My 8800GTS dies, so....

[ilogik]

I wanted to get the latest nVidia card but they are not out yet. What can I get under $300 that will hold me off till then? I would prefer nVidia because I have a set of their 3D glasses.

 

[Seero]

I wanted to get the latest nVidia card but they are not out yet. What can I get under $300 that will hold me off till then? I would prefer nVidia because I have a set of their 3D glasses.

May i ask how did your vcard died?

 

[ilogik]

I run a dual monitor setup, for the past month one of the monitors would flicker and display brightly colored stripes. Then over the weekend both monitors went dark. The computer would not boot so I checked the diagnostic code on the motherboard and it is stuck on "initializing VGA bios".

I took an old video card, put it in and everything seems to work. I might even get something good so I can skip this new generation of cards that are going to be released, question is what and what my options are.

 

[dank69]

Bake the 8800 back to life.

Worked for me.

 

[Seero]

Bake the 8800 back to life.

Worked for me.

This, you get nothing to loose. Follow the instruction though.

 

[ilogik]

I think it was time for an upgrade but I will try baking for the heck of it. I am thinking about getting this, thoughts?

SAPPHIRE 100281SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video ... - Retail

 

[Fallen Kell]

Again, try the baking process. I am holding off any GPU purchase until the new Nvidia cards are out. Even if I don't buy the new Nvidia, at least I know what I might be missing and AMD/ATI will probably react to the price/performance of the new Nvidia cards since they have some room to play with (at least in their mid to high end).

 

[happy medium]

I wanted to get the latest nVidia card but they are not out yet. What can I get under $300 that will hold me off till then? I would prefer nVidia because I have a set of their 3D glasses.

Grab a gts 250 for 110$. Should still be 15% faster then the 8800gts 512mb.
Later you could use it for a Phys x card.

 

[JACKDRUID]

Bake the 8800 back to life.

Worked for me.

wow that sounded like a crazy idea... however entirely logical..

90% of the time its a solder loose, baking will very likely help it to resolder itself.

awesome suggestion!!

 

[blanketyblank]

If baking doesn't work just buy that 5870. It will last you quite some time though you won't have 3d vision. I wouldn't waste $100 on a weak card you know won't be useful later but maybe $50. Alternatively if your MB supports crossfire a 5770 or 5750 is a decent interim card, and you can get a second to match/beat the performance of a 5870 or 5850 later.