Nvidia Geforce 2 GTS 64mb BLEW UP!

[Yode]

Hiya,
Last night my Nvidia card died, along with most of my computer. So, I have to start getting new parts. Does anyone know if the Radeon 8500 OEM is the same as the retail version? I think that is the card I am going to get, unless anyone thinks I should wait?? Also does anyone know a good motherboard I could get. I dont have a LOT of money to spend but I want everything to be compatible with no stability issues or VIA problems. I wanted to go with AMD but does intel have better compatibility with ATI radeon's? (I was thinking about 1400mhz) Lastly, any solid, stable, compatible, good sound cards on the market? Let me know with any suggestions.
Thanks

 

[bront]

The Radeon 8500 Retail is clocked at 275/550, while the OEM is clocked at 250/500. The OEM is still a good card though, I've been quite happy with mine.

AMDs work fine with Radeon 8500s. I haven't had a problem.

Any motherboard with the KT266A chipset is quite stable and seems to be free of all the bugs Via is suposedly notable for. As for a good one for the price? Depends on what you want/need. Do you need RAID? Good Onboard Sound? Built in LAN? If not, you can probably find a good one for 100-120. If you need any or all of those, you can still get it for around 150-180.

If you need all the integrated stuff, the new Nforce boards might be good too, but it will depend on when they hit the market.

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