nVidia 8600 GT blew some caps again, need advice for an upgrade

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Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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I have a machine with an Abit IP35 Pro mobo and an e4500@2.2GHz. The machine is perfect for a Linux CentOS Enterprise role when I build my new machine so I want to keep it functional. I had an XFX 8600 GT 256mb video card in it but it blew a couple of apparently bad caps. I replaced the caps and wrote about it, and it worked fine until it blew yet another stock cap a few months later. It was this second failure that pushed me to upgrade the video card, but I am having a hard time finding a video card that will perform at least as well as that 8600 GT.

Of course, there are plenty of nVidia cards out there that will blow away the 8600 GT I have, but the question I am sure you guessed by now is... which of these cards can I run on my somewhat dated IP35 pro?

I have googled this for awhile now but haven't been too lucky as to what will work with the old PCI-EXPRESS x16 (1.0?) slot I have. I guess it will work with 2.0 cards because I put a Galaxy GeForce 210 in there and it works, but the 1080p videos I use to enjoy without a stutter seem to have a horrible time playing with that card. World of Warcraft at the same settings now has a horrible frame rate. I later read that the 210 has half the shaders and half the memory bus width. sigh.

That's what I get for not researching the guts of the card. I saw the 4x increase in memory and figured it would blow away my 8600 GT which is very dated. I was wrong.

So if someone can be so generous as to offer some knowledge and/or advice on my options with a dated PCI-EXPRESS interface, I would certainly appreciate it. There will most likely be the need to watch 1080p video on this machine even when I move it to the Linux server role.

I went to newegg looking again and all I find in the 8000 series is 8400 cards. I don't know why there isn't any 8600 GT or 8800 GT cards to be found. The funny thing is; I went with an 8600 GT because when I built this rig a few years ago, 8800 GT cards were in the $300-$500 range. Now that I am ready to move up to the 8800GT, it's nowhere to be found.

Thank you for your time!

Hop
 
cusideabelincoln

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
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9500GT, GT 220, GT 240, and GT 430 should all be as fast or faster than an 8600GT, and readily available.

For 8800GT alternatives look at the GT 240 with DDR5 memory, 9800GT, or GTS 450.

And maybe you need to replace your power supply. Perhaps it is going bad.
 
Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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cusideabelincoln said:
9500GT, GT 220, GT 240, and GT 430 should all be as fast or faster than an 8600GT, and readily available.

For 8800GT alternatives look at the GT 240 with DDR5 memory, 9800GT, or GTS 450.

And maybe you need to replace your power supply. Perhaps it is going bad.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the fast response. I will look at your recommendations and appreciate the nudge in the right direction.

The voltage rails on my PSU are almost exactly the same as when I built the machine. I looked the PSU board over and didn't see any leaking or swollen caps, or any sign of heat stress. I have a couple of digital temp sensors in there that are monitored by an embedded project I built a year ago (to warn of heating issues) and it is actually running cooler now than before. Outside of a slowing 120mm fan that I replaced, the PSU has been solid.

I read some lengthy threads about this particular video card though and there are many issues with the caps that matched my problem. I don't know if those caps were part of a bad batch, but the replacement capacitors are still intact. It was a new stock cap that blew. And even with the newly blown cap, the card still worked albeit in 2d. I may replace the newly blown cap with yet another 1500uf 6.3v electrolytic and run it to see if something else fails, or maybe just count my blessings and retire it for parts. I don't know.
 
notty22

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
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There is probably a design flaw with some xfx 8600gts. I also have one, that blew 3 caps. XFX will not take care of me, I registered after the 30 day, fine lawyer print. I have my original invoice from TigerDirect also. Thats off topic here, but just my commentary on xfx.
If your buying new, your best bet as mentioned would be gt 240, or if you can afford more, the gts 450 .
There are usually big sales on one model of each gpu every week.
504595967_1775481994_0.jpg
 
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bryanW1995

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
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I am currently running a gtx 260 core 192 and a 9600 gso on my ip35 pro. I love that mobo, I was all ready to become an abit lifer...the WHAMMO, down they go!! :mad: still love my ip 35 pro, however.

