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Nvidia GF-6600GT AGP card starting to go bad

T

techwanabe

Diamond Member
I have a computer my daughter uses (2nd rig in my siggy) running on an older Athlon Barton 2500+ CPU. It used to have an Epox 8RDA+ motherboard but after years of issues and toasted memory sticks I finally replaced it with an inexpensive SIS mobo.

Anyway, the computer works fine but the video freezes up now and then and I get artifacts on 3D games (mainly MMO's) so it appears that the Leadtek Nvidia Geforce 6600GT video card may by going bad, or at least over heating showing artifacts now and then after its been on a while, or lately 3D games freeze. My daughter only plays MMO's so we don't need a replacement thats expensive and this is an AGP slot motherboard after all.

I'd like to find a replacement that is naturally better than the 6600GT but since this is an older platform, economical price. Also, I'd like a video card where heat isn't a major issues - ie, some cards are known to run hot and require a loud fan etc.

Suggestions?

(as an aside, what is a good econmical replacement for a PCIexpress Radeon X800 card?)
I'm out of work right now so cost is an issue
 
AGP cards aren't that cheap these days, or rather, you can't get a whole lot for your money since there aren't really any being made. Looked at NewEgg and you definitely can't find much there without either getting something worse than a 6600GT or spending well over $50.

I know you want to not spend much but it would still help to know a budget. What are you thinking, $50 each? More, less? Because I checked eBay and found several Radeon HD2600 Pro AGP cards selling for $58 shipped. Seemed like one of the best deals available - everything else with comparable performance was a lot more expensive. Performance would be a fair bit higher than the 6600GT. Another option is the Radeon X1600 or X1650, but performance is just equal to the 6600GT and the price is also around $50. If performance is not important and you just need something to put pixels on the screen, there are a bunch of $30-$40 GeForce 6200s and other low-end non-gaming cards available as well.

For PCIe I'd recommend the Radeon 4670 if you're on a tight budget ($70; $60 after rebate) or Radeon 4830 if you can stretch just a little more ($90; $80 after rebate). Either would be way faster than an X800. If you want to save even more there is a 4650 on NewEgg right now for $55 with a $20 mail in rebate, bringing the final price to $35. It'll probably be a bit better than the X800 but it's not really a gaming card.
 
Yes, I remember when this was happening with the PCI graphics cards and now AGP are pretty much a dinosaur. Never the less, since hardware has gotten to the point where my old rigs (siggy) run most average stuff just fine, there is IMHO less pressure to upgrade to newer faster hardware as often as 10 years ago. So far, I've been satisfied with the performance of both my rigs for every day use and basic gaming/MMO's etc.

I'm an old fart and not as interested in 3D gaming as I once was, however, I do like to have a graphics card that is decent. Since AGP cards are not so common, I realize there will be less deals. Yes, I'd like to replace the 6600GT with something noticably faster - so keeping the price between $50 and $100 is reasonable. I think the Leadtek card cost me $140 and it was already a year out on the market. (I'm a firm believer in "good enough" video cards don't have to cost a lot). I'll check out the HD2600 Pro cards on Ebay.

PCIe options would of course be more common. I'll check out your recommendations and yes, prefer to replace the X800 with a gaming card, even if lower end. But something that improves substantially on the X800SE I have which came with my Dell.
 
^Just stay away from the Geforce 6200s. They are crap; for $30-40 you can get the 2400 Pro AGP, which is still crap but better than the 6200. But you should at least get something equal to the 6600GT, and this $45 X1650 Pro should do the trick. Next up go for an HD2600 series card and ebay would probably be the best place to look, unless you want to take a chance on this poorly reviewed HD2600 XT. Anything else is probably going to cost too much, but you could look for the following cads which should at least equal the 6600GT: Any Geforce 6800/7600/7800/7900, Geforce 7300GT, any Radeon X800/X850/X1600/X1650/HD2600/X1950/HD3650/HD3850.

As for the PCI-express situation, the Radeon HD4650 or Geforce 9500GT would be good, cheap, and faster replacements. But you might also look for the older variations on these cards, the Geforce 8600GT/GTS or Radeon HD3650 or HD2600 series.

Edit: Oh, the HD4650/9500GT/8600GT/8600GTS/HD3650/HD2600Pro/HD2600XT will be huge improvements over an X800SE and you should be able to find them around or below $50. You might also want to keep an eye out for the HD3850 512MB, HD4670, 9600GSO, or 9600GT.
 
