I have an old P4 setup on an ASUS P4T533-C that has been giving me fits over the last year. The Radeon 9700 Pro in it was dying, and seriously, that thing turned to hot lava, possibly damaging the mobo. But anyway, I decided to upgrade the video card since it needed replacement anyway. Since the Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 was backward compatible with the AGP 4x on my mobo, I got it (That's a curiously powerful AGP card, BTW). However, I'm still having problems with my PC after the new video card (framerate problems, and I think my PSU isn't quite beefy enough as it shuts off in the middle of games.. its a 420W PSU but only 16A on the +12V rail).
So here's the dilemma. I've got some debt that I have to pay off so I can't really afford a new-era gamer/enthusiast PC (if I didn't have the debt I could easliy afford an Alienware/Falcon-NW/MAINGEAR if I wanted to ..
So kids, moral of the story - DEBT SUCKS). I know this PC is old but it'd be nice to keep it going if possible just so I have something to use in the interrim while I solve my $ problems. However, I think there's a possibility that the mobo is just self-destructing (which really, is the dilemma). I like the power on the card, but I don't want to waste a card like that on something that is just going to die anyway (and plus, Mobo is not 8x).
So the crux of the matter: Do I keep the HD 3850 and bear with the problems? Do I send it back (got it less than a week ago) and get a lesser video card? Or (another option I'm willing to consider if I can do it for less than $250 for CPU/mobo/RAM): Build up another rig (2006 era), possibly cheap because of the yesterday-era components, designed around the HD 3850 w/ an AGP 8x mobo? My kids and I don't really play new-era games so a modern elite/enthusiast type rig isn't something I'd go for, especially right now, so if it'd last me another 3 years, the build-a-rig route would be nice.
What do you guys suggest? If I were to go the build-rig-around-HD 3850 route, what parts-list would be the biggest bang for the buck? Anyone know of a good AGP 8x mobo or setup I could use to fully utilize the HD 3850?
So here's the dilemma. I've got some debt that I have to pay off so I can't really afford a new-era gamer/enthusiast PC (if I didn't have the debt I could easliy afford an Alienware/Falcon-NW/MAINGEAR if I wanted to ..
So kids, moral of the story - DEBT SUCKS). I know this PC is old but it'd be nice to keep it going if possible just so I have something to use in the interrim while I solve my $ problems. However, I think there's a possibility that the mobo is just self-destructing (which really, is the dilemma). I like the power on the card, but I don't want to waste a card like that on something that is just going to die anyway (and plus, Mobo is not 8x).So the crux of the matter: Do I keep the HD 3850 and bear with the problems? Do I send it back (got it less than a week ago) and get a lesser video card? Or (another option I'm willing to consider if I can do it for less than $250 for CPU/mobo/RAM): Build up another rig (2006 era), possibly cheap because of the yesterday-era components, designed around the HD 3850 w/ an AGP 8x mobo? My kids and I don't really play new-era games so a modern elite/enthusiast type rig isn't something I'd go for, especially right now, so if it'd last me another 3 years, the build-a-rig route would be nice.
What do you guys suggest? If I were to go the build-rig-around-HD 3850 route, what parts-list would be the biggest bang for the buck? Anyone know of a good AGP 8x mobo or setup I could use to fully utilize the HD 3850?
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