@op: if you're going to do any serious gaming you should oc that cpu a little bit. I've run e6750, q6600, and q9450 on it, all at ~ 3.6 or so.
 
Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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bryanW1995 said:
I am currently running a gtx 260 core 192 and a 9600 gso on my ip35 pro. I love that mobo, I was all ready to become an abit lifer...the WHAMMO, down they go!! :mad: still love my ip 35 pro, however.

@op: if you're going to do any serious gaming you should oc that cpu a little bit. I've run e6750, q6600, and q9450 on it, all at ~ 3.6 or so.
Click to expand...

Awesome info! I didn't want to tinker with it as my main windows rig, but after I build my new machine, I want to push it a little. The CPUs you mentioned will help me with that, thank you!

Thanks for the video recommendation too. I never looked at higher cards because I was led to believe that anything higher than the version of PCIe on the IP35 Pro wouldn't work.

And yeah, I was bummed out big time when Abit moved away from the mobo market.
 
B

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
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Hop said:
That's what I get for not researching the guts of the card. I saw the 4x increase in memory and figured it would blow away my 8600 GT which is very dated. I was wrong.
Click to expand...

I guess you are wise to it now, but it is a marketing man's dream to sell a cheapo entry-level card because it has a huge amount of RAM onboard. Nevermind that it is slow memory on a tiny bus, alongside a GPU that doesn't have the power to put it to much use. :(

cuside lists a mix of low-mid cards that should suit your set-up. Some of those require a reasonable amount of power (usually through a PCIe power connector from the PSU). If you do decide to get a new PSU, then you'll be able to run the more powerful (and power-consuming) cards.
 
A

Arkadrel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2010
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@ExcaliburMM

a 4650 is a good bit faster than a 9500GT, and at newegg you can find them for $33.99 with Rebates.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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How much you wanna spend and what resolution is your monitor.
Any peticular games you looking to play?
 
Hop

Hop

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ExcaliburMM said:
As is probably already stated, PCI-E versions (1.0, 1.0a, 2.0, ect.) are backwards compatible. (In most cases.)
Click to expand...

I appreciate that clarification. I also appreciate your recommendation and will look to that as the card I run in the IP35 Pro rig when I move it aside to the Linux role. I am looking at a couple of beefier cards at the moment and will most likely move my choice to my new build when that happens.

MSI N450GTS CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

ASUS ENGTS450 DirectCU TOP/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I really didn't want to go over $200 so the price is more than right. I am hoping that any graphics limitations/bottlenecks will be from my dated rig instead of the video card. This level of technology seems to be far enough behind cutting edge so I don't cut off and offer my right arm and leg to obtain it. All I need to do now is compare posted benchmarks on similar platforms to my 8600 GT to see what kind of performance increase I can shoot for, even if it is eventually with a cpu/mobo upgrade. And I'm not dead-set on either of these two cards. Just a starting point.

Thanks again to everyone that offered links and advice. A real big reason I asked it here. I absolutely love anandtech!
 
Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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happy medium said:
How much you wanna spend and what resolution is your monitor.
Any peticular games you looking to play?
Click to expand...

No more than $200, 1680x1050, and World of Warcraft. Also want quality from 1080p movie playback on a secondary attached 1680x1050 monitor.
 
A

Arkadrel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2010
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@Happy medium yeah that 460 768mb for 115$ is a steal.

Doubt its possible to find a faster card cheaper than that.
 
Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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Read some stuff here and on Tom's Hardware about that 460. I'll go ahead and pull the trigger I think. =)
 
Hop

Hop

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Feb 7, 2002
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Done. I'll post what I think when I get it next week. I still have my 8600GT benches here somewhere. Thanks again for the heads up! =)
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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480
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Hop said:
Done. I'll post what I think when I get it next week. I still have my 8600GT benches here somewhere. Thanks again for the heads up! =)
Click to expand...

Use the code EMCZZYR24 for another 13$ off the gtx 460. sorry I forgot!
 
notty22

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
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Arkadrel if the OP spends a lot of time in Linux, Nvidia is more linux friendly. Thats a incredible deal for that gtx 460~768.
Enjoy OP, you probably paid about the same for that 8600gt :)
 
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