Graphics Replacement for Radeon 9800 Pro

Hey all,

I think my video card is on the fritz. When I play video games (especially the new ones) like Command & Conquer 3 and Oblivion, after a few minutes of play the visuals go all wonky. For instance, in C&C 3 the skins of buildings and units will become a series of rainbow colored squares and/or the units will stretch as if their wire fame extended all the way across the level. In Oblivion sometimes the ground will become psychedelic or the screen will have blue lines start flashing across it. In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines it’s very similar to C&C 3, as well as having certain parts of buildings look like the static snow you see on a T.V., but it’s rainbow colored instead of just black and white.

My current card is a Radeon 9800 Pro AGP 128 MB, 256-bit memory interface.
My system’s power supply wattage is 305
My processor is a Pentium 4: 3.0 GHz
My memory is 1024MB DDR SDRAM at 400 MHz
The overall computer is a Dell Dimension 8300

So I am looking for your opinion and some advice.

Do the symptoms I’ve describe sound like a video card problem or could something else be wrong?

If you do think it’s the video card, can you recommend a new model(s) that would deliver nearly identical (or better) performance without having to purchase a new power supply?

 

To be honest AGP is dead now. Your best bet is finding a faster card on eBay (I know, I know).

X800's are a great price on eBay atm, and a great little card without massive power requirements. There are more powerful cards, but I think that's a waste on the rest of your system (no offence!).

p.s. Welcome to the boards!

 

Since it runs fine for the first few minutes, the first assumption would usually be overheating. Have you checked it's not packed with dust, and is it getting good airflow? After that it's a case of reseating the cooler with new thermal paste, and if that doesn't help, take Krikkit's advice

And welcome to bit

 

thats close to the same pc I used to have except it was an asus p4p800 se, p4 3.0ghz, 1gb ram(cant remember the speed) 450W PSU, 9800 AIW pro.
Went up to a asus p5k deluxe, intel q6600 3.2ghz, 2gb mushkin 8500, 620W corsair PSU, and an ati 1950pro.
Much better, oblivion is pretty much maxed on my 19in monitor.

so, basically, if you can afford it, i'm suggesting an upgrade.
Of course you could replace the video card for something else. you can still get cards like the x800 or the x1650 in agp but your pc may not be able to take advantage of it.

 

like ElThompsono said, it could be something to do with dust. Don't rush out and spend your money right away before eliminating all the options and opening up that PC to see if there are any obvious problems.

 

It could be dust, but I think it sounds like the memory's gone wonky tbh.

 

well, i had this problem with my old Geforce 4 Ti4400. replaced it with a x800GTO.

now, running on a x1650pro.

i personally would recommend a 7600GT, it's the best performing mid-range card (at least when i bought x1650pro)

however, if you are willing to upgrade your powersupply, you will be able to get x1950pro, which is the most bang for your bucks, best AGP card

 

Excellent. TY all, this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Thanks again,
-Searix-

 

The 7900GT's aren't much more expensive, I was pricing one up on scan and its very reasonable! Though I wouldnt recommend either since he only has a 300w psu. That being said, the x800x might be a better choice.

 

the problem with X800 is that it doesn't support SM3, so he will be disappointed that most modern games are unplayable

 

New Card Oddity

Hey again,

Alright, so I did some finagling and was able to get a new PSU (470W) and an X1950 PRO. And it works great, but I seem to be experiencing an oddity at startup. When my computer first starts up, or when I reboot, my Dell logo splash screen’s colors are all messed up. It’s kind of difficult for me to explain, but the word DELL used to be blue and now it’s grey with white highlighting. Under the word is www.dell.com, which now appears in blue lettering and highlighted green. And the Pentium 4 logo used to be blue and orange, but it’s now a funky combination of green, white, and purple that’s been kind of scrambled up.

However, the very next screen that appears (the windows XP loading screen) is perfectly fine, and I am not experiencing any other graphics problems at all.

I don’t really mind that it does this, as I rarely ever see it, I am just concerned and would like to know if it might part of some larger hidden problem. So does anyone have any ideas on what’s happening and/or if possible how to fix it?

-Searix-

 

Off the top of my head (and I could be wrong) it sounds like a palette snooping issue. You can disable this in BIOS.

 

I would be more tempted to save money for a big overhaul of the system because sooner or later you will need to more over to pci express but if for now you want to stick to agp then these 2 might be worth a look .

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (AGP)
EVGA GeForce 7800 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP)

And a 300watt PSU would not be great for running these cards so you can see you probably would have to buy a gfx card and new PSU aswell .

If i was you i would try to run the current system but upgrade my parts as and when i could afford it , you could use the case , monitor etc and upgrade the cpu - mobo - ram -gfx - psu .

 

Did you read his last post at all?

He's now GOT a X1950 Pro... and a 470w PSU

 

Obviously i missed that never mind he is sorted now .

 

Alright, I got it fixed – just needed to get the latest BIOS version from Dell.

Thanks again for the support,
-Searix-