Vid card question

WantsumBier

I think my vid card has taken a dump. I have tried reloading the driver, but that does not seem to be working either.

Here is what happened, maybe someone can give me some insight (please). I was playing EQII and the screen froze, then went black, then came back with an ATI error, but I was still able to play. Then it happened again. This time it went black and the sound started looping. I eventually had to hard boot my computer to get it to stop.

My card is an ATI 9800xt. It is in a Dell. My question is can I swap a new card for my old one, or is it on the motherboard like my gateway was?

Thanks in advance,

Yes, I know its a Dell and I should build my own, but I no little or nothing about computers (just enough to be dangerous)

asupermane

That card was prime time in its day. but Id say its time to upgrade.

...

Go Geforce 6 series at least.

and ATI 800gto at least.

xpyrofuryx

Well first, you need to know what slot your card uses, and then what is your budget? $150? $200? $100? $9,000?

dsorrent

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the ATI 9800XT was only an AGP card? (I'm an nVidia fan, so I could be wrong here).

Do you know what the error said exactly? Also, have you changed anything in your system lately, drivers, etc? Or installed any new software? Some software takes liberties at updating your graphics driver.

If it does turn out to be your graphics card and you were happy with the 9800XT, you should probably stick with something equivalent of that and save your money for when the DX10 cards hit the market.

You could also go download 3DMark and run it on your system and see if the video card dumps. That software should push the card pretty hard and if it's going to dump, it will in the 3DMark software.

grimweeper

Originally posted by dsorrent


Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the ATI 9800XT was only an AGP card? (I'm an nVidia fan, so I could be wrong here).
Do you know what the error said exactly? Also, have you changed anything in your system lately, drivers, etc? Or installed any new software? Some software takes liberties at updating your graphics driver.
If it does turn out to be your graphics card and you were happy with the 9800XT, you should probably stick with something equivalent of that and save your money for when the DX10 cards hit the market.
You could also go download 3DMark and run it on your system and see if the video card dumps. That software should push the card pretty hard and if it's going to dump, it will in the 3DMark software.

Yea its only an agp card.  I wouldnt even go out and buy another gfx card if i were you its just not worth it , i would just wait 2-3 months and buy a whole new system.



Maybe if you post what the error said we can help you more.



EDIT: if the sound keeps looping i doubt it was your video card becouse video cards dont handle sound.  Im guessing the game crashed or something, but then again you did get an ati error message so there might have been a problem with your drivers, and that coused the hole game to crash.  Just a guess, but its definetely not just your video card if the sound keeps looping.

WantsumBier

Cool, thanks for the info folks! (and not one bash on Dell He he he he )

When I said the sound was looping, it was just part of a combat sound that kept repeating (like a game crash) No new softwear, and I'm running the same settings I was two months ago... I'll keep trying, maybe it was just a bad night.

Thanks again

WantsumBier

Originally posted by grimweeper

Originally posted by dsorrent


Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the ATI 9800XT was only an AGP card? (I'm an nVidia fan, so I could be wrong here).
Do you know what the error said exactly? Also, have you changed anything in your system lately, drivers, etc? Or installed any new software? Some software takes liberties at updating your graphics driver.
If it does turn out to be your graphics card and you were happy with the 9800XT, you should probably stick with something equivalent of that and save your money for when the DX10 cards hit the market.
You could also go download 3DMark and run it on your system and see if the video card dumps. That software should push the card pretty hard and if it's going to dump, it will in the 3DMark software.

Yea its only an agp card.  I wouldnt even go out and buy another gfx card if i were you its just not worth it , i would just wait 2-3 months and buy a whole new system.



Maybe if you post what the error said we can help you more.



EDIT: if the sound keeps looping i doubt it was your video card becouse video cards dont handle sound.  Im guessing the game crashed or something, but then again you did get an ati error message so there might have been a problem with your drivers, and that coused the hole game to crash.  Just a guess, but its definetely not just your video card if the sound keeps looping.

I'm totally lost when you talk about agp ect... My system is about 4-5 years old and I have upgraded the ram, (Pent 4 3.0 GHz 1.5 GB ram) but that is about it. What should I look for in a new system? Be gentle, I have to landscape my backyard soon also.