what brand gfx card?

[Numb Nut]

Hi folks,

I'm new here so a big hello to everyone!

Am thinking of putting together a DIY system using components from overclock.co.uk, nothing fancy just an XP 3500+ in a Asus A8N-E with 2Gbytes RAM (corsair) and a 250GB drive (samsung).

Sad to admit that it's really for playing games (CSS, FEAR, Far Cry, etc) - browsing the web and sending email doesn't need that sort of performance!

I'm not keen on SLI - don't really want the PC running hot - happy enough to play at 1024x768 anyway.

So what graphics card should I go for? I'm not looking for leading edge, more interested in stability and a manufacturer who gives a good warranty (important if I run into problems with crashes or incompatibility, etc).

I was going to go for an ASUS EN7900GT but read somewhere of stability problems with this card (will try to find a link to this if anyone is interested) and got the impression from it that ASUS customer support wasn't all that great. Maybe the 7900GT cards are little too leading edge for what I'm after?

So what do you folks recommend?

Your advise is welcome!

 

[Numb Nut]

Found a link to the stuff I read on the problems with ASUS 7900 GT gfx cards:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...=9&model=EN7900+Series&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

[michael 118]

Found a link to the stuff I read on the problems with ASUS 7900 GT gfx cards:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...=9&model=EN7900+Series&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

Have a look at the 7900GT by all means, it is a good card.. but maybe you should look into a different vendor, for example something BFG or Gigabyte (basically something that isnt ASUS)

 

[floppybootstomp]

The starter of that thread at Asus Support says other makes are affected, though he doesn't give any links:

After a little of internet research I found strong evidences that several customers of ASUS, XFX, eVGA or BFG are being affected by the same kind of trouble when using their brand new 7900 GT ( OC and no OC versions) gaphic card. After a lot of reading, I can finally conclude that every point at some kind of hardware default in the PCB design (prolly a bad voltage chip regulator), and depends on good luck that your 7900 GT doesn´t fail.

I would have recommended the 7900GT myself, and it's the first I've heard of any problems with it, but there does appear to be a problem.

Perhaps any PCR 7900GT Card owners could comment here?

 

[Numb Nut]

Thanks for the reply!

Do Gigabyte and BFG have better customer support?

 

[michael 118]

Thanks for the reply!

Do Gigabyte and BFG have better customer support?

Im not sure if they do, but i do know that their cards are better than ASUS or ASUSTEK .
Other members will know more about customer support and im sure they will post in time

 

[Numb Nut]

Thanks again for the replies, guys.

michael 118 - just curious, what is it that makes their cards better than ASUS?

floppybootstomp - I guess it wouldn't be too surprising if other brands of 7900 GTs had the same problem as alot of these cards are very similar to each other - think I read that most brands are based on the nvidia reference design.

 

[TriplexDread]

I cannot comment on Asus, however I can comment on Gigabyte, Leadtek, Abit and XFX.

All very good cards, never have I had problems with them in the past and touch wood in the future

AS you see from my spec. I do own a decent high end SLI system and the heat it produces is not extravagant at all. As long as you have adequate cooling all is fine

 

[Numb Nut]

TriplexDread - thanks for the info.

I may end up reviewing my decision to go with a non-SLI motherboard...

Meanwhile I've been put off XFX from the stuff written here:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=72249

This is turning into a slow process of elimination!

 

[TriplexDread]

YVW

But its not just XFX the ask for Serial Part and ownership proof of teh item you are returning many other companies do aswell.

I find that guys comment completely unjustified. As for not even knowing that they need to test the card before they replace it well doesnt that go without saying?

I cant comment on their telephone etiquette

I think he needs to wake up to real life

The decision is yours I guess, but remember AGP boards are slowly being phased out and are starting to get restrictive compared to say the SLI configurations. Especially now considering the AM2 chipset is finally being released

 

[floppybootstomp]

Only problem I know of with XFX is they went through a bad patch using a batch of faulty GPU fans coupla years ago.

The fans died in their hundreds within a few months of purchase.

