Radeon 9800 Pro died... replace, or get a new AGP card?

[mrpuffkins]

I was playing the BF2 demo the other day, and I was on about my sixth hour straight of playing it when my screen went black. I figure, okay, my computer probably just overheated; if I let it cool off, all will be well. So I let it sit for a while, but when I try and turn it back on the screen stays black and I get the dreaded POST beeps. I have an ASUS mobo, and before I know it a lady's voice is telling me "system failed VGA test". Great... my video card's being stupid I think. So I reseat it, no good. I clear my CMOS, no good. I finally decide to take my GeForce 4 Ti4200 out of my other computer to make sure it's the video card, and my computer booted up fine.


I've already sent my video card to NewEgg to RMA it (I bought it June 28, 2004) because HIS's (my card's manufacturer) tech support section of their websitewas giving me script errors and NewEgg approved the RMA. NewEgg's policy is to refund items they no longer stock (such as my graphics card) at current market value.

Here's the refurbished version of my card NewEgg now sells:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16814161109R


This brings me to my question: If NewEgg refunds me rather than sending me a refurbed replacement, should I replace it with another 9800 Pro or upgrade to a different AGP card?

Here's my full system specs:

Mobo: ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Socket 478 Intel 875P ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813131464

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2 Northwood 800MHz FSB Socket 478
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819116164

Video Card (the dead part): HIS Hightech ICE98-2H-ZAM Radeon 9800PRO 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X (see link to refurb above)

RAM: CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 466 (PC 3700)
(No longer listed on NewEgg)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16822135106


Assuming I get around $100 from NewEgg for a refund, I could throw in about $200 of my own for an upgrade for a total of around $300.

Would it be worth it to upgrade to a $300 AGP card? Or should I just get another 9800 Pro (or maybe a 6600GT) and eventually upgrade to a PCI-E mobo with an AMD 64?

Would I be CPU limited with something like a 6800GT?

I primarily use my computer for gaming (BF2 mostly once I get this card replaced), but I do some drafting work for classes on it too.

Thanks for any advice you guys are able to give.

 

[ddogg]

i would advise u get a new card...wait and get the next generation cards. nvidia should have them in stock at launch.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: mrpuffkins
I was playing the BF2 demo the other day, and I was on about my sixth hour straight of playing it when my screen went black. I figure, okay, my computer probably just overheated; if I let it cool off, all will be well. So I let it sit for a while, but when I try and turn it back on the screen stays black and I get the dreaded POST beeps. I have an ASUS mobo, and before I know it a lady's voice is telling me "system failed VGA test". Great... my video card's being stupid I think. So I reseat it, no good. I clear my CMOS, no good. I finally decide to take my GeForce 4 Ti4200 out of my other computer to make sure it's the video card, and my computer booted up fine.


I've already sent my video card to NewEgg to RMA it (I bought it June 28, 2004) because HIS's (my card's manufacturer) tech support section of their websitewas giving me script errors and NewEgg approved the RMA. NewEgg's policy is to refund items they no longer stock (such as my graphics card) at current market value.

Here's the refurbished version of my card NewEgg now sells:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16814161109R


This brings me to my question: If NewEgg refunds me rather than sending me a refurbed replacement, should I replace it with another 9800 Pro or upgrade to a different AGP card?

Here's my full system specs:

Mobo: ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Socket 478 Intel 875P ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16813131464

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2 Northwood 800MHz FSB Socket 478
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16819116164

Video Card (the dead part): HIS Hightech ICE98-2H-ZAM Radeon 9800PRO 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X (see link to refurb above)

RAM: CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 466 (PC 3700)
(No longer listed on NewEgg)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16822135106


Assuming I get around $100 from NewEgg for a refund, I could throw in about $200 of my own for an upgrade for a total of around $300.

Would it be worth it to upgrade to a $300 AGP card? Or should I just get another 9800 Pro (or maybe a 6600GT) and eventually upgrade to a PCI-E mobo with an AMD 64?

Would I be CPU limited with something like a 6800GT?

