Another Recommendation Thread...

[GZFant]

As the title says...

Would be replacing a 7900GT that is long in the tooth.

One very important question though. This 7900GT is under warranty from EVGA and is the second one because of artifacts on the first...
The exact same thing has been happening for a while now where the whole screen turns to horizontal lines repeating 3 colors like the lines of a flag..This happens everytime with every game right after load..

Would it be a better idea to contact EVGA in hopes of RMAing for a newer card? I've heard stories of this happening. RMA old 6/7 series with 8 series being returned because they are no longer in stock..

Edit** My bad, running on OCZ Powerstream 520

 

[Modular]

I would say 9800gt or GSO if you want to stay with nV. 4830 or 4850 if you want to give Ati a chance.

That being said, you could try the RMA route, but you may get an 8600gt. I remember that's what they were doing to a lot of people (even on this board) and they had to call and complain.

 

[GZFant]

That worse than a 7900GT?

I always forgot about new gen. mainstream vs. old gen high end...well GT high end..

 

[SickBeast]

Is that Opteron dual core? How fast do you have it running?

I have a feeling the Opteron 170 is single core and will really be a huge limitation for you, especially if you have it clocked lower than 2.7ghz or so.

You could probably do ok with a card like the 8800GT, but even that is pushing it and you will be CPU limited in most circumstances.

 

[BurnItDwn]

The Opteron 170 is a dual core socket 939 CPU at 2ghz stock, It performs similarly to the Athlon 64 4200x2.

I was using a 939 x2 until just yesterday. The CPU was plenty fast for every game I played except for Supreme Commander. It was a bit slow when it comes to transcoding/encoding, but it was no slouch.

Newegg had a quad phenom 9600 for $99 and a Biostar 790 mobo (with sb750) for $70 combo deal on the 26th so I picked that up and grabbed 4GB of DDR2 for $35. My machine isn't as fast as any of the Intel Quads, but it was a huge improvement for me...

Anyhow, back to the subject, if you're getting artifacting, then yes, RMA the card ... You may get another 7900GT, or they may "upgrade" you to an 8600GT. The 8600GT is generally "faster" these days due to driver tweaks, but the card technically does have less memory bandwidth so you will may take a slight performance hit at higher resolutions in games...

I think if you get yourself a working video card, you'll be OK with that CPU for another year or so, (even more if you have it clocked beyond 2.5ghz.)

 

[Dadofamunky]

8800GT, 9800GT, 9600GT... all of these would be dramatically faster. I wouldn't bother with anything less. I have a 7800GT in my Socket 939 system, a 4800+ which is still going strong, and it has an extremely annoying loud fan. I'm still thinking about ripping it out and popping in a 9600GT or something like that. Should be a really easy upgrade in any case.

 

[GZFant]

The Opty 170 is a Dual Core CPU and mine is not overclocked...I am fairly modest and think in terms of longevity..

I will RMA the card first and see about my options from there. The new games coming out (Mirror's Edge, SC2, Dawn of War II etc...) I was hoping to have more horsepower for. Unfortunately my NEC 90GX2 is native at 1280x1024 so the CPU does play a role...

Maybe I can stick it out another year until Windows 7 is out of the box...I just hate turning on Stalker and Crysis and having to put everything on med/low =*(...lol

Thanks again, RMA first then decisions decisions...

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: GZFant
The Opty 170 is a Dual Core CPU and mine is not overclocked...I am fairly modest and think in terms of longevity..

I will RMA the card first and see about my options from there. The new games coming out (Mirror's Edge, SC2, Dawn of War II etc...) I was hoping to have more horsepower for. Unfortunately my NEC 90GX2 is native at 1280x1024 so the CPU does play a role...

Maybe I can stick it out another year until Windows 7 is out of the box...I just hate turning on Stalker and Crysis and having to put everything on med/low =*(...lol

Thanks again, RMA first then decisions decisions...

Well, it may be time for you to consider some moderate overclocking in the near future to squeeze out some more performance and delay the inevitable motherboard/cpu/ram purchase a bit longer.
I believe it to be true that high temps shorten the lifespan of a CPU, however, bumping your 2ghz clock up to 2.3 or 2.4ghz will give your machine a new lease on life and you'll still probably be within a safe temperature range. I am not saying there is "no risk", but instead that the risk would be minimal.

 

[GZFant]

Maybe I will read the "Quick and Dirty A64 Guide" and give it a go. I have never overclocked before so I am a bit worried. I see people do it all the time, it can't be that hard...

For reference I have an Antec 300 with 3 high speed yate loons. According to speedfan my CPU idles around 30C which I think is more than cool (I keep my apartment very cold).
2 gigs of RAM and Windows XP...the previous owner of the Opteron 170 said he gave it a mild overclock but only for an hour or two to run tests...he bought it new and had it for 3 months until I came along.

BurnItDwn: You say 2.4 is a mild overclock for my CPU? Do you know what kind of performance I will gain from this with say, Mirror's Edge or some of the new games I listed earlier?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: GZFant
Maybe I will read the "Quick and Dirty A64 Guide" and give it a go. I have never overclocked before so I am a bit worried. I see people do it all the time, it can't be that hard...

For reference I have an Antec 300 with 3 high speed yate loons. According to speedfan my CPU idles around 30C which I think is more than cool (I keep my apartment very cold).
2 gigs of RAM and Windows XP...the previous owner of the Opteron 170 said he gave it a mild overclock but only for an hour or two to run tests...he bought it new and had it for 3 months until I came along.

