Another Graphics Card Question

[Poisoner]

Okay, I have another GPU question. I say another because you can't go five seconds without hearing "Do I get X or Y?" Anyways, I won an XFX HD 4770 on ebay that was practically brand new for 66 dollars, so it was a good price. However I have a second chance offer on an HD 4870 512mb for 63 dollars. However, the deal with that card is that it needs a bios reflash. The owner's friend flashed it and from the on it would restart or show a black screen. So do I go for the safe option or do I go for the risky reflash and the more powerful card?

 

[mister g]

Safe, I would recomend this because it's very hard to flash the BIOS of a video card in the first place and if the owner couldn't find the original BIOS for his card I doubt you can either, however if you can find a reliable BIOS then I would say get both and sell the 4770.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I agree - Go for the safe bet. Sometimes, a BIOS flash goes horribly wrong and the flash utility will no longer be able to even see the card is present in the system afterward. Such cards are totally bricked, but should make for nice paperweights.

It's not hard to find downloadable VGA BIOS for cards. (Techpowerup.com has many VGA BIOS versions available for various makes/models.) Odds are he's looked for help with the situation wherever he got his advice or information on how to do it. So if he was never able to get it working again, it's quite possible that card is totally bricked. It's not worth the risk.

But, if you wish to investigate it further, asking him if ATIFlash can even see the card when the "atiflash -i" command is used. If not, it's a goner.

 

[Poisoner]

He says it works but I am going to go with what you guys say and play the safe option. Especially since I got a good deal on that 4770.

 

[Poisoner]

Best answer selected by Poisoner.