$100 pci-e upgrade

[fpoverflow]

My basic system specs-
e6420
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35
Sapphire x1950xt (upgraded with accelero cooler w/as5)
Corsair 620w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16817139002)

My problem is that the x1950xt is constantly overheating and causing my ATI drivers to reset. I have rivatuner installed, fan maxed, an upgraded fan, etc. I've tried everything and at this point I think it is just too much of a hassle to continue troubleshooting.

So, I want to replace the x1950xt with something that has stable drivers, an efficient cooling design, and that can (for instance) play SupCom at 1900x1200. I mostly stick to RTS games on the PC, so I don't need cutting edge. I don't mind soft-modding. I'm basically looking for the best price/perf at about $100. No rebates is a plus but not mandatory.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[nonameo]

There are some 9600GT's available for 110 AR and + SH

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: nonameo
There are some 9600GT's available for 110 AR and + SH

+1. that's by far your best bet in the $100 ish range imho.

 

[tvdang7]

maybe you put the aftermarket cooler on wrong. it should run fine.

 

[fpoverflow]

Well, I've reseated the cooler about 10 times. Also, I had this problem with the stock cooler as well. Oddly, the core temp only gets up to about 70C, and it still has trouble.

Will my PS be able to handle the 9600gt? Is that pretty much the consensus pick?

 

[adlep]

You can get the 8800GS from NEwegg for $99.00 AR
Here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150275

 

[fpoverflow]

Interesting. Here is a comparison between the 9600gt and 8800gs. It looks pretty close:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_...hp?card1=557&card2=551

There was this comment under the 8800gs:
"Depends on game, more shader heavy games will favor the 8800GS more since it has more shader power than the 9600GT. In high resolutions, 9600GT should perform much better because of an extra 128MB framebuffer and the 256-bit memory bandwidth. For lower-res gamers (esp. 1280x1024), the 8800GS would be the better buy. It's also decently overclockable (my EN8800GS does 700/1000/1750 core/mem/shader). The 9600GT would be a better buy if you intend higher resolutions (but I would rather get an 8800GT than a 9600GT then)."

Is this true? I'll be running 1920x1200. (As an aside, the 512mb 8800gt is out of my price range)

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: fpoverflow
Interesting. Here is a comparison between the 9600gt and 8800gs. It looks pretty close:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_...hp?card1=557&card2=551

There was this comment under the 8800gs:
"Depends on game, more shader heavy games will favor the 8800GS more since it has more shader power than the 9600GT. In high resolutions, 9600GT should perform much better because of an extra 128MB framebuffer and the 256-bit memory bandwidth. For lower-res gamers (esp. 1280x1024), the 8800GS would be the better buy. It's also decently overclockable (my EN8800GS does 700/1000/1750 core/mem/shader). The 9600GT would be a better buy if you intend higher resolutions (but I would rather get an 8800GT than a 9600GT then)."

Is this true? I'll be running 1920x1200. (As an aside, the 512mb 8800gt is out of my price range)

That is quite correct. For that resolution get the 9600 GT, but it will not handle it pretty well. To run all the newest games maxed out at that resolution, you have to invest in something much faster, but since you don't have the money, the GT is the best option.

 

[taltamir]

is your card out of warranty? overheating doesn't cause a driver reset, it causes the video card to crash, which vista solves by resetting the drivers and power cycling the video card. (I think ATI has a similar thing for winXP called VPU recoverer...)

If your video card crashes despite good cooling on your part then it is defective, RMA it for a non defective unit.

 

[Denithor]

EVGA 8800GS $112 after MIR

Much quieter than the XFX card.

But yeah, at 1920x1200 you may want more of a card, such as an 8800GT ($160 after MIR) or 8800GTS (G92 version, $200 after MIR).

 

[Lithan]

Originally posted by: fpoverflow
Interesting. Here is a comparison between the 9600gt and 8800gs. It looks pretty close:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_...hp?card1=557&card2=551

There was this comment under the 8800gs:
"Depends on game, more shader heavy games will favor the 8800GS more since it has more shader power than the 9600GT. In high resolutions, 9600GT should perform much better because of an extra 128MB framebuffer and the 256-bit memory bandwidth. For lower-res gamers (esp. 1280x1024), the 8800GS would be the better buy. It's also decently overclockable (my EN8800GS does 700/1000/1750 core/mem/shader). The 9600GT would be a better buy if you intend higher resolutions (but I would rather get an 8800GT than a 9600GT then)."

Is this true? I'll be running 1920x1200. (As an aside, the 512mb 8800gt is out of my price range)

Right now there's nothing the 8800gs beats the 9600gt in by a significant margin. You can gamble on future performace due to more shaders, but since 99.9% of cards sold today have 512megs on em, Imma guess that buying anything less than that for future games would be a bad idea, since devs will be aiming their games at that number.
9600gt is a better card beyond any shade of doubt. But if you're running low res or don't care about AA, 8800gs is a cheaper alternative that performs about the same in most cases .

