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Fried my GTX260

Cr0nJ0b

Cr0nJ0b

Golden Member
Ugh...! I've been having terrible issues with my electronics lately...anyway...

I have/had a GTX260 (eVGA), it's been doing weird stuff like spinning the fan at 100% and then not turning on...etc. I decided to clean it out and must have shorted something because I'm getting lines and snow now at BIOS. lots or garbled text etc.

I've since swapped for a temporary 7200GS, but that's just not going to do. I need something that will take me for a couple more years.

resolution: 1920 x 1080 Primary, 1680 x 1050 secondary (I always have 2 monitors...might get 3).
CPU PSU mem all in sig. I have 8GB RAM Win7 64 bit.

I game a lot and cover just about everything. BF3 will be played heavily as will portal2 and some WOW (not much).

Price is pretty open, I think I could live in the sub $400 range...but I'm looking for something to take me through my next build (ivy bridge in Dec).

thanks for the help.
 
Couple of years is a tall order. A 6870 or 460GTX will be roughly equivalent to what you've had, but did you really expect that card to last you a few more years?

And yet with a $400 budget my recommendation is get something sub-$200 now, and whatever the current generation sub-$200 card when yours is not fast enough. 6870 for $155 AR comes to mind as a reasonable stop-gap, as does a 460 GTX for low $130s.
 
if you are thinking about getting 3 monitors then dont even think about getting an Nvidia card. HD 6870 or 6950.
 
thanks for the responses. BTW, the card isn't under warranty anymore, which is why i took it apart to blow it out. I had planned to replace it anyway, this is just a little ahead of schedule.

I'm not sure why looking for 2 years out of a graphis card is so rediculous. I've had this card for more than 2 years, and honestly feel like for my system it keeps up pretty well.

I'll look at the AMD cards for multimonitor support.

Anyone seen really good deals on vid cards lately?

also, I heard that AMD will be releasing a new gen later this year...should I wait a bit? I can go a month or so.
 
I wouldn't wait for the next generation unless I had a short term replacement. AMD seems to be pushing to release some time this year and nVidia isn't that optimistic, so safe money says probably another 3 months of waiting at least. And honestly, why buy an AMD card before nVidia releases their models and prices drop anyways?

For today, I think your best bet is AMD's 6950 2gb. Newegg has the sapphire version for ~$275 after shipping. There's a $20 rebate on that card, too.
 
Ghiedo27 said:
I wouldn't wait for the next generation unless I had a short term replacement. AMD seems to be pushing to release some time this year and nVidia isn't that optimistic, so safe money says probably another 3 months of waiting at least. And honestly, why buy an AMD card before nVidia releases their models and prices drop anyways?

For today, I think your best bet is AMD's 6950 2gb. Newegg has the sapphire version for ~$275 after shipping. There's a $20 rebate on that card, too.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...
 
Ok, so now I'm closer...thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking at 2 options. 1) 6950 2gb as suggested and 2) 6870 1gb.

They are the
sapphire 6950 2GB dirt 3 edition $272+tax -$20 rebate = $252+tax
XFX 6870 black edition $ 206+ tax -$30 rebate= $179+tax.

is it worth while for the more memory and faster proc? $70?
 
tweakboy said:
Ghiedo27 said:
I wouldn't wait for the next generation unless I had a short term replacement. AMD seems to be pushing to release some time this year and nVidia isn't that optimistic, so safe money says probably another 3 months of waiting at least. And honestly, why buy an AMD card before nVidia releases their models and prices drop anyways?

For today, I think your best bet is AMD's 6950 2gb. Newegg has the sapphire version for ~$275 after shipping. There's a $20 rebate on that card, too.[/QUOTE
Click to expand...

Best post ive seen on this forum!.



ontopic: AMD cards seem more stable than their Nvidia counterparts as of late. Countless threads and topics about unstable Geforces, especially the 570 and the 590.