BurnItDwn: You say 2.4 is a mild overclock for my CPU? Do you know what kind of performance I will gain from this with say, Mirror's Edge or some of the new games I listed earlier?

Thanks again for the help!

Well, I say 2.3 to 2.4 is a moderate overclock because in general, many people are able to push their 170s beyond 2.6ghz. You would gain about 15-20% total CPU processing power if you clocked between 2.3 and 2.4. I haven't tried Crysis or Mirrors Edge, but I can tell you just 10% made enough of a difference with my 939 chip to keep me content until I ran into some Xmas money...

If you decide to overclock, just do it in small intervals.
There are a couple of different schools of thought. One is to just push things up ever so slightly, and use the machine, and repeat until you are happy (without ever knowing the true maximum potential.)
The other is to overvolt and bump things up until you find your "Maximum" then drop things down a bit to where you are comfortable.

All I did when I OC'd my X2 was just bump up the FSB. I am not a "hardcore" overclocker these days (though I may have been when I ran my 300a at 504 or my celly 533 at 896) so I don't know all the strategies or best methods but I seem to hold my ground ... hehehe

 

[GZFant]

So I am going to pull the trigger on a 9800GTX+. I know some of you think this might be overkill but, I can justify the extra $30 over a GT plus it is EVGA w/lifetime for only 164 plus shipping.

Just a quick question, after I RMA the 7900GT, would I be able to run them both in PCIe slots (I am running ASUS A8N SLi Deluxe) and use the 7900GT for PhysX? I am wondering if these older SLi boards compensated for dual-slot cooling. If not, would a 9800GT single slot do the trick?

Thank you =)

 

[chizow]

If you're looking at a 9800GTX+, you may want to look around and try for a GTX 260 in that range. Faster all around card for sure for maybe $10-15 more.

Also, the 7900GT can't be used for PhysX, lacks the stream/compute shader architecture needed as they're only in GF8/DX10 and higher parts. Otherwise, most GF8 or higher parts would be able to function as a PhysX card in a free PCIE slot, although its not something I would plan for or spend on now.

 

[GZFant]

A GTX260 on an old Socket 939 Opty 170? Is it even worth it?

 

[chizow]

Hmmm ya good point, you might not see much difference other than the ability to increase AA. I looked around a bit too and it looks like all those cheap 192SP GTX 260 are dried up. 9800GTX+ is still a nice card though, and certainly fun seeing those gaudy core/shader numbers if you're willing to overclock.

 

[GZFant]

I can't find a single GTX260 for $160 which is what they are offering on Newegg for GTX+

 

[GZFant]

haha Thanks Chizow, I was thinkin' you left your logic somewhere lol!

 

[Denithor]

Just to make sure you get the best deal...

EVGA 9800GTX+ $145AR + free shipping + free COD:W@W

You're definitely going to want to OC your Opty to get the most out of this GPU. Follow a guide, get comfortable with the basics and crank it up.

 

[GZFant]

Bah! The waiting game..

With the release of the new Nvidia GPU's, hopefully they will drive price down 10-20 dollars...

Going to give this a rest until next week sometime to see what happens. I really want to learn all of this overclocking business before I jump in as well. Hopefully that will calm my fears of destroying chips that I can barely afford in the first place.

That $145AR deal is great! I imagine it can only be better in the next two weeks!

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: GZFant
Bah! The waiting game..

With the release of the new Nvidia GPU's, hopefully they will drive price down 10-20 dollars...

Going to give this a rest until next week sometime to see what happens. I really want to learn all of this overclocking business before I jump in as well. Hopefully that will calm my fears of destroying chips that I can barely afford in the first place.

That $145AR deal is great! I imagine it can only be better in the next two weeks!

It's certainly smart on your part to play it safe. Read about it, learn how to do it, and ease into after you're educated on the subject (if you feel comfortable with it.)

One other option you have of course, is to invest in a new mobo, cpu, and some ram ...

I don't know how the used market is these days with 939 setups, but the 170 is pretty close to top of the 939 food chain (due to its reputation for overlcocking), and DDR is quite a bit more expensive than DDR2 (so reselling your ram would probably net you a decent amount of cash more than tho cost of DDR2, so if it's worth the hassle, you might be able to score pretty close to a free upgrade that way ... but you'd probably get close to nothing on the mobo as everyone who wants 939 cpus probably already has the mobo ....

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: GZFant
Bah! The waiting game..

With the release of the new Nvidia GPU's, hopefully they will drive price down 10-20 dollars...

Going to give this a rest until next week sometime to see what happens. I really want to learn all of this overclocking business before I jump in as well. Hopefully that will calm my fears of destroying chips that I can barely afford in the first place.

That $145AR deal is great! I imagine it can only be better in the next two weeks!

Unfortunately I doubt it'll get any better, what nVidia is releasing are high-end enthusiast class cards, no reason for their midrange cards to lower in price at all, if anything the price changes that will happen have already happened, like the GTX280 and 4870X2 have already gone down in price thanks to the GTX295.

 

[Dadofamunky]

The GTX+ is a good choice, but OC that Opteron! It's quite straightforward, and you should be able to hit at least two full speed grades above stock with no trouble. Just a matter of a light voltage bump, dialing back the HyperTransport multiplier to 4x from 5x, and cranking up the FSB 50 MHz at a time. I recently got a 1.8 GHz 3800+ up to 2.5 GHz with no effort, rock stable. Your system will be better balanced with the new video card, too.

Don't wait. Now is always a great time to upgrade.