Need to buy a new graphics card... suggestions?

[brisk]

My ATI X800 PRO 256MB has (almost died).

But first, a little history:

I bought the unit from the USA, and there was a problem with the card in that it cannot render AA properly. I contacted the manufacturer, and they said they can replace it - but only to a US citizen, since they don't actually sell them internationally.

Anyway, i've lived with the card ever since. AA wasn't such a big issue for me, but I was still pretty pissed off since I paid about £280 for it when it came out 2 years or so ago.

Stepping forward to the present day, I noticed that I had weird issues with Oblivion. Texture thrashing, and other graphics corruption got me a little paranoid, and i've been trying different driver versions and whats not to fix it.

Well yesterday night, the card just seemed to pack in, and Oblivion will no longer work properly (it loads ok, but when I actually load one of my saves, there is only half the screen rendered for a few secs, and then it crashes). Interestingly, Quake 3 still works ok, so maybe its just a direct x related issue.

Regardless, I want my Oblivion fix! So basically, I want the closest current replacement to my ATI X800 PRO 256MB, which gives comparable (or slightly better) performance. Oh, and it has to be AGP too, since i'm still using a 754 motherboard, and don't fancy replacing my mobo/cpu just yet. I have a budget of about £150 (at a push), but if you suggest something, i'll probably be able to find it cheaper on ebay anyway.

Thanks if you can help...

[brisk]

Oh, and I got some scary desktop corruption too last night... it actually looked pretty neat, and I wish I took some screenshots, but it was pretty reminiscent of overheating-related issues. However, my card was running well within acceptable ranges (50C when idle, 72C when active) so I don't think that was the problem. Either way, i've had enough of this shit, and want to replace it ASAP.

[phantasmagoria]

before you replace it, the problems you described in the oblivion thread sound like it's overheating, like the desktop thing. Try taking the HSF apart and cleaning any dust out of it, my 9800pro was overheating because it was full of dust, a quick clean and it was good as new.

[brisk]

before you replace it, the problems you described in the oblivion thread sound like it's overheating, like the desktop thing. Try taking the HSF apart and cleaning any dust out of it, my 9800pro was overheating because it was full of dust, a quick clean and it was good as new.

That would have been the case a few days ago, but now the game won't play, even when I turned my PC on this morning (when the card was ice cold).

[DiscoDave]

Assumming windows runs fine you could try getting ati tool http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/. Don't overclock it but use the artifact checker and see if any turn up.

As for a AGP card replacement for your £150 budget i *think* you can get a X850XT for that price if you want to stick with ATi

[Grudge]

I guess the X800GTO is the only easily available comparable replacement in that price range.

[brisk]

lol i don't believe it... i decided to install oblivion onto my laptop as it was the only way i could get my fix. i moved over the saves and config files from my desktop and guess what - same problem! it then dawned on me that perhaps the problem was my config file.... and low and behold, it was! so i've put everything back to default (bar the controls), and now all is good.

a lesson to you all - be careful what you tweak

this still doesn't explain the desktop corruption tho... so my card is probably still due a replacement, but hey at least i can play oblivion again now

[plained]

happy ending

[Don Carlos]

NVIDIA MOFO!!!

[SplishSplash]

I have the Nvidia 7600 GT

It's about 200 € and I like it a lot.

[tnf]

again, I'll recommend the BFG 6800 GT OC AGP card.

Giraffe Hunter got one recently and seemed to be happy with it as well.

[Kills On Site]

I have a 6800GT from BFG and I have overclocked it past 6800 Ultra specs, runs perfectly.

[teriba]

7800 GS /end of thread

[Scourge]

7800 GS /end of thread

I have a budget of about £150 (at a push)

That may be a little out of his range.

[teriba]

They're $300USD.

[eepberries]

I hear the GeForce 3 is pretty wicked

[Scourge]

They're $300USD.

Which is still roughly £100 more than he has to spend. Just figured that might be a bit of a stretch.

[mjrpes]

I have an X800XL. The best thing about it is the passive heatsink. I bought it on newegg refurbished for $200.

[YourGrandpa]

7900 GTX 512.

[Scarface]

6800GS AGP, I bought it, unlocked the extra pipes and vertex shader, o/c it to 401/1170. I'm sure i can go more, but, meh.

[teriba]

They're $300USD.

Which is still roughly £100 more than he has to spend. Just figured that might be a bit of a stretch.

150 British pounds = 261 U.S. dollars

300 - 261 = 39 U.S. dollars short

39 U.S. dollars = 22.4137931 British pounds

So, it's 22 pounds more, not 100.

It's a bit above his budget but not much.

[Scourge]

They're $300USD.

Which is still roughly £100 more than he has to spend. Just figured that might be a bit of a stretch.

150 British pounds = 261 U.S. dollars

300 - 261 = 39 U.S. dollars short

39 U.S. dollars = 22.4137931 British pounds

So, it's 22 pounds more, not 100.

It's a bit above his budget but not much.

edit: seems i goofed. I was thinking euros.

[Canis]

The ATI Rage II is a pretty good card.