I busted my 9700 Pro, suggestions on a replacement?

[Dman877]

I was trying to make the 9700 Pro quieter, I installed a crystal orb on it, running at 5 volts. When I was trying to get the ati hsf off, I scratched a few etches on the back trying to get those plasitc things out. Anyway, I now have a 2D card only .

I use dual monitors and I've heard nView is better for this then ATi's hydravision. I want a quiet card (or one easily modded to be quiet). So I'm loooking for suggestions on brands of ati and nvidia, especially nvida that are quiet and roughly as fast as the 9700 Pro.

I have a Ti4200 now that I can swap in. It should run CoD pretty well but I use lcd's with 1280/1024 res so I can't really lower the res to play newer games on it. I know I should prolly wait till the next gen cards are released but I'm impatient.

From a quick look around the net it appears my options are ATI 9600/9700/9800 or NV5900/XT/Ultra. I don't want to spend more then 250$ if I can help it.

I know the 9800 Pro is the crowd favorite here. I'm looking for quiet brands though and any input on nview vs hydravision. My experience with ati dual monitor ability is a little dissapointing.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

You're so much better off waiting another month until R420 comes out it's not even funny. Wait another month and NV4x will be out, too.
Either stick with what you've got or wait. NV4x and R420 are each significantly faster than the current generation of cards, and support new features. Granted, you'll have to spend $500 to get either one, but what's $500?

 

[ponyo]

Sorry about your 9700 Pro. That must suck.

I've BFG 5900. It's pretty quiet in 2D mode and slightly louder in 3D mode since the fans kick in. Doesn't matter anyways cause game music and sound drowns out any noise. I would say it's about same noise level as the 9800 NP I had. Hard to tell since the stock fan on my Barton is louder than anything else in my PC and drowns out any other noise.

As for nView, yes it's much more robust than Hydravision. I would say it's just as good as Ultramon which you have to pay for.

 

[Dman877]

After some more research I think I'm gonna look for a 5900XT. For <200$, it should hold me over adequately until the next gen cards are cheaper. Read a review at firingsquad, looks like the MSI card is the one I want. Anyone have experience with this card?

Don't feel bad about the 9700 Pro either, it was free .

On second thought, maybe I'll try out the Ti4200 for a week or so and see if it'll hold me over.

 

[SneakyStuff]

a TI4200 would hold you over until the prices of the 5900 Ultra 256MB cards drop. When those pupys get to about $250 dollars, that's a good deal.

 

[Pete]

$185 MSI 5900XT @ NewEgg if you want a quiet nV FX card, but I'd try holding out with your 4200. 12x10 would lead me to recommend no less than a 9800P if you'll want to use AA+AF, and even then you're pushing it with newer games.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3
Granted, you'll have to spend $500 to get either one, but what's $500?

a mortgage payment and a decent dinner...

 

[Vonkhan]

I think u shud wait until R420 is released and prices are lowered across the board, I hop

On a related note : Dman877, if u would please contact me by e-mail vonkhan (at) hotmail (dot) com

 

[BFG10K]

Like the other chaps say, hobble along on your Ti4200 until next month or so when the newest big-guns are supposed to be released. Then you can make your decision.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3
Granted, you'll have to spend $500 to get either one, but what's $500?

a mortgage payment and a decent dinner...

I'm definatley moving to NC if thats your mortgage payment.

:Q