complete videofailure - the end-all this time

Crawlerz

Crawlerz

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Nov 17, 2008
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...so it's finally happened. my humble DELL's 8800GTX video completely crashed and burned. showing only spots/dots it doesn't load windows in regular mode, and shows symbols and dots in safe mode. the diagnosis is - unfortunately - I'm buying a new vid card. I hate to upgrade this P.O.S. DELL, but it looks like I got no choice. (I wanted to buy a self-build PC sometime this year... holding it off for as long as possible.)
I REALLY need sugestions at the card I'll buy. as you can tell, I'm quite noobish... I'd love a 1GB card that can go full HD... don't really need the HD now, but later will probably watch TV on PC, maybe even blu-ray but that's in the future.
this a good card guys? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 I need honest opinions.
right now I have a DELL 2.4GHz core2duo, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, vista sp2, burned-put 8800GTX video, 2ms monitor, etc.
ideally I'm looking at the i7 920 (I'd love to overclock it) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 but, again, that will come later... stick to the topic on hand - the video. any anvice?
p.s. I doing a lot of gaming (live fast, die young, and leave a beatiful corpse) - one of the games is GTAIV so I need all the power I can get for the money (and let's be honest, who doesn't?)
thank you for and and all advice!
 
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The card is a great card, all I've seen for the 4870 is great reviews. I'd skip on the processor and get a Phenom II or a really good duel core as quads havn't been mastered yet.
 
bit of an update... my main PC (and the fastest one in the house) is still down, and I'm still reading through the mounds of video card reviews/youtubes/cnet/etc... nothing has really blown any air up my skirt. then something caught my eye. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102826 what am I basing this on? am I just enamored with the 2GB and the shiny objects? yes. also the GTAIV benchmarks and the youtubes (and is the vapor heatsink a good idea?) I most certainly DO NOT want to purchase a new card when I buy the-next-great-thing pc. this one I will buy right now will have to look into the future, as it were. the only thing that scares me and keeps me up at night - my puny DELL PSU might not be able to handle it. before I take the plunge and buy a new one - can I find out for certain what PSU is inside the DELL tower guys?
p.s. there's a bit of youtube about it [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrULcsYJDPM&feature=related[/ame] and a bit of benchmarking stuff http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=737

P.P.S. about my furute CPU - I'm an Intel guy and by the looks of it, I'm not gonna change...
 
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I have all but bought this card already (the 4870 2GB)... I guess something about it just clicked in my head. I opened the DELL tower and saw that the PSU reads 375W - and this baby needs a 500W PSU. so, yes, I'm screwed. Since I know nothing about PSUs, can I ask you guys for a bit of help? I have no intention of crossfire in the future, but who knows? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 this guy seems a bit expensive - corsairs, I heard were good, and I was warned to stay away from Rosewill. thank you for any and all help you can give me.
 
That card will keep you for a while.

For a PSU I'd check this out

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cooling-PPCS500-Certified/dp/B0017XLCZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1234759752&sr=8-3[/ame]

I'd stick with PC P&C because they make GREAT power supplies, It's the only brand I'd buy from.
 
Don't really need to know much about the powersupply your buying except for the watt and the amps on the 12v rail.
 
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If you're set on building a PC soon then just buy a cheap crappy card that will hold out till you're ready to build. That way you will have a back up instead of buying some wonderful piece of plastic and then using it in a newer PC leaving your old on with squat.
It's always good to have a back up PC...
Which is what I have!
 
Stevontoast said:
If you're set on building a PC soon then just buy a cheap crappy card that will hold out till you're ready to build. That way you will have a back up instead of buying some wonderful piece of plastic and then using it in a newer PC leaving your old on with squat.
It's always good to have a back up PC...
Which is what I have!
Click to expand...

while this is good practice, I never think that far ahead :)) (first I build, then I read the instructions) what I plan to do is this - whenever I do build, I will gut this PC. noone will miss it and if they do - they can kiss my hairy yellow @$$. (my dad has a PC I can borrow if somethinghappens). I plan to take the optical drives, the 5-in-1 card reader (camera flash). so everything is bought in accordance with new PC and future demands.

I'D RATHER OVERPAY A LITTLE NOW THAN PAY EVERY YEAR IN UPGRADES.
 
I just saw a review on amazon.com about a P&C PSU... "DELL compatible"... are there ones that ARE NOT? cuz I need to use it in a DELL before I build "the next great thing"! are there limits to what my P.O.S. DELL can take? please help a n00b guys!
 
Crawlerz said:
I just saw a review on amazon.com about a P&C PSU... "DELL compatible"... are there ones that ARE NOT? cuz I need to use it in a DELL before I build "the next great thing"! are there limits to what my P.O.S. DELL can take? please help a n00b guys!
Click to expand...

I don't think there is a difference, but then again DELL has to have special parts. I really don't think it will make a difference.
 
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