Well, I ended up doing a lot of damage to my PC last night and today. First my PSU died on me (it came with my case). So I had to go and get a new one. Then, while in the process of putting my PC back together, I managed to break off one of the heat sinks on my 9800 Radeon. Whenever I would play games or start up the internet, the PC would lock up, I figured that the card was overheating. So today I go pick up a ZALMAN VF700 VGA cooler kit to install in place of the hardware already on the Radeon. Anyway to make a long story short, I think I may have damaged my Radeon beyond repair. I had a very hard time getting the stock heatsink and fan off the radeon (Those stupid tab things) and think I may have chipped the processor on the graphics card. The card still works but there is a bunch of artififacts all over the screen, even during start up.
Thinking ahead I purchased a Radeon X850 PRO (256 MB) along with my VGA cooler kit in case something like this happened. It cost me $299.99. A little more than I wanted to spend, but they didn't have a replacement 9800 PRO in the store.
My 9800 Radeon was a 128MB so this X850 Pro is a huge upgrade, however, it is still in the box and I haven't even taken the plastic off yet. My question is: should I keep this card and go ahead and install it in my PC, or is there a card with more bang for the buck.
Thinking ahead I purchased a Radeon X850 PRO (256 MB) along with my VGA cooler kit in case something like this happened. It cost me $299.99. A little more than I wanted to spend, but they didn't have a replacement 9800 PRO in the store.
My 9800 Radeon was a 128MB so this X850 Pro is a huge upgrade, however, it is still in the box and I haven't even taken the plastic off yet. My question is: should I keep this card and go ahead and install it in my PC, or is there a card with more bang for the buck.
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