I would recommend a card that is about twice as fast as a 260 in DX11 stuff, like a 6850/70 or a 460/560.


460 and 560s are more stable than their higher cloaked and overpriced brothers. A 6950 2gb version should last you trough your next upgrade, especially if you add another for Crossfire. the 6xxx series scale incredibly in Crossfire.
Click to expand...
 
If you want to game on multiple monitors than the 6950 would really be the way to go.

Aside from that it's a wash between a better price to performance ratio with the 6870 versus a better lifespan on the 6950 (especially true if you'd be willing to grab a 2nd one for crossfire in the future).
 
I think the 6950 is overpriced for what you get. You can get a GTX 560 ti for about $100 less IF you factor in that it comes with the free Adobe software and don't mind trying to sell it for at least $50 on Ebay or Craigslist.

Today is the LAST day to get the free Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 deal. This is the only 560 ti that the deal is valid for at Newegg - Link

It is $210 after mail-in-rebate. Make a new account on Newegg with an e-mail address you haven't used before, and use code NEWCUSTOMER10 for another $10 off, making your total after rebate $200. Sell the software for a minimum of $50 (I got $60 cash a few days ago via craigslist). Net cost is $150. Lifetime Warranty card.

BTW, why is your GTX 260 out of warranty?
 
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As i'm looking for there is also a 460SE for $95 (refurb).

So now it's:

460SE ($95) buy this to replace the 260 and then look at the new AMD 28nm cards in Jan.
6870 ($180) probably upgrade that in 2012
6950 ($270) keep for 2-3 years.
 
Cr0nJ0b said:
As i'm looking for there is also a 460SE for $95 (refurb).

So now it's:

460SE ($95) buy this to replace the 260 and then look at the new AMD 28nm cards in Jan.
6870 ($180) probably upgrade that in 2012
6950 ($270) keep for 2-3 years.
Click to expand...

460SE will be nearly identical in performance to your GTX260. You won't be happy with spending money on that.

This bench shows what you can expect from the upgrade to a 6950:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/318?vs=293

The 6870 is about 15% slower than the 6950: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/318?vs=293

So now you'll need to decide how much of a speed up you want from your 260, and what it's worth to you.

I personally would not spend >$250 on a card today, but that's because mine didn't just fry. Sounds like you need a card ASAP, so it might be worth spending that much in your case. I'd tend to recommend the 6870 for you, though.
 
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Cr0nJ0b said:
so any downsides with this card?

XFX Black Edition HD-687A-ZDBC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150520
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm just spoiled with knowing about previous good deals, but this card seems a tad overpriced when 6950 1GB cards have been $170 and $180 on Amazon.com recently.
 
Last edited:
Cr0nJ0b said:
so any downsides with this card?

XFX Black Edition HD-687A-ZDBC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150520
Click to expand...

I'd save about $20 and just go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150521. I know the other is overclocked, but they both have the same cooler, so you can probably hit the same clocks with the cheaper one. Even comes with an extra game (Shogun + Dirt3).

$160AR for an HD6870 is a sweet deal.
 
I like my 6870, it's a good buy imo. Just be aware that it really doesn't overclock that well since the clock speeds are so high to begin with.
 
I just got my card and was looking online...I THOUGHT...I got the card for $206. I got the combo deal with Shogun 2 (which I'm going to ebay)...but when I looked at the invoice...the card was $189, with shogun 2 AND Dirt3...AND the $30 rebate...I'm a little surprised...I thought it was a good deal at $180 total...but now I'm looking at...

$189 +Tax = $203
Less rebate = $173
Less ebay of shogun $153


and if I get Dirt 3 and can sell that on ebay too...I'm looking at $130-$140 for a pretty good card...

I'm ecstatic! I will have no issues with doing a short term upgrade to the next Gen AMD when it come out next year...so my upgrade cycle get shortened as well.

THANKS FOR THE HELP!!!!
 
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