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8800GT fried (drivers!), seek replacement
I have a Dell 460i w/ a 8800GT (Dell built all, no mods). But my 8800 just died last night (i'm on another PC), and it seems to be the fault of a driver update they did which tends to fry 8800's.
So, I want to replace the card, and have no idea what will even fit in this case, except another 8800. Whats keeping me from getting a new 8800 is that if the drivers fried it this time, I can only assume it will fry the next one too.
Any advice on how to find out what cards will fit in this Dell XPs 630i case? Or card suggestions? Looking for equal to 8800 capability. (I run 6 instances of Lineage 2 at once)
Comments
BTW, the BIOS screen is distorted, and so is the BSOD text. That means the card is destroyed, right?
I would check to see if the power cable didn't come lose, whether or not the card is fit tightly into the motherboard and whether or not the fan is working. If the video card is overheating, you could run into graphic corruption like that. Also, if you're Power supply is failing, your graphics card may not be getting enough power.
Try downloading Drivercleaner.net and uninstalling the drivers; use Drivercleaner to clean the drivers from your computer (Nvidia and Nvidia Control Panel) And reinstall the new ones.
It's possible you have bad drivers left over from the install. You should always use Drivercleaner and make sure you uninstall your old drivers before you reinstall new ones! Also, consider using Ccleaner to clean your registry after Drivercleaner. Make sure you reboot after cleaning.
~Milels "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
I would check to see if the power cable didn't come lose, whether or not the card is fit tightly into the motherboard and whether or not the fan is working. If the video card is overheating, you could run into graphic corruption like that. Also, if you're Power supply is failing, your graphics card may not be getting enough power.
Try downloading Drivercleaner.net and uninstalling the drivers; use Drivercleaner to clean the drivers from your computer (Nvidia and Nvidia Control Panel) And reinstall the new ones.
It's possible you have bad drivers left over from the install. You should always use Drivercleaner and make sure you uninstall your old drivers before you reinstall new ones! Also, consider using Ccleaner to clean your registry after Drivercleaner. Make sure you reboot after cleaning.
~Milels "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Drivers that are run after Windows starts would not effect the BIOS screen being corrupted.
I would check to see if the power cable didn't come lose, whether or not the card is fit tightly into the motherboard and whether or not the fan is working. If the video card is overheating, you could run into graphic corruption like that. Also, if you're Power supply is failing, your graphics card may not be getting enough power.
Try downloading Drivercleaner.net and uninstalling the drivers; use Drivercleaner to clean the drivers from your computer (Nvidia and Nvidia Control Panel) And reinstall the new ones.
It's possible you have bad drivers left over from the install. You should always use Drivercleaner and make sure you uninstall your old drivers before you reinstall new ones! Also, consider using Ccleaner to clean your registry after Drivercleaner. Make sure you reboot after cleaning.
~Milels "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Drivers that are run after Windows starts would not effect the BIOS screen being corrupted.
Just being broad and general, but you are right. I would still suggest reinstalling the drivers and cleaning the old ones, but first checking your computer. If you have another machine, test the card in it. That's the best solution to narrow it down. Also, a bridge on your motherboard could be faulty, which would be bad.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
I think 9800GT is more or less equal, cuz its more or less the same GPU. Of course you might want to take this chance to upgrade, but I am deathly afraid to make recommendations on a Dell just because the parts used in a Dell sometimes make no sense to me.
Not so sure about the 6 instance of L2 though, never tried it on my old 9800GT.
8800GT still under warranty? You could RMA it. Card is def screwed if bios is distorted. Make sure heat sink is clean and secure though.
Above post is true, 9800GT is identical to 8800GT.
Well I pulled the card out and put in a 6600 I had in a old PC that was recommissioned as a door-stop last week. BIOS is clean PC is running.
@Miles
Everything seems to be in order as far as I can tell. I'll check out DriverCleaner, thanks.
@linren
Looking at the 9800GT now, thanks for the suggestion. I do wonder if it is the same physical size as the 8800.
@noquarter
The PC is still under the standard 2-yr warranty (i think). I've never done RMA before... do I contact Dell or Nvidia? The card came with the PC.
Go here and put in your service tag to see if you are still under warranty.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/en/details?c=us&l=en&s=hied
If you are under warranty, contact Dell Support and they will replace your video card for no charge. If you have the crappy mail in warranty, you would have to mail in your video card although they usually send you the new card with RMA information to send in the old card. If you have the warranty that allows for onsite, a tech will come out to your house usually within a few days an put in the new card. I deal with Dell warranty all the time as I do sales at work as a Dell Reseller.
9800GT is actually quite long and thick compare to a regular sized video card, but depend on the maker maybe. It uses both heatsink on the sides, a fan, and is kind of "armored". That is the one was made by EVGA which is actually quite nice since EVGA even comes with its own overclocking software you can download for free. Whether it would fit into your casing or not I have no idea.
Oh and contact Dell for the RMA. Unless Dell actually tell you to call nvidia for some strange reason. Dell would be responsible for replacing it since the RMA is not from nvidia.
If you end up having to replace it, I'd happily reccomend the ATI 5700 series. The 5750 is the lower priced card and the 5770 is a little more high end. As for why, they deliver good performance at decent prices and have a much lower power footprint. My case cooled down nearly 15 degrees after switching out a fried 8800 GTS. I get a performance increase and heat and noise decrease.
Couldn't be happier.
Now mind you if you are looking for top of the line, then the above advice is bunk. But for a respectable replacement at a reasonable price, you'll do well.
At this point I would not recommend any nVidia cards if you want to replace your 8800GT. They lose every price verse performance category, and newer nVidia cards will have the same heat issues as the G92 based chip only worse. The 9800GT performs worse then the HD4770, and HD5670 while being priced the same as an HD4850 that blows the card out of the water.
The question is he wanted equal performance what was why the 9800GT was even mentioned.
I am not even certain if the OP was looking for an upgrade. Since his computer is under warranty, a free replacement seems like the easier way to go anyways if not upgrading.