Video Card Purchase

[Aardor]

I just had my PNY 6600GT AGP go bad, and it has put me in a tough situation.

I can purchase another 6600GT AGP of some type, though I kind of want an upgrade since I am angry my card went bad two months after the warrenty expired.

I can purchase a 7800GS, though for the price they seem very disappointing.

Or, I can purchase a PCI-E motherboard and video card. This seems like a waste since socket 939 won't be used much anymore (with AM2), and DX10 cards being right around the corner, but it may offer more performance for the same money as a 7800GS.

I was looking to spend around $300, and any suggestions about what route to take, or even what hardware to get would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I currently have an Athlon 64 3200+ (venice) and an MSI Neo2-F motherboard.

[Psyloche]

I just had my PNY 6600GT AGP go bad, and it has put me in a tough situation.

I can purchase another 6600GT AGP of some type, though I kind of want an upgrade since I am angry my card went bad two months after the warrenty expired.

I can purchase a 7800GS, though for the price they seem very disappointing.

Or, I can purchase a PCI-E motherboard and video card. This seems like a waste since socket 939 won't be used much anymore (with AM2), and DX10 cards being right around the corner, but it may offer more performance for the same money as a 7800GS.

I was looking to spend around $300, and any suggestions about what route to take, or even what hardware to get would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I currently have an Athlon 64 3200+ (venice) and an MSI Neo2-F motherboard.

If you're looking to spend $300, how much are you willing to spend if you wait for AM2 and DX10 cards? Because those will be a shitload more.

[Mr Bacon]

Go PCI-E.

[Aardor]

A ton more, but DX10 aren't due for awhile yet (vista is january now?). The $300 price limit was due to getting an upgrade now, because I plan on buying a totally new system when the new technology comes out.

[Chidoro]

I finally made my purchase, I ordered an ati X700 pro as well as an atx 400 watt power supply from StarTech. It has dual 12V rails, whatever the fuck that means. Since I decided I was going to have to get a new power supply to accomplish what I wanted, I was looking at the x800 as well but the prices were ridiculous on a new one. Here's hoping it all works, Father's Day present, eesh

[Kylere]

Dual Rails mean that each of your 12v runs provide a different path out form you power supply each rated individually and passes out of the power supply on a diff set of lines ( really only the yellow line but that is moot)

So instead of it being regulated to provide Xamp out on one line then split it up, and depending on how honest the manufacturer was it will actually have to entirely different runs or split at cetrain points within the power supply.

For example my PS is as follows


While the <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 9">COOLMAX "EZ Wire" CU-600T ATX 600W Power Supply</a> at Newegg. com shows it runs +3.3V@30A, +5V@50A, +12V@35A, -5V@0.5A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.5A.

What this means in essense is that I can reasonably depend on my 12v lines will each be able to handle 18 and 20 amps respectively. Now the Coolmax linked above is also 600WATT and it can handle a massive 35Amps on a single 12v line and it is respectable ( it also costs 50 bucks more than mine, is ugly and not chromed like mine http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-xfinity-600w-titanium.html )

But with people wanting 2 video cards that DRAW power like a fat girl slurps milkshakes and each wanting a reliable supply, you cannot count on that 35Amps being split evenly along that line, so you may not maintain a steady and needed flow of power.

I rebuilt my comp, replaced MB, Processor, Vid Card just a month ago then a spent a week not using it except by dual power supplying it while I picked out, ordered and waited on shipping for a new powersupply. My comp initially worked fine, I took it up to 2 gigs from 1, added my pocketpc, my USB game controller, and then it would not boot all the way anymore, never made it past bios sometimes, sometimes would boot into windows, sometimes it would make it into BIOS, then BOOM it would shut down. Removed all the USB stuff, tried, no better, removed the extra ram, then the optical drives, then the second hard drive, and it booted and seemed stable, then I fired up a game, my video card started pulling, and BOOM shutdown. It was frustrating as hell. I wired up my wifes 450watt and it ran like a charm ( sad thing is mine was 400Watt lol). So the moral of the story is go read the <a href=http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93">Power Supply</a> Forum at HardOCP.

[Chidoro]

Dual Rails mean that each of your 12v runs provide a different path out form you power supply each rated individually and passes out of the power supply on a diff set of lines ( really only the yellow line but that is moot)

So instead of it being regulated to provide Xamp out on one line then split it up, and depending on how honest the manufacturer was it will actually have to entirely different runs or split at cetrain points within the power supply.

For example my PS is as follows


While the <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 9">COOLMAX "EZ Wire" CU-600T ATX 600W Power Supply</a> at Newegg. com shows it runs +3.3V@30A, +5V@50A, +12V@35A, -5V@0.5A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2.5A.

What this means in essense is that I can reasonably depend on my 12v lines will each be able to handle 18 and 20 amps respectively. Now the Coolmax linked above is also 600WATT and it can handle a massive 35Amps on a single 12v line and it is respectable ( it also costs 50 bucks more than mine, is ugly and not chromed like mine http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-xfinity-600w-titanium.html )

But with people wanting 2 video cards that DRAW power like a fat girl slurps milkshakes and each wanting a reliable supply, you cannot count on that 35Amps being split evenly along that line, so you may not maintain a steady and needed flow of power.

I rebuilt my comp, replaced MB, Processor, Vid Card just a month ago then a spent a week not using it except by dual power supplying it while I picked out, ordered and waited on shipping for a new powersupply. My comp initially worked fine, I took it up to 2 gigs from 1, added my pocketpc, my USB game controller, and then it would not boot all the way anymore, never made it past bios sometimes, sometimes would boot into windows, sometimes it would make it into BIOS, then BOOM it would shut down. Removed all the USB stuff, tried, no better, removed the extra ram, then the optical drives, then the second hard drive, and it booted and seemed stable, then I fired up a game, my video card started pulling, and BOOM shutdown. It was frustrating as hell. I wired up my wifes 450watt and it ran like a charm ( sad thing is mine was 400Watt lol). So the moral of the story is go read the <a href=http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93">Power Supply</a> Forum at HardOCP.

Thank you for the info. Still haven't had the chance to put the stuff in yet. I'm hoping this coming 4 day weekend will do it.