Is This Video Card (9500GT) Junk?

[david132]

Hello Everyone/Anyone,
I am having a problem with my new rig I built that I think may be the video card. I dont know a lot about video cards yet. The system I built is in my profile, but long and short, its the Asus Crosshair III Motherboard, with the Phenom II x4 955 BE. The PSU is Antec EA750 and the video card (which was temporary and to be upgraded later) is an EVGA GeForce 9500GT. Monitor is Auria 24" running 1920x1080 in DVI as the 9500GT doesnt support HDMI. One thing I will appreciate with a new card.
I built this system for gaming and learning about overclocking (which I havent done yet, but have toyed enough to see what Im doing). With crossfire being a possability, also to learn and see the difference myself. I just wasnt ready yet to research video cards as I had done with the whole system. Toms Hardware Forums helped so much in this research and learning experience.
The system has been running great for about a month and a half. I had system monitors up and the screen and was starting to load another but it was hanging, said heck with it and shut the system down.(which I have done many times) Now it wont even get to post. The monitor puts up that its not receiving signal which leads me to believe its the video card when the Bios goes to detect it. All I had done in the BIOS was set the memory timings and voltage. And it had been running fine, even passed 5 hours of memtest so that isnt the problem. I have the Bios set to detect hardware rather than the operating system, so they arent run as plug and play devices, but as what they really are. All drivers are up to date.
I had a similar problem with this card in my old system where it worked fine for about a month and a half and quit. It ran games like Modern Warfare 2 fine, and at high settings in the new system. And Modern Warfare in the old one.
I feel this video card is junk though (brand wise as well as this card). Does anyone concur? Was there problems with this particular card?

I am now looking into a replacement ($200 absolute max). I want something that'll be good for a long time to come, and I can crossfire. It will need to be ATI as the motherboard has the ATI chipset and I read single Nvidia will run okay but doesnt crossfire well ( I know, Nvidia is SLI- same idea).
I was looking at this one: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102868&cm_re=ati_sapphire-_-14-102-868-_-Product) Although a little high in price and having to flash the VBIOS is not something I wanted to get into, as I have no flash drive as of yet and dont know anything about it. (I bring this up after reading a couple reviews at NewEgg) Is this a super good card for its price? I am a stickler for running things maxed as a test for the whole system so as to see how good the grafix are.

Any help will be greatly apreciated..............Thanks

 

[the chasm]

For almost the same price, you could get a 5830, which will perform better, such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102878

However, I've been told and seen the benchmarks, the GTX 460, even the 768MB model, will run faster. I don't no about the SLI-incompatability, though.

 

[wa1]

9500GT is not a gaming card, it's a weak card...
Yes, HD5770 is good for moderate gaming at 1920x1080, go for it.
The rest of your specs are good.

 

[wiinippongamer]

why pay so much more extra for the vapor-x version? theres a 5770 on newegg just $145 right now

 

[david132]

Thanks for the replys everyone.
I am comparing. I dont know much about the pcie 2.0 vs 2.1. will a 2.1 run in a 2.0 slot?

And does anyone have any opinions about the no boot issue I am facing? Could it indeed be the card is flaking out on me?

 

[wiinippongamer]

there's no such thing as PCIE 2.1, the existing versions are 1.1 and 2.0.

a pcie 1.1 card will work on a pcie 2.0 mobo without a problem, and viceversa.


the boot issue is most likely the video card if the monitor doesnt get any signal

 

[david132]

Thanks Wiinippongam,
Sorry, I mistyped. The pcie 2.1 that I was referring to is pcie x16 2.1 as is in the description of the card (SAPPHIRE 100297L Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP) I really dont think there will be a problem. I am just starting my research and education on video cards. I have to read into clock speeds and all that good stuff. I did my whole system that way, from PSU's with single vs multiple rails, to overclocking cpus and memory, and heatsinks/coolers. And cases. Reading reviews and re-deciding. Toms Hardware and NewEgg R O C K!

 

[wiinippongamer]

it's a typo from newegg, the card is listed pcie 2.0 on sapphire's site

 

[wiinippongamer]

5770 will be no good for ur resolution .if u want to play at max setting.Get gtx 460

gtx 460 is good but 5830 penforms better for $30 less.

 

[wiinippongamer]

^fanboy alert

 

[renz496]

gtx 460 is good but 5830 penforms better for $30 less.

http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/R/254367/original/3DMark Vantage Overall.png

http://media.bestofmicro.com/A/2/254378/original/Crysis 1920.png

http://media.bestofmicro.com/A/0/254376/original/Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 2560.png

lol why pick a chart that only shows 5830 wins?

