What kind of card can I get to replace my 9800 pro?

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Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
So I have an older dell and my ATI 9800 pro wil probaly die soon. The fan on its so far gone that when I boot up my computer I have to crack the case and manually spin the fan until it starts working.

Now I mainly just play WoW and WC3 and oblivion. Here are my currents specs:
P4 2.6ghz
1 gig ram
250w psu
ATI 9800 pro AGP

I'm just looking for a video card that at min works as good as my 9800 pro. I'm not looking to gut my system and buy a ton of parts. I'm just looking for a card to replace my 9800 for like 6 months until I can afford something new.

The main problem I am seeing is that my PSU is a bit weak. So could my system handel a card from the x1650 series?? and if so are these card as good or better than a 9800 pro? secondly I;ve seen many versions of the x1650 on newegg but I'm unsure which brand or version to get.


Can someone help me out because i'm sick of cracking my case every day and WoW: Wrath of the lynch king drops this week so I would like to get a replacement soon.

I did try find a replacement 9800 but the only ones I've seen are like 175-200+ on ebay. Now I'm looking for something new fron newegg and not something used from god knows where. I just want something that will last more than 4 months and will work as good or better than my 9800 pro.

Any help would be greatful.
 
N

nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
I have a 9800 pro from an old build. I'll have to check to see how the fan is looking right now. I'll let you know if it is worth making me an offer for.
 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
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0
Originally posted by: nismotigerwvu
I have a 9800 pro from an old build. I'll have to check to see how the fan is looking right now. I'll let you know if it is worth making me an offer for.
Click to expand...

it wont matter because there are like 3 different types of fans.. I bought a replacement fan but it had a differeent connector and I spent like 16 bucks to get it here so I modded it to work.

That mod worked for like 1.5-2 months and now the fan wont work when I boot up my system unless I manually kick start it. I tried looking online for a fan but I dont want to spend abouther 20 bucks to get another fan whose connector doesnt fit to my card.

I would try buying another fan off of newegg but the shipping cost for a can is about the same cost as the fan itself. So if I get the wrong one I end up spending so much time and money returning it that its not worth it.

The last fan I bought that was supposed to work with my card had a connector that was twice as big as the one on my card.

I just want to get an decent card but it seems most cards require a 400w psu.
 
T

themisfit610

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2006
1,352
2
81
If you can toss it, $125 for a 3850 isn't too bad at all! It's nearly as fast as an 8800gt...

~MISfit
 
JPB

JPB

Diamond Member
Jul 4, 2005
4,064
89
91
Originally posted by: Dr G
Originally posted by: vj8usa
How about a 3650? It should be fine on a 400W PSU.
Click to expand...

read my specs. I dont have a 400w psu
Click to expand...

Doesnt matter. My wifes computer has a 218 watt power supply, and she is running an X1800XL.

I think your psu should be fine running it. Just pick up an AGP card that doesnt require an external power connector.
 
F

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
3
81
Originally posted by: Dr G
The main problem I am seeing is that my PSU is a bit weak. So could my system handel a card from the x1650 series?? and if so are these card as good or better than a 9800 pro? secondly I;ve seen many versions of the x1650 on newegg but I'm unsure which brand or version to get.


Can someone help me out because i'm sick of cracking my case every day and WoW: Wrath of the lynch king drops this week so I would like to get a replacement soon.

I did try find a replacement 9800 but the only ones I've seen are like 175-200+ on ebay. Now I'm looking for something new fron newegg and not something used from god knows where. I just want something that will last more than 4 months and will work as good or better than my 9800 pro.

Any help would be greatful.
Click to expand...

All of those X1650pro's with the gddr2 ram are pretty much the same, and will certainly be an upgrade from the 9800pro.

Your PSU will be fine with the X1650. I installed a X1600 in a Shuttle that had a 200W PSU, and it ran with no problems. When the card mfgr's recommend a "400w" PSU, they are anticipating that many people have a poor quality 400w PSU, and so they overstate the requirement in hopes that there won't be a power issue. Dell's low-wattage PSU's have been, in my experience, stable, quality units.
 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Originally posted by: Dr G
The main problem I am seeing is that my PSU is a bit weak. So could my system handel a card from the x1650 series?? and if so are these card as good or better than a 9800 pro? secondly I;ve seen many versions of the x1650 on newegg but I'm unsure which brand or version to get.