Originally posted by: brblx
it'd almost pay for itself to replace the mobo and buy a superior pcie card...
Click to expand...

If I had a job, I'd probably go that way, but no job atm, so keeping costs minimal. New mother board - cost of new bother board, new CPU, new memory ...
 
The machine that a PCIe card would go in would be a Dell Dimension 8400 new a little over 4 years ago. Any power supply issues or should it be able to handle a modest PCIe graphics card like the Radeon 4830 or lower?
 
I would say that this one wouldn't be too bad:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814131070

It has a 128-bit memory interface, and 512MB of RAM. Seems like a good card for the price.

I'll probably get in trouble with the mods for this, but I can sell you an AGP 1600Pro I have lying around for $26 shipped. It has a 128-bit memory interface as well, but only 256MB of RAM. I haven't gotten around to listing it on Ebay...

http://i257.photobucket.com/al...tney/Stuff/1600Pro.jpg

here's a review:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...l?art=MTAzMiwxLCw3MA==
 
There are probably some good deals in the FS/FT forum. Good AGP cards: 7600GT, 7800GS on the nvidia side. X800XL, X800XT, X850XT, HD2600, X1950 Pro, or HD3850 from ATI. Any of these will provide better performance over the 6600GT. The X1950 and HD3850 are going to be your fastest options.

Some comparative benches
 
Originally posted by: techwanabe

(as an aside, what is a good econmical replacement for a PCIexpress Radeon X800 card?)
I'm out of work right now so cost is an issue
Click to expand...


There are 2 pretty good buys out there for cheap PCIE cards. The 9600GSO, which has been as low as $50AR, and the Radeon HD4830, which has been seen around $64 AR. I upgraded from an X850XT to an HD4830 and it was a nice upgrade. My HD4830 is very quiet, and overclocks to speeds which make is a little faster than a stock HD4850.

 
The PC with the Radeon 6600GT is freezing up more and more now in 3D games. Is this indicitave of the card going bad? I have an extra fan on it and the case open with a big fan blowing on it. Still freezing up and quite often now.
 
do you have a spare agp card to check? I would be concerned with throwing money at a rig that old because there could be other things wrong, too. I would definitely go on fs/ft, craigslist, ebay, etc and find the replacement. I went from a 6600gt to a 7600gt a few years ago and was quite impressed with the improvement, btw.
 
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
do you have a spare agp card to check? I would be concerned with throwing money at a rig that old because there could be other things wrong, too. I would definitely go on fs/ft, craigslist, ebay, etc and find the replacement. I went from a 6600gt to a 7600gt a few years ago and was quite impressed with the improvement, btw.
Click to expand...

No spar AGP, and my other machine uses PCIexpress. I am concerned about throwing money at this rig now too, however, I need two computers when my daughter visits so I have to have 2 operatonal. I'm unemployed atm so cost is a factor - need to keep costs minimal. I tossed the old motherboard and replaced it with an inexpensive one I picked up last year with an SIS chipset. Might be a used agp card is worth considering as a stop-gap.

 
as much as I want to tell you to hold off upgrading that ancient AGP rig, I understand everyone has their preferences.

Depending on how long you want this upgrade to last, your options is either a HD2600 for $60 or a HD3850 for $90. The 3850 will have around twice the performance of the 2600 tho, so that $30 would be well spent. If you can find a better deal from MSRP on ebay than go for that.
 
Originally posted by: dflynchimp
as much as I want to tell you to hold off upgrading that ancient AGP rig, I understand everyone has their preferences.

Depending on how long you want this upgrade to last, your options is either a HD2600 for $60 or a HD3850 for $90. The 3850 will have around twice the performance of the 2600 tho, so that $30 would be well spent. If you can find a better deal from MSRP on ebay than go for that.
Click to expand...

Will probably go with the less expensive upgrade to milk the platform another 6-12 months before replacing it outright. The mobo does have a built in video so I could test freezing up on the mobo alone before ordering.
 
Found I had an old Gefore 4mx laying in my old PC which is AGP. I can put that in and see if it freezes up this week. My daughter ran it mostly in windows and not a 3D game and it didn't freeze up with the Ledtek 6600GT so probably the 3D circuit is the blame.
 
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