 

[wiinippongamer]

on some games 5830 is better while in others the gtx460 edges it out.

neither card wins by a noticeable difference anyways, and 5830 is cheaper

 

[renz496]

i thought that the price of 5830 is the same as GTX460 768mb though some retailers still maintain it's older price

 

[wiinippongamer]

cheapest 5830 on newegg is $200, cheapest 1gb gtx460 is $230.

the 768mb one is $200 but won't penform as well and stays short on memory at high resolutions

 

[david132]

Thanks again everyone. Didnt meant to start an argument. I do have some research ahead of me. what should I be looking for to run the higher settings? Is that the faster shader clock? Or should I be looking more at the core clock? Also, I knew even less about video cards when I bought the 9500GT, but I thought a 1GB card would be good.But in todays cards, is this an issue? Or is it more of a speed issue? How fast it can process vs how much it can hold in memory. I know the DDR5 is good. And as for the DirextX 11, I would like to have a card for that since Windows 7 Ultimate is that updated as well.
The gtx460 sounds pretty good, but its Nvidia, which wont work later on when I decide to get a second to try crossfire. The Crosshair III has ATI grafix. From what I have been seeing, Nvidia has the better cards though.

 

[renz496]

Thanks again everyone. Didnt meant to start an argument. I do have some research ahead of me. what should I be looking for to run the higher settings? Is that the faster shader clock? Or should I be looking more at the core clock? Also, I knew even less about video cards when I bought the 9500GT, but I thought a 1GB card would be good.But in todays cards, is this an issue? Or is it more of a speed issue? How fast it can process vs how much it can hold in memory. I know the DDR5 is good. And as for the DirextX 11, I would like to have a card for that since Windows 7 Ultimate is that updated as well.
The gtx460 sounds pretty good, but its Nvidia, which wont work later on when I decide to get a second to try crossfire. The Crosshair III has ATI grafix. From what I have been seeing, Nvidia has the better cards though.

forgot that you're going to use Crosshair III.

if you really go with that board then just get ATI card. but instead of 5830 you should looking at 5850. i know the price is out from your budget limit but having a good card is not bad either. in the end it's your call

 

[notty22]

gtx 460 is good but 5830 penforms better for $30 less.

http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/R/254367/original/3DMark Vantage Overall.png

http://media.bestofmicro.com/A/2/254378/original/Crysis 1920.png

http://media.bestofmicro.com/A/0/254376/original/Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 2560.png

There is not one review from the many with the launch of the GTX 460, that did not declare the 460 the better gaming card by far over the 5830.

The Bottom Line

To put it simply, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 is a fantastic product. It is priced right; it performs admirably; it is dead quiet; it sips power; it runs cool, and it overclocks like a monster without voltage modification. Even when overclocked, its fan kept it cooler than AMD’s competitor. In three out of the five games we tested, we had a markedly superior gaming experience. In the other two, the GTX easily matched the competition. There was no time in this evaluation whence the GeForce GTX 460 did not set itself apart as a superior product. Even when performance was merely equaled, it was quieter and using less power!

We are giving the GTX 460 our Editor’s Choice GOLD Award, because we have simply never seen such an incredible value in a $200 video card before. You can buy plenty of these right now at Newegg, starting at $199.99 USD.

 

[david132]

A LOT of really GREAT information. Thank you all very much. That's what I love about Toms forums. You are all so helpful.
If I was sticking with a single card I would more than likely go with the gtx 460. But as I may try crossfire in the near future I will more probably go with the 5830. I will try to get one with the voltage control as recommended like Asus. Some benchmarks I saw the 5850 and the 5830 ran very close. And the 5830 is more my price range right now.
Unfortunitly there can only be one best answer, or I would give one to all of you. Thanks again

 

[david132]

Best answer selected by david132.

 

[jitpublisher]

5830 is a junk card gtx460 will give u better performance in dx11 games.

A 5830 is not "junk". It's a great card at $200. But I would not pay more than that.

 

[david132]

I took it all in stride Jit. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
As I said. I was looking at some benchmarks and the 5830 was real close to the 5850. But then agian. It all depends on which benchmarks.

Since you came back I have another question.......How would a pair of 5830s do in crossfire? In your opinion. I was looking at an article here in Toms, one vs 2 in crossfire, benchmarks showed almost double performance. Have you tried it? I may try it this winter when Im laid off again so I can compare myself.

 

[Mousemonkey]

there's no such thing as PCIE 2.1, the existing versions are 1.1 and 2.0.

a pcie 1.1 card will work on a pcie 2.0 mobo without a problem, and viceversa.


the boot issue is most likely the video card if the monitor doesnt get any signal

Why then do AMD list their card as being 2.1 if such a thing does not exist and was just a typo?
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5770/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5770-specifications.aspx

 

[Mousemonkey]

Best answer selected by mousemonkey.

 

[david132]

I was wondering that myself. I noticed many cards with that 2.1, so I kept poking around. Dont rememebr where it was. You would have to go under grfics cards in the forum header, but aparently the 2.1's are deisigned to run in the new 3.0 slots. but as far the 2.0 will run in the 2.1. The 3.0 slots take avantage of some features in the card that the 2.0 cant

 

[Mousemonkey]

I was wondering that myself. I noticed many cards with that 2.1, so I kept poking around. Dont rememebr where it was. You would have to go under grfics cards in the forum header, but aparently the 2.1's are deisigned to run in the new 3.0 slots. but as far the 2.0 will run in the 2.1. The 3.0 slots take avantage of some features in the card that the 2.0 cant

The 2.1 spec is supposed to be backwards compatible and for most it has been but I have seen quite a few posts from people who's brand new card won't work in their machine but works fine on the one in the shop.