Can someone help me out because i'm sick of cracking my case every day and WoW: Wrath of the lynch king drops this week so I would like to get a replacement soon.

I did try find a replacement 9800 but the only ones I've seen are like 175-200+ on ebay. Now I'm looking for something new fron newegg and not something used from god knows where. I just want something that will last more than 4 months and will work as good or better than my 9800 pro.

Any help would be greatful.
Click to expand...

All of those X1650pro's with the gddr2 ram are pretty much the same, and will certainly be an upgrade from the 9800pro.

Your PSU will be fine with the X1650. I installed a X1600 in a Shuttle that had a 200W PSU, and it ran with no problems. When the card mfgr's recommend a "400w" PSU, they are anticipating that many people have a poor quality 400w PSU, and so they overstate the requirement in hopes that there won't be a power issue. Dell's low-wattage PSU's have been, in my experience, stable, quality units.
Click to expand...

Cool.. Thanks for putting my mind at ease.. I'm not looking for anything crazy. I just want something to hold me over 6 months or so while I bank some money from my new job. If my card could have waited at least 6 month I would have gotten a new system but as of now I only have enough for a hold me over card.

If a X1650 pro give me a performance increase then for like 50-60 bucks its not that bad of a deal.

I'm a big WoW and WC3 and D2 fan and I just want to be able to play those for now.

 
V

vj8usa

Senior member
Dec 19, 2005
975
0
0
Originally posted by: Dr G
Originally posted by: vj8usa
How about a 3650? It should be fine on a 400W PSU.
Click to expand...

read my specs. I dont have a 400w psu
Click to expand...

Whoops, sorry. I read both of your posts in order, and then somehow mixed the two up. A 3650 would be pushing it on a 250W, unless it's a really good one (what are its 12V rails rated for?). I think something along the lines of a 2600 would work with a 250W, though.

On a side note, if you're going to be building a new rig in a few months, you could conceivably get a beefy PSU now and just use it in your new rig when the time comes. Unlike with CPUs/GPUs, they don't really get outdated too quickly.
 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
Originally posted by: vj8usa
Originally posted by: Dr G
Originally posted by: vj8usa
How about a 3650? It should be fine on a 400W PSU.
Click to expand...

read my specs. I dont have a 400w psu
Click to expand...

Whoops, sorry. I read both of your posts in order, and then somehow mixed the two up. A 3650 would be pushing it on a 250W, unless it's a really good one (what are its 12V rails rated for?). I think something along the lines of a 2600 would work with a 250W, though.

On a side note, if you're going to be building a new rig in a few months, you could conceivably get a beefy PSU now and just use it in your new rig when the time comes. Unlike with CPUs/GPUs, they don't really get outdated too quickly.
Click to expand...

Well I've been reading up and I hear that a lot os PSUs have trouble fitting into the werid clam shell case that my dell has.
 
J

JonnyBlaze

Diamond Member
May 24, 2001
3,114
1
0
Originally posted by: Dr G
Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Originally posted by: Dr G
The main problem I am seeing is that my PSU is a bit weak. So could my system handel a card from the x1650 series?? and if so are these card as good or better than a 9800 pro? secondly I;ve seen many versions of the x1650 on newegg but I'm unsure which brand or version to get.


Can someone help me out because i'm sick of cracking my case every day and WoW: Wrath of the lynch king drops this week so I would like to get a replacement soon.

I did try find a replacement 9800 but the only ones I've seen are like 175-200+ on ebay. Now I'm looking for something new fron newegg and not something used from god knows where. I just want something that will last more than 4 months and will work as good or better than my 9800 pro.

Any help would be greatful.
Click to expand...

All of those X1650pro's with the gddr2 ram are pretty much the same, and will certainly be an upgrade from the 9800pro.

Your PSU will be fine with the X1650. I installed a X1600 in a Shuttle that had a 200W PSU, and it ran with no problems. When the card mfgr's recommend a "400w" PSU, they are anticipating that many people have a poor quality 400w PSU, and so they overstate the requirement in hopes that there won't be a power issue. Dell's low-wattage PSU's have been, in my experience, stable, quality units.
Click to expand...

Cool.. Thanks for putting my mind at ease.. I'm not looking for anything crazy. I just want something to hold me over 6 months or so while I bank some money from my new job. If my card could have waited at least 6 month I would have gotten a new system but as of now I only have enough for a hold me over card.