 

[bryanW1995]

since you've already clearly stated that you are using 1920x1200, the best $100 ish card by far for you is the 9600gt. just keep in mind that you will have to turn down the details quite a bit on most games. it should, however, be a decent upgrade to your 1950xt. if the xt is still under warranty then you should try for an rma on it, however, b/c they might end up giving you an "equivalent" card, which today would probably be a 3850.

 

[fpoverflow]

It is actually still under warranty. I thought it was older than 1 year, but it is not.

How is Sapphire for RMAs? I guess I'll need to put the original fan back on.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I had the same problem with my 1800xtx, threw a 9600GT in and it is now MUCH faster and smooth operation.

 

[AzN]

Right now there's nothing the 9600gt beats the 8800gs in by a significant margin. You can gamble on future performance with 128mb more vram but since more than 50% of the cards today still have 256mb of vram, I'm going to guess it won't make a difference unless running higher resolutions with AA. Not that 9600gt is a bad card it just won't be able to hit the frame rates even at lower resolutions with shader heavy games vs 8800gs. AA would be useless if the card can't even hit 30fps.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: fpoverflow
It is actually still under warranty. I thought it was older than 1 year, but it is not.

How is Sapphire for RMAs? I guess I'll need to put the original fan back on.

Sapphire aren't known for their RMA process.

 

[Lithan]

I'd advise ignoring azn's advice. Here's one of many reviews that shows the 8800gs losing to the 9600gt by 10-20% in recent games, and 20-50% in the most current games at high resolutions, demonstrating that 8800gs' memory limits are far more crippling in modern games than 9600gt's shader limits. Anyone who advises 8800gs over 9600gt for any reason other than price advantage, you can bet money is an 8800gs owner who is trying to justify their purchase.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index....0&limit=1&limitstart=1

 

[AzN]

I'd advise ignoring Lithan's advice. Here's more recent review based on new drivers and written by in depth hardware reviewers not FUD. There are some games 8800gs beats 9600gt and then there's 9600gt beats 8800gs. There really isn't a cut winner unless you are comparing AA performance only where 9600gt seems to be better by 10-20%. There are lot of newbies think 10% performance advantage now will be same with future games which isn't true if you know your PC game industry like me who've been playing PC games since 1980's and know the industry like it's part of my matrix.

http://en.expreview.com/2008/0...ards-round-up/?page=13

 

[Lithan]

Azn does, on the other hand, once in awhile, accidentally contribute something useful. Such as linking a benchmark that shows the 8800gs losing every single benchmark at 1920x1200. He does have a knack for proving himself wrong. Must have something to do with his industry experience from 15 years before games started supporting 3d accelerators. He's just smart like that.

edit: Scratch that, 8800gs wins in bioshock by 3 fps.

Including AA and AF off's lets count em down.

8800gs wins by: 5%, 5%, 7%, 3%, 7%


9600gt wins by: 17%, 5%, 16%, 10%, 100%, 22%, 215%, 6%, 15%, 5%, 22%, 7%, 20%, 8%, 23%, 45%, 7%, 25%, 10%, 2%



If that's even, then I've got a bridge to sell you.

 

[krnmastersgt]

I'd have to go with Denithor's suggestion over the rest of these, the 9600 GT and 8800 GS are great cards for the price but unless you turn everything down no way are you going to get either to run 1900x1200 smoothly for a game like supcom, specially when there's nukes? My suggestion would be invest about ~$70 more and get an 8800GT.

 

[AzN]

Don't let my post count or my register date fool you. I've been a long time PC enthusiast since PC gaming started. I used to write cracks for games, mod all kinds of electronic components. I know the in's and out's unlike these new guys.

8800gt is really the sweet spot like Krnmastersgt suggested but I'm not too sure of what 9600gt. It performs great now but it has the weakest shader performance per $$$. If you payed attention to recent PC industry you would know that shader performance plays video card's longevity. Not pixel or memory bandwidth.

 

[fpoverflow]

Since neither card can really perform well at 1920x1200, maybe I should update the assumption to be that I'll run at a lower resolution. I have a 24 inch widescreen, so maybe 1440x900, or whatever the logical next step would be. Sorry to move the goalposts, but you guys have provided a lot of in depth info that has made me reevaluate.

What card comes out on top assuming 1440x900 resolution? Is the 9600gt still the best bet?

 

[Denithor]

For 1440x990 or the next step up, 1680x1050, the 9600GT and 8800GS will exchange blows in most games. If you turn on AA the 9600GT will probably come out a bit ahead but it also costs more so take that into consideration. If you are fixed around $100 the EVGA 8800GS is probably your best option.

Just don't count on either of these cards to have an extended usable lifespan.

 

[bryanW1995]

If you can wait a month for rv770 to come out, you might see 8800gt 512 start to go down closer to $100. Try to rma your x1950xt, too.

 

[golem]

If you need something right now and want to stay with ATI, 3850 have been dipping below $100 with rebate recently. It's generally slower than either the 8800gs or 9600gt however.