Problems with graphics and xp not sure where this should go

I have a problem, when i start my computer on the intel inside logo and the the windows xp boot logo i have like blue sometimes red | all over them and when windows starts i have no 3d at all but everything else is okay(well the first time i turned it on i had red lines all over my desktop and everything was a mess) i took my graphics card out when i changed the water in my rig since then its been like this please help

 

Sounds like you've got artefacts all over the show. Smells like your graphics card is fooked. Have you got a spare to test it?

 

no i dont any other way i can test it?

 

Underclock it?

 

Have you tried reinserting the card and also trying a different power plug. There's a chance it could be power related if you just installed extra stuff. Just to cover the bases have you recently updated drivers (esp beta), overclocked or maybe flashed the BIOS (gfx or mobo)? You didn't place the card on the carpet or anything whilst it was out of the PC, right?

 

it is the graphics card its pretty much busted, should have been more careful its a 9800xt what would be a good replacement card?

 

you can get a nice 6800GS agp under $200US over here on newegg.com

it depends on your budget but the GS card is pretty nice for the money.

 

6 series nvida cards are a good if you want decent performance and decent price. I think the 7800GT is the best value/performance card from waht I've heard though.

Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

EDIT: Just saw you got a AGP card, for a 7 series card I guess you gotta go for the GS.

 

Natural choices are X1600XT, 6600GT, 6800LE, 6800 ... although you may find 9700/9800 cards around for bargain basement prices now. Those 4 are all a little faster than a 9800XT and they also feature SM3.0 too. If cash is limited and you do want a new SM3.0 card the 6600 is good, pretty cheap and stands to gain a lot if you're happy to o/c. The 6600GT is a great card if you don't want to mess with modding or o/c'ing while the 6800LE & 6800 stand a good chance of o/c'ing well and modding (possibly close to 6800GT). The 6800LE is a little slower than 6600GT while the 6800 is a little faster but as said unlike the 6600GT there is modding potential.

If you want perf in AGP the 6800GT is about as good as it gets IMHO as there were quite a few made and a lot of owners will be moving over to PCI-E which should make them decently priced as well as very powerful. Unless your CPU is fast there's little point in forking out for anything much faster than 9700/9800 or 6600GT. In my experience these newer generation of cards are noisier so you may want to factor in an after-market cooling solution too (£15ish).