8800 GTS dying... what to get for a new card?

[miniMUNCH]

Need some advice from the sage crew @ AT.

1) So my 8800 GTS 640MB has problems.... I first started getting random lock ups with playing games or even just browsing the net, things sorta progresses and now the driver constantly crashes immediately upon entering Vista and my screen is riddled with evenly spaced, green vertical lines.

I do often see graphics corruptions during the boot sequence, as well.

I tried completely reinstalling drivers, changing DVI cables, etc.

At this point I'm thinking borked video memory but I'm no expert. What do you folks think? Should I try 'baking' my card? From what I understand baking won't help bad memory.


2) I don't really know what to get to replace my 8800 GTS.

My system is a little old:

2.0 GHz core 2 duo
4 GB RAM
Asus P5B deluxe
Vista 64 (will probably install win 7 shortly)

I'm looking to spend 100-150 dollars on a replacement... was looking at a 250GTS or maybe stepping up to a 4850 or 5700 series (but I'm figuring my processor is just gonna bottleneck the GPU for the 4850 or 5700 series).

Thank you ahead of time for your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[ahenkel]

It can't hurt to bake the card. I baked my friends 8500gt that was doing almost the same thing as your card and its been flawless for the last week.

 

[MrK6]

It can't hurt to bake the card. I baked my friends 8500gt that was doing almost the same thing as your card and its been flawless for the last week.

+1 for baking. Link to instructions and testimonials: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792&highlight=holy+crap

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

You could look intot the XFX 1GB 4850 that's on clearance at BestBuy for $85.
Hard to beat that for the amount of GPU power you get.

 

[Blue Shift]

: (

It's sad to see an 8800 die. Which brand/edition was it?

 

[CurseTheSky]

: (

It's sad to see an 8800 die. Which brand/edition was it?

It seems like many of them are. My 8800 GTX recently "died" (artifacts everywhere), but after 10 minutes of baking it's back up and running. It's been a week now, and so far so good.

 

[Blue Shift]

It seems like many of them are. My 8800 GTX recently "died" (artifacts everywhere), but after 10 minutes of baking it's back up and running. It's been a week now, and so far so good.

Let's take this back to my thread, which would un-derail both of them. I was looking for info on ways of telling which cards can last, and which can't.

 

[bryanW1995]

if baking doesn't work, I'd look to do the following:

1. oc your c2d. a 2 gz cpu like that will almost always oc 40% and will likely oc over 50% (on stock cooling).
2. look at that 4850 for $85. that is a steal on a card that is almost exactly equal to a 5770 in performance.

this should last you quite a while, and can be accomplished cheaply. heck, I'd probably do it even if the baking works...you could at least then sell the card on fs/ft or ebay for $40-60 and almost have a revenue neutral massive upgrade (rnmu)tm.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Hey, thanks for the input... yeah I think I'll try baking the card (can't hurt, right?).

It's an eVGA 8800 GTS 640MB, model (a little more than 3 years old)... you know what sucked too about eVGA?

I apparently "need" the serial number to even talk to eVGA tech support about the problem let alone put in for a warranty claim. Well... after a year or two of running the card, the heat bakes out the adhesive on the serial number sticker and it just falls off. All the other stickers on card are still on the card just fine... but the one sticker needed to get tech support / warranty falls off after a year of use (other folks have noticed this same thing happening). eVGA either did this on purpose or "yeah", they are THAT stupid. Anyhow... I no longer have the box for the card and the sticker fell some while back and is either lost in the case or, more likely, it got vacuumed up or thrown away (because I didn't know at the time what the hell it was, or didn't care). I have found plenty of evidence on the net that I am not the only victim of the 'baked and missing serial number sticker' thing with eVGA.

In the meantime, that 4850 looks really good for the money.

I actually have a Tuniq tower CPU cooler so I can probably OC the processor pretty well.

 

[MarcVenice]

I really think you should post on the evga-forum. They usually get praised for their excellent warranty and customer service. A videocard shouldn't die after 3 years and there should be other ways to identify it as an evga-card. If they would replace it with a 9800GT, you'd have a decent upgrade and should be set.

 

[bryanW1995]

+1 for marcVenice's idea.

@OP: I oc'd my e6750 from 2.66 to 3.7 with a tuniq, then used the same tuniq to oc my x3350 from 2.66 to 3.6. I gave the x3350 rig to my 4 year old because, you know, diego and dora online runs so much faster with a quad...anyway, had it for 2 1/2 years now, absolutely love it, it will oc like a champ.

 

[Allio]

2. look at that 4850 for $85. that is a steal on a card that is almost exactly equal to a 5770 in performance.

Huh? That'd take one monumental stock overclock...

 

[Jhatfie]

if baking doesn't work, I'd look to do the following:
2. look at that 4850 for $85. that is a steal on a card that is almost exactly equal to a 5770 in performance.

Ummmm, no. I own both cards and the 4850 is not "equal" to the 5770 at all, the 4870 is about the same as the 5770. There are a couple games where the 4850 is pretty close, within 10% but for a lot of games it is no competition with the 5770 outpacing it as much as 30% or more. Although a awesome deal, that $85 4850 deal is pretty much dead now as the stores that have it are few and far between. For under $100, the 4850 is still a great card but for a bit more the 5770 really is a much better choice. I got my 1GB Powercolor 5770 PCS + for under $120 after I sold the free copy of dirt 2 for $15.

To the original poster, the HD 5770 is a great choice for under $150. Something to note though is that the new ATI HD 5830 may be released before the end of the month and it should be a big upgrade if you can afford it's extra cost. No one knows for sure, but if it was priced over $225 I'd be disappointed. Also, as mentioned at 2.0Ghz your processor may bottleneck your system a bit, but even the older core 2's should OC to 3ghz pretty easy giving you some free performance. The older E2180's and E4300's I've played with all did over 3.2-3.5ghz stable at or near stock voltage and the hair newer E8400's and E8500's have done 4.0-4.2Ghz with not that much effort.

 

[nyker96]

get a dx11 card.

 

[miniMUNCH]

As far as the 5770 vs. the 4850.. I left out a piece of information.

I'm gonna be putting together a new system pretty soon for home use and my present system is gonna go to my office (I'm running a small business with a friend).

So I really don't need this new card to be uber at running the latest and greatest games... I'll have new system for that in 2-4 weeks (after I get my tax refund).

I do want the card to be decent, though, because I'm gonna run some CAD.

So I think I"m choosing between the 4850 and the 250 GTS... I'f i go with the 250 I'd get the MSI card because it's 100 USD after rebate at newegg and I can get a free copy of Resident evil 5 while I'm at it.)

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

It's sad to see an 8800 die. Which brand/edition was it?

Oddly enough, my supposedly crappy PNY cards are still running strong (2x 8800GTS 320MB, a 8800GTX, couple of 8500/8600s). But then again, these have all been run with a RivaTuner fan setting of 50%.

 

[Inspire]

Get the 5750 then, and save a few bucks.

 

[bryanW1995]

oops, meant 4850 is ~ 5750 :|

 

[bruce0916]

I just upgraded to 5770 from gts250 and I thought it's worth.
One of the reason I do not take 4870 into consideration is the power consumption, because I wouldn't like to buy a new power supply so far.^_^
After using 5770, it's silent fan and temp. when playing video game also impresses me so much.