Don't you have your old video card you could back in while you waited for a
new video card?
Here is an excellent shootout of X800XL video cards. I wanted to get the
HIS but I waited too long trying to deciee which video crd to get and then
they were out of stock. I wanted the HIS because it was 'cheaper' than the
Sapphire. I have been very happy with the Sapphire and have not had any
reason to OC and it rocks any game I've thrown at it so far. I got mine at
Chief Value.
The MSI looked really good to if you do some video capturing as it has that
Chip on it too (as well as the PowerCooler)
I've heard that people with clean houses don't play computers ... I'm not
too sure I want to go to that 'extreme' to find out though.
No, when it came to putting in an old card, I was stuffed because I just
upgraded the whole machine and my new mobo is PCI-E. (Plus all my old
kit had just gone home with a friend in a new computer I'd built her!).
Anyway, after a day of dithering I went and bought the Zalman V700 (?) -
their new graphics card cooler - from Maplins. Then committed open-heart
surgery on my brand new £300 graphics card, probably the most expensive
component I've ever bought. Nerve-racking, to say the least! I was
really anxious whether the existing Arctic Cooler would come off easily
but it turned out to be a doddle. Fitting the new cooler was even more a
doddle, notwithstanding misreading the instructions and having to undo
what I'd done. Oh, and the small matter of having to bend the fin of a
memory heatsink fractionally cos it fouled the bracket on the back of
the card (which I'd read about in a review as it happens).
And the end result? I'm ecstatic!! I can now hardly hear the machine
when I'm standing right next to it. Fantastic! Got a Zalman on the
Athlon 3800 (the one I'd used for my XP3000 bc it fitted fine) and a
brand new super-quiet Seasonic 430w psu.
And after a week with the guts of 3 computers, all sorts of boxes,
manuals, screwdrivers, cable ties (and parts thereof) scattered round
the house at the same time as having my kitchen decorated and re-floored
(not *planned* that way, but sickness intervened) I can firmly assure
you my house isn't clean at all. I know what I'll be doing this weekend
- and it won't be setting up my new toy... <sigh!>
Best wishes
Caroline
