What video card would you recommend?

[Reno]

Originally Posted by Gunner

The GT is exactly the same card as the GTS.

I believe your card has a large dual slot cooler and is based on the G80 chipset. The GT has a single slot cooler and is based on the G92 chipset. Different cards. I understand the confusion. You'd think they would have named the GT's something different.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Reno

1280x960 resolution is not much of a test. How did the "workout" go? What resolution were you able to get before it became unplayable. Did you use AA and AF? When you played a graphically intense program at 1680x1250, as you were planning to do, did the fan begin to sound like a leaf blower? Did it start to overheat? Bilge Rat, you're in an enviable position. You're one of the pioneers of this new card and you can help a lot of people decide if this is for them or not. An honest and accurate account of your experience would really be helpful. Most reviews give you a snapshot of performance and aren't very reliable in my opinion. You mentioned that this card was quiet "most of the time". Other than start up, when was it not? For those with screens capable of 1920 or more is this a good card? What are your specs? Do you always play at 1280? Have you tried over-clocking? I know a lot of guys are chomping at the bits for reliable user information before they jump in.

I totally agree, it is rare I am the kid on the block with the new flashy toy .

I will put sh4 through its paces this weekend, say 1600x1200, 8xFSAA and report back, although so far the 8800 GT performs exactly as it should based on Net reviews.

[ironkross]

I have an 8800GT on the way. I read on the Newegg customer reviews of some running hotter than their old cards but to me running a little hotter is not the same as overheating. So I'm not worried about it. I can't wait to see how ROW looks.
BTW this GT was the superclocked edition from EVGA but still carries the GT designation and is a different card from the GTS.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by ironkross

I have an 8800GT on the way. I read on the Newegg customer reviews of some running hotter than their old cards but to me running a little hotter is not the same as overheating. So I'm not worried about it. I can't wait to see how ROW looks.
BTW this GT was the superclocked edition from EVGA but still carries the GT designation and is a different card from the GTS.

I have the EVGA superclocked 8800 GT. You will not be disappointed.

[Rockin Robbins]

Good news: My power supply arrived on schedule and I am now back online with my own computer!

Bad news:

Take your hat off in the presence of a dead hero! This is the remains of a once proud EVGA 7600GT graphics card with the strangest failure I have ever seen. My computer would not boot and in fact behaved the same with the new power supply as the old: a quick flash of LED fans and deadness. OK, the power supply is protecting itself but from what?

I disconnected one item from the power at a time, looking for the culprit. Nothing worked. Time to start unplugging peripheral cards. Lets start with.......GRAPHIC CARDS! My very first symptom of a problem was scrambled graphics, Windows couldn't find the top graphics card. When I disconnected SLi and plugged into the bottom card I worked for five minutes before the big pfffffffffft!

I removed the top graphics card and the machine happily booted, asking what my problem was! I reassembled everything and set it up, rebooted and wondered about an 8 month old graphics card. You see the results of my survey above. It's not a pretty sight. Don't know what EVGA is going to say about it.

In the meantime, my machine works. I haven't tried SH4 yet, but I'll get good info on what SLi is worth and report back. That should be very interesting.

Sure is good to have life in the old computer again. Onward, into the fog!

For good settings I recommend nothing below an ATI X1650XT or an nVidia 7600GT. If you want to insure good performance you should have something like an ATI X1950XT or 8600GTS.

SH4 isn't a graphic hog but it's good to have some headroom for demanding moments in the game.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Sure is good to have life in the old computer again. Onward, into the fog!

Holy smokes ! Now thats a catastrophic failure !

The only thing that can blow electrolytics (those little can things) open like that is a severe overvoltage... as in a lightning strike. Or a bolted fault (severe short circuit). You dident drop a paper clip in there did you ?

Problem is why dident it trash your entire machine ?

Im guessing that your power supply took the major brunt of the surge.

You sir are one lucky sob. Your going to have a rough time getting a warranty claim on that one.

Good luck.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Holy smokes ! Now thats a catastrophic failure !

The only thing that can blow electrolytics (those little can things) open like that is a severe overvoltage... as in a lightning strike. Or a bolted fault (severe short circuit). You dident drop a paper clip in there did you ?

Problem is why dident it trash your entire machine ?

Im guessing that your power supply took the major brunt of the surge.