I primarily use my computer for gaming (BF2 mostly once I get this card replaced), but I do some drafting work for classes on it too.

Thanks for any advice you guys are able to give.

While I :heart: my 6800GT, at this point I'd say suffer with the 4200 for two weeks and see how nvidia's new gen of cards performs. If they are a big performance bump you may want to consider them. Otherwise, I say go w/ the 6800GT. I was a FAR bigger performance boost in amges going from my 9600Pro to a 6800GT than I did going from a 1700+ to a 3200+

 

[Fern]

Assuming I get around $100 from NewEgg for a refund, I could throw in about $200 of my own for an upgrade for a total of around $300.

Would it be worth it to upgrade to a $300 AGP card? Or should I just get another 9800 Pro (or maybe a 6600GT) and eventually upgrade to a PCI-E mobo with an AMD 64?

Would I be CPU limited with something like a 6800GT?

I primarily use my computer for gaming (BF2 mostly once I get this card replaced), but I do some drafting work for classes on it too.

$300 would get you a nice 6800GT or X800XL. NO, you won't be cpu bottlenecked. No, IMHO, no need to change to PCIe for better gfx now.

Fern

 

[peleejosh]

There is no way that you will be able to get a next gen card for 300 bucks when they come out. Upgrade now. Get a 6800gt used off of the forums for 275 - 300.

 

[Kogan]

I wouldn't buy another 9800, but also wouldn't buy the latest and greatest
For the past week or so, newegg has been having 6600gt's refurbed for $135 and plain 6800's for $160-$175 (they've been going in and out of stock). See if you can get lucky and score one of those cards. Otherwise, I'd wait a week or two and see what the next generation video cards do to the prices.

 

[RampantAndroid]

At this juncture, buying a 9800 Pro isn't the only cheap solution...here are I few I'd persoanlly look at:

9800 Pro refurb (I wouldn't bother)
9800 XT
X800

lower end 6000 series nvidia (6200s, 6600s, and maybe a 6800 NU)


I don't think the same thing is worth it at this point....

 

[mrpuffkins]

Okay, so at the moment I'm torn between a 6800 and a 6800GT. Since this is AGP, I could unlock the extra pipelines on the 6800, so is the extra $100 on the GT really worth it?

Will DDR vs GDDR3 make a huge difference? I'm leaning towards the GT at the moment I think, since I would want to wait probably 2 years to upgrade my system to PCI-E.

I don't think I can stand to wait 2 weeks for the next gen of graphics cards to drive prices down, my Battlefield 2 preorder came in today and I can't wait any longer to play it.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: mrpuffkins
Okay, so at the moment I'm torn between a 6800 and a 6800GT. Since this is AGP, I could unlock the extra pipelines on the 6800, so is the extra $100 on the GT really worth it?

Will DDR vs GDDR3 make a huge difference? I'm leaning towards the GT at the moment I think, since I would want to wait probably 2 years to upgrade my system to PCI-E.

I don't think I can stand to wait 2 weeks for the next gen of graphics cards to drive prices down, my Battlefield 2 preorder came in today and I can't wait any longer to play it.

I think the GT is worth it.

Unlocking the pipes is a gamble, may or may not happen. Also seems to me that those who do get the pipes unlocked find they can't OC the card. Most others seem to be able to OC the 6800GT to 6800 Ultra levels.

Mine will hit Ultra levels, but I keep it at stock now cuz I don't need the mhz/speed. Maybe next year I'll bump it up, just no need now.

Fern

 

[evilbix]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133148

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?item=14-133-148

Buy one of those and unlock it. If for some reason you feel the need to upgrade again someday buy a card at the same price range in 2 years and it will cost just as much as one gt does today and perform a lot better.

 

[Munky]

I say go for a 6800gt. The 6800 vanilla may not unlock, and even if it does, you still have the same 128 mb mem, not 256 like a gt, so at high resolutions your fps will suffer. Or, if you want to save money, either get another 9800p for like 120, or a 6600 vanilla and oc it, then you can reach 6600gt level performance.