Many peeps RMA'ed their cards, fans were replaced no hassle, whilst others, like myself, opted to fit our own fan/heatsink, a relatively cheap but much quicker solution. But still annoying.

Other than that, XFX no better or worse than most others.

Saphire went through a bad patch as well, they produced lots of cards that were faulty, but they now seem to have their act together.

ATM I'm using (all AGP):

Leadtek 6800GT 256Mb
XFX 5700LE 128Mb
ATI 9800 Pro 128Mb

I used to favour Hercules cards a lot but they don't seem to make them anymore

 

[Numb Nut]

TriplexDread - you've confused me now!

What does 'YVW' stand for?

The decision is yours I guess, but remember AGP boards are slowly being phased out and are starting to get restrictive compared to say the SLI configurations. Especially now considering the AM2 chipset is finally being released

ASUS A8N-E is a non-SLI socket 939 board but with a PCI-e 16x slot (nforce4 ultra chipset). I'm not too familar with AM2 boards at all...

With my planned purchase the upgrade path for CPU is to drop in an Athlon 64 X2 dual core when they drop in price and hope that the single 7900 GT will cope until it's time to buy a new mobo, CPU, memory, etc.

Comments welcome as usual!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Yep, if you don't want to use two graphics cards, seems little point in buying an sli enabled board.

AGP? I think you'd actually be hard pushed to purchase a new board with an AGP slot now, apart from the Asrock Dual Sata 2 board, which has both AGP & pci-e.

 

[Numb Nut]

floppybootstomp - really appreciate your input on XFX.

I used to favour Hercules cards a lot but they don't seem to make them anymore

Hercules!? Are you sure? The only hercules cards I remember were from the last century when PCs were carved out of wood and PCBs had liquorice alsorts stuck to them with silver glue (tasted horrible though). Them were the good old days, lad...

 

[michael 118]

AGP? I think you'd actually be hard pushed to purchase a new board with an AGP slot now, apart from the Asrock Dual Sata 2 board, which has both AGP & pci-e.

There are a few boards that are agp and pci-e enabled, better to look at something like that if you already have an agp card.

Still, all in all, you should opt for the 7900GT. Purchasing from a well known company is your safest option... eg Ebuyers or novatech, or overclockers

 

[Numb Nut]

I'm trying to be decisive here but I think it's maybe probably not really something I'm very good at perhaps sort of thing...

Looks like it'll be a XFX 7900 GT (well, one of the many variants of this card).

I'm not interested in AGP at all, not sure why that came into the discussion to be honest. If I opt for a non-SLI board that'll prevent me from pairing up another 7900GT later on to play the latest games in a years time but it's a gamble I'll take...

Any more advice?

 

[TriplexDread]

TriplexDread - you've confused me now!

What does 'YVW' stand for?



ASUS A8N-E is a non-SLI socket 939 board but with a PCI-e 16x slot (nforce4 ultra chipset). I'm not too familar with AM2 boards at all...

With my planned purchase the upgrade path for CPU is to drop in an Athlon 64 X2 dual core when they drop in price and hope that the single 7900 GT will cope until it's time to buy a new mobo, CPU, memory, etc.

Comments welcome as usual!

Sorry m8

LOL not technical

just

Your Very Welcome

 

[michael 118]

Any more advice?

Yeah do you know what board your getting? (just out of interest)
anyway, good luck with the card and tell us how you get on with it

 

[PotGuy]

the only problems i know of with the 7900gt's are that the overclocked ones above 500mhz get insanely hot and tend to die alot, so probably if you go for a big factory oc'ed model then put a better fan on it.

i thought they were pretty reliable to be honest - more so than the 7800's

 

[michael 118]

the only problems i know of with the 7900gt's are that the overclocked ones above 500mhz get insanely hot and tend to die alot, so probably if you go for a big factory oc'ed model then put a better fan on it.

i thought they were pretty reliable to be honest - more so than the 7800's

Thats intersting, didnt think they would get that hot after overclocking.
7900's are very reliable overall though, i have heard many good things about them from friends etc.
Havent heard alot of feedback from 7800's, spose i havent looked hard enough