You sir are one lucky sob. Your going to have a rough time getting a warranty claim on that one.

Good luck.

Thought someone would appreciate the picture! It sure opens up more questions than I can consider without a headache. Why in an SLi system is one card blown up and the other working perfectly right now? Like you said, why is the motherboard in great shape? If it was a power surge, why are not more items in my house affected? No paperclips were harmed in the filming of this disaster. I wrote EVGA a sob story too, to see what they will say.

Hey, any crash you can walk away from is a good one.

@SubSuck: You're dead on with your minimum graphics cards. My dual 7600GT SLi was pretty good. I'll let you know what I think of a single one, but adequate is probably the best description. Anything less would be an insult to the silent service.

[Neptune#1]

While I am not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to computers and the knowledge many of you have far surpasses mine I can tell you from experience I am able to play SH4 with a 6200 Nvida 256mb card, 500g hard drive, 2.25gb of ram, 2.66ghz processor, while not the ideal setup it works reasonably well,sata helps also,so I still have much upgrading left to do, my son has a friend who has a new 36" LCD flat screen tv he told my son I could have it for $600.00, which I do not think is bad considering he paid double that for it,I would think the LCD would help improve the frame rates somewhat.

[SteamWake]

There are plenty of folks that are runnng the game quite successfuly with 'modest' systems.

It really boils down to resource management.

Of course if you want to see the full majestry that is available with this game your going to have to dig into that 'disposable income'.

[Neptune#1]

Tell me about it I figure to do the rest of the upgrades I need to do to get that kind of performance it will cost around $750.00 plus the LCD, of course considering a piece used to cost $25.00 and now they won't look at you for less than $300.00 it does not seem to bad lol.

[Nuc]

Originally Posted by SubSuck

For good settings I recommend nothing below an ATI X1650XT or an nVidia 7600GT. If you want to insure good performance you should have something like an ATI X1950XT or 8600GTS.

I notice that the ATI X1650XT and the ATI 1950 PRO have the same list price. Between those two which would you recommend for SH4 performance? (i.e., whats the difference between an ATI X____XT and an ATI ______ PRO) ?

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Holy smokes ! Now thats a catastrophic failure !

The only thing that can blow electrolytics (those little can things) open like that is a severe overvoltage... as in a lightning strike. Or a bolted fault (severe short circuit). You dident drop a paper clip in there did you ?

Problem is why dident it trash your entire machine ?

Im guessing that your power supply took the major brunt of the surge.

You sir are one lucky sob. Your going to have a rough time getting a warranty claim on that one.

Good luck.

That was my feeling, too. But I figured I'd give it a try to see how EVGA reacts to such calamity. Sent them an e-mail yesterday. I sent them the same pic I posted here earlier, so it was crystal clear what the situation is. However, today, Saturday(!), I received an e-mail from EVGA customer service saying they would replace the card and setting up the RMA process.

Why would I even consider an ATI card or another nVidia card manufacturer? When EVGA says lifetime warranty, believe it! I'm their customer for life!They care about their customers.My 8800GT card will come straight from EVGA and I won't waste time shopping around.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

That was my feeling, too. But I figured I'd give it a try to see how EVGA reacts to such calamity. Sent them an e-mail yesterday. I sent them the same pic I posted here earlier, so it was crystal clear what the situation is. However, today, Saturday(!), I received an e-mail from EVGA customer service saying they would replace the card and setting up the RMA process.

Why would I even consider an ATI card or another nVidia card manufacturer? When EVGA says lifetime warranty, believe it! I'm their customer for life!They care about their customers.My 8800GT card will come straight from EVGA and I won't waste time shopping around.

Thats pretty amazing. Alot of manufactures would take one look at that and say... "oh my gosh our video cards dont run in a microwave".

It it is in there best interest to fullfill there 'warranty' glad your a happy camper.

Oh by the way.. have you got rid of the smell yet ?

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

[

Oh by the way.. have you got rid of the smell yet ?

That's the crazy thing about the whole episode. There is no smell, no potting compound splattered around, no singed connectors or contacts. The whole thing defies explanation. Oh, and the computer is connected to a UPS, as is my router and cable modem. And the card which failed was on top, with the most cooling airflow around it. My case has 2 100mm fans and an 80mm fan, so there's plenty of airflow and everything has always run very cool.