the highest playable settings, rather than just run off some spreadsheets with framerates.

Refresh is matched up, v-sync is forced on as well, didn't help. Never overclocked the board and I just dusted all the gunk from the fans. Have tried the newest official drivers and some third party ones as well.

2600xt cards were dx10 compliant and run at about 160.

Iroh

solsovly wrote: »

Refresh is matched up, v-sync is forced on as well, didn't help. Never overclocked the board and I just dusted all the gunk from the fans. Have tried the newest official drivers and some third party ones as well.

2600xt cards were dx10 compliant and run at about 160.

DX10 compliance does not in any way reflect the card's ability to produce playable framerates when those effects are enabled. It really is way too early to be looking at getting a budget-oriented video card for this new specification. True DX10 applications are so far away that it's impossible for ATI or Nvidia to anticipate them in such a way that this hardware is properly optimized for it.

I've looked at reviews of the HD 2600XT, and frankly, it delivers piss-poor performance even in DX9 games like STALKER. Definitely stay away from it if you can.

I'll keep looking for some fixes for the texture tearing issue as I have time, hopefully there's something that can be done about it.

solsovly

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm actually happy with the 7800gt I've had for close two years outside of the recent batch of problems. I've tried turning off all settings, playing windows/fullscreen etc and still get those problems.

Iroh

Can you perhaps get a list together of what games you get that behavior in? That might help find a common thread.