If a X1650 pro give me a performance increase then for like 50-60 bucks its not that bad of a deal.

I'm a big WoW and WC3 and D2 fan and I just want to be able to play those for now.
Click to expand...

I made the mistake of buying a x1650pro when my 9800 died. It was barely an upgrade if any at all.

Go with the 3850. I'm going to dump this one and get a 3850 myself.

 
F

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
3
81
Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze

I made the mistake of buying a x1650pro when my 9800 died. It was barely an upgrade if any at all.

Go with the 3850. I'm going to dump this one and get a 3850 myself.
Click to expand...

The OP just wants something to tide him over for about 6 months, and be cheap and "at least" as good as his 9800 pro. The X1650 is a measureable performance upgrade from his current card, and costs about $60, as opposed to sinking at least $130 into a 3850 and then more $$ into a PSU. So that would be somewhere in the vicinity of $200 to accommodate a dead format, the AGP slot.

$200 is more than halfway to a new system...
 
Leyawiin

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
I think you'll be fine with the 250W and an X1650 Pro AGP. From what I've heard over the years Dell tends to understate their power supplies capacity and I doubt an older PC like yours would be so full of components that it would actually ever have a full load (that would compromise the GPU).
 
Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster

Diamond Member
May 7, 2005
5,161
32
86
Originally posted by: themisfit610
If you can toss it, $125 for a 3850 isn't too bad at all! It's nearly as fast as an 8800gt...

~MISfit
Click to expand...

Not really. 8800GT is faster than a HD3870 by 10~20%.

As virtual larry pointed out, how about replacing the stock heatsink and fan?
 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Originally posted by: themisfit610
If you can toss it, $125 for a 3850 isn't too bad at all! It's nearly as fast as an 8800gt...

~MISfit
Click to expand...

Not really. 8800GT is faster than a HD3870 by 10~20%.

As virtual larry pointed out, how about replacing the stock heatsink and fan?
Click to expand...

I have no clue on how to do that. If I could replace the fan I would. The problem I have is that I did buy a fan to replace the one that burnt out but the connector that came with the new fan was too big to plug into my card.

So I did an amature modding of that new fan. I snipped off the plug in from my old fan and connected it to my new fan by stripping parts of the wire and wrapping them together then wrapping the exposed wires in electoral tape.

It ran smmothly for about 2 months. Now when I start up my system the fan doesnt start up. So I have to crack my case and manually spin the can to get it to run..

So I can get my fan to work now but it makes this humming noise when it spins and its a bit anoying.

My fan and card works now but I just live day to day with the worried feeling that my fan will die.

I could order another fan but I spent after shipping 18 bucks or so for this fan that lasted 2 months and it didnt fit with my card without my mod.

So my fear is that I spend another 20 bucks on a fan and it doesnt fit.
 
A

Arcanedeath

Platinum Member
Jan 29, 2000
2,822
1
76
Most of the 3rd party HSF's use a 3 pin fan connector they are not made go go into your 9800's power connector for the fan but instead into a motherboard fan header if you have a spare fan header on your motherboard that what you should try and plug most after market fan's into, if not you can get 3 pin to 4pin molex converters and just run it straight from your power supply.
 
F

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
6,666
3
81
Originally posted by: Modular
Here are a few 6600gt's on eBay. They draw less power and outperform the 9800pro. There's even one listed that has a Zalman fan upgrade already done that's selling for $32 buy it now. That fan alone is worth $20. I'd say bite!
Click to expand...

The hsf looks like a Zalman VF-700. I had one on a 6800 AGP and it worked great - kept the GPU cool, and was very quiet. It does require a 3 pin header on the mobo.



 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
i'll post pics of what I did tomorrow so you know what I exactly did.

I'm to beat from work to open my case and take/upload pics.
 
D

Dr G

Member
Jul 8, 2008
58
0
0
Leyawiin

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
Might want to consider an X800 XL. I had one when WoW first came out and it ran it fine on an Athlon XP 2500+ rig. It recommends a 300W PS, but doesn't require an additional power cables - AGP slot only. And again, Dell is pretty well known for understating their power supplies. The card was strong enough it ran Oblivion quite well at 1024x768.

X800 XL AGP
 
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