My current GPU, Sapphire X1950 Pro 512MB, is not cooling itself properly. According to both the ATI CCC and ATITrayTools, it idles at about 75 C and easily gets over 110 at load when I am warned about it overheating and I either close the application or the GPU shuts itself off. I have talked to Sapphire and they agree that it is almost assuredly their fault and are willing to RMA the card, even though it is out of warranty.
My issue is it worth the $15 to RMA the card at this point. I don't do much intensive gaming, but I do occasionally play Civ IV (surprisingly a graphics card hog), HL2, Far Cry2, etc. Since I don't play those games often, I don't want to spend a lot on a new card, say ~$100 max, and I would only want to do that if I will see a noticeable improvement. I currently have two monitors hooked up to my rig, a 19" (1280x1024 native) and a 37" TV that I use to watch movies/recorded TV/etc.
Since my card works just fine as long as I am not stressing it, I hate the idea of shutting it down (I don't have another PCI-Express card) while I wait for the new card to come back and paying $15 to do it. Would it make more sense for me to get an after-market cooler and just replace the standard one, rather than RMA? Would I gain any noticeable improvement if I upgraded to say, an HD 4670 or any other card in a similar price range? Should I just suck it up and deal without the rig for a week or so? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
In case anyone needs to know the rest of my specs: Q6600 with U120 cooler, 4GB DDR2 RAM (Ballistix), and Vista x64.
My issue is it worth the $15 to RMA the card at this point. I don't do much intensive gaming, but I do occasionally play Civ IV (surprisingly a graphics card hog), HL2, Far Cry2, etc. Since I don't play those games often, I don't want to spend a lot on a new card, say ~$100 max, and I would only want to do that if I will see a noticeable improvement. I currently have two monitors hooked up to my rig, a 19" (1280x1024 native) and a 37" TV that I use to watch movies/recorded TV/etc.
Since my card works just fine as long as I am not stressing it, I hate the idea of shutting it down (I don't have another PCI-Express card) while I wait for the new card to come back and paying $15 to do it. Would it make more sense for me to get an after-market cooler and just replace the standard one, rather than RMA? Would I gain any noticeable improvement if I upgraded to say, an HD 4670 or any other card in a similar price range? Should I just suck it up and deal without the rig for a week or so? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
In case anyone needs to know the rest of my specs: Q6600 with U120 cooler, 4GB DDR2 RAM (Ballistix), and Vista x64.
I'd say you should get a HD4830 for around 100$ and get blown away by thee difference, especially in Far Cry 2 
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