Minor Dilemma

[hans]

I built a computer during Dec 2004 / Jan 2005. Here is a composite of the newegg invoices:

The Video Card: eVGA GeForce 6800 GT (P/N: 256-A8-N349-AX) is on the fritz. I pulled the card and replaced it with another, old card and the computer worked.

I am (was) totally satisfied with my computers performance, it ran all the games I played fine, mainly WoW and CS:S.

My questions are:

Upgrade with a AGP card:$300.

Get same AGP card: $145.

Get new motherboard for PCI-E card and upgrade? Is socket 939 gonna be around for a while? What about SDRAM?

I don't mind spending the money now if I am gonna end up spending it later on down the road, but i don't want to "waste" money by spending it now and again ... if you catch my drift. Nonetheless, thanks for any advice.

Hans

 

[mulciber]

If you are satisfied with performance, don't upgrade. Its as simple as that, however keep in mind that as more people upgrade video cards and to conroe level processors... expect your performance in online games to become worse and worse. When you become unsatisfied simply upgrade =).

 

[hans]

also:

is it even remotely possible to fix the card?

any idea what may have caused it to fail?

does eVGA suck or was i unlucky?

 

[The_Prophecy]

you were probably just unlucky. I haven't heard many complaints about eVGA cards, other than some refering to a few 7900GT cards.

 

[kizuki]

Socket 939 won't last too long according to the timelines. You should probably upgrade later on.

 

[wun911]

If cs and wow is all you play just keep AGP going..... save you money....

Get 7800GS or 6800 ultra or something like that they still make some ice AGP cards these days....

new PCIe MB and a 7900GTX is over kill for wow and cs

 

[Kloude]

It will be a good time to upgrade soon if that is what you decide to do. Considerable price cuts on all CPUs will come late July or early August as well as new CPUs (Conroe) around that time too. Do not go S939, it is obsolete. Go with AM2 if you prefer AMD side of things.

Tthe only upside to sticking with S939 for you is that you won't have to upgrade your RAM (you can keep you current one).

 

[sirheck]

just buy a new agp card for 150 or less.
another 68gt. also i hear the x800gto by ati is a good card.
but you would have to uninstall the nvidia drivers and all that.
and if you upgraded now to pcix mother board,cpu and video card.
the video card would be out of date when vista and dx10 come out in around 6 months or so.
so i would say wait till the spring time after vista and dx10 are out
for a while <hopefully> and then upgrade.
i think i wil keep windows xp till this time next year.
unless vista is really good and all the bugs are worked out.

 

[TSIllusion]

if its evga, it should be lifetime warrenty... see if you see that..

 

[ecosoft]

Be more specific about what "on the fritz" actually means. Does the system boot with the card and then start displaying wierd artifacts? Have you checked the HSF ... is it solidly attached to the GPU ... and the fan works? Your supplemental 12V power connector is putting out the "juice" OK?

 

[hans]

if its evga, it should be lifetime warrenty... see if you see that..

The first time I spoke with eVGA, their guy said their warranties only last one year. I just called again, and they now have lifetime warranties (since june of '05). But my card should have a two year warranty!! You rock, thanks!

Be more specific about what "on the fritz" actually means. Does the system boot with the card and then start displaying wierd artifacts? Have you checked the HSF ... is it solidly attached to the GPU ... and the fan works? Your supplemental 12V power connector is putting out the "juice" OK?

When I boot my computer, the monitor never turns on .. it stays in "hibernation" ... the light is orange (versus off or green) ... also during boot up it beeps 8 times, which means a GPU failure according to the motherboard book. The fan for the video card is on, so I *think* that the power is good .. however, the replacement card did not require additional power, but the 6800 did not work in another computer. I checked for any loose parts when I had the card pulled out.

Thanks for all the responses and thought.

Regards,

Hans