Suggestions On A New Video Card Please

[TheLaughingMan]

Hi, my last 2 video cards both died..... over the past 2 years, is this normal? Is it possible my mother board is faulty and kills video cards? Psychotic MB?! Anyway... need a new video card to play 3d games but dont want to spend 10k... more like 5k, any suggestions? I keep an external fan directly on the card to keep it cool and usually have air on anyway.

I spent 10k on radeon hd 4800 2 years ago and it was crashing my pc hard in less than 8 months and when I try to use it I still get crashes to this day, sometimes yes sometimes no... I never know when I'll get to use my pc... and yes its fully updated, Ive tried everything but Im thinking I'll stay away from radeon.

[Supernova]

ATI do make very good video cards -- better than Nvidia IMHO. Unfortunately, ATI device drivers suck donkey balls. If you're experiencing crashes, may be try a different set of drivers. Also, make sure your PSU is up to spec. Modern graphics cards consume a lot of power.

Click:

Tom's Graphics Card Guide: 32 Mid-Range Cards Benchmarked

[TheLaughingMan]

ATI do make very good video cards -- better than Nvidia IMHO. Unfortunately, ATI device drivers suck donkey balls. If you're experiencing crashes, may be try a different set of drivers. Also, make sure your PSU is up to spec. Modern graphics cards consume a lot of power.

Click:

Tom's Graphics Card Guide: 32 Mid-Range Cards Benchmarked

Ya I bought a good psu to make sure I didnt have any problems but what do you mean a different set of drivers? Where do you get a different set of drivers? Ive been using what windows update tells me is available.

[Tywais]

Ya I bought a good psu to make sure I didnt have any problems but what do you mean a different set of drivers? Where do you get a different set of drivers? Ive been using what windows update tells me is available.

I'm using Radeon at both my office and home computer (Radeon 4890) and work quite well. Usually I'm a Nvidia fan, but I switch based on the best card for the money at the time. If you are using Windows Update to verify drivers it may be the standard windows driver. Best to download directly from ATI the latest version.

[TheLaughingMan]

Ya I bought a good psu to make sure I didnt have any problems but what do you mean a different set of drivers? Where do you get a different set of drivers? Ive been using what windows update tells me is available.

I'm using Radeon at both my office and home computer (Radeon 4890) and work quite well. Usually I'm a Nvidia fan, but I switch based on the best card for the money at the time. If you are using Windows Update to verify drivers it may be the standard windows driver. Best to download directly from ATI the latest version.

No its not windows standard driver its the latest ati driver and it is THE ONLY way I can install an ati driver, if I try to download it and install it just wont. Many people have problems installing ati drivers... god I hate them.... Ive read hundreds of complaints and their drivers are still a pain in the ass. dam_n I dont know what to do lol

[Supernova]

Ya I bought a good psu to make sure I didnt have any problems but what do you mean a different set of drivers? Where do you get a different set of drivers? Ive been using what windows update tells me is available.

Never install graphics drivers offered by Windows Update. Ideally, you'd want to get the drivers from your graphic card manufacturer; if it's an EVGA, get the drivers from EVGA website for example. Otherwise download drivers from ATI as suggested.

[Supernova]

Guru3d.com is another place to get drivers and read user reviews. I'm using 11.4 preview set for my Radeon HD5670. Seems to be the best one for my particular card so far (out of 10+ sets I've tried).

[TheLaughingMan]

Ya I bought a good psu to make sure I didnt have any problems but what do you mean a different set of drivers? Where do you get a different set of drivers? Ive been using what windows update tells me is available.

Never install graphics drivers offered by Windows Update. Ideally, you'd want to get the drivers from your graphic card manufacturer; if it's an EVGA, get the drivers from EVGA website for example. Otherwise download drivers from ATI as suggested.

I tried to explain to you lol, I and many many others CANNOT install ati drivers the usual way, its a known problem and they still after all this time havent fixed it. If I want to be on the latest update I am forced to do it through windows update, othewrwise when i go to install it acts like it did, but it didnt and im still on the older driver.

[Tywais]

I tried to explain to you lol, I and many many others CANNOT install ati drivers the usual way, its a known problem and they still after all this time havent fixed it. If I want to be on the latest update I am forced to do it through windows update, othewrwise when i go to install it acts like it did, but it didnt and im still on the older driver.

I did see that part regarding install failure. Remove all previous video drivers before attempting to install the new one. I had a strange issue at the office. Our technician went from a Nvidia card to a Radeon card. Could not do any settings for the card. I had him uninstall the Nvidia driver and re-install the Radeon - no problems at all.

[Supernova]

I and many many others CANNOT install ati drivers the usual way, its a known problem and they still after all this time havent fixed it.

1. Uninstall old display drivers first via Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista/Win7);

2. Restart PC in Safe Mode;

3. Run the Driver Sweeper utility.

[Darrel]

I have used ATI video cards for years. The drivers are indeed sometimes a bit flaky, and it is often worth doing a little research on gamer websites before installing the latest Catalyst drivers.

One recurring problem that I have found with video cards is that they often run pretty hot and often have fairly potent fans, and these can both cause the card to move in its socket. So pulling the card from its socket and re-inserting it may be of help.

I have never had an ATI card die on me though, and some of my early cards are still in use today in other PCs that are used for office work.

So I'm curious as to what actually happened to the OP's cards when he says that they "died"?

[TheLaughingMan]

I have used ATI video cards for years. The drivers are indeed sometimes a bit flaky, and it is often worth doing a little research on gamer websites before installing the latest Catalyst drivers.

One recurring problem that I have found with video cards is that they often run pretty hot and often have fairly potent fans, and these can both cause the card to move in its socket. So pulling the card from its socket and re-inserting it may be of help.

I have never had an ATI card die on me though, and some of my early cards are still in use today in other PCs that are used for office work.

So I'm curious as to what actually happened to the OP's cards when he says that they "died"?

Heya, my non radeon card just died and looks terrible, there was a freeze, then when i booted up it was impossible to see anything clearly. My Radeon: after about 8 months I started getting these weird "windows has recovered from a display....... thingy" and then it turned into hard crashes most of the time with the occasional "windows has recovered etc".... now it just hard crashes all the time, the strange thing is it might be fine for 3 days, then it starts and every time I turn back on for 5 to 7 tries it will crash again if I open a game or safari (with the thumbnail view) or a pic etc... then it will "catch" and be fine for a few hours to several days.

[TheLaughingMan]

Today after a bit of research on what was available and the price I wanted I bought a geforce gtx460

[Darrel]

Heya, my non radeon card just died and looks terrible, there was a freeze, then when i booted up it was impossible to see anything clearly. My Radeon: after about 8 months I started getting these weird "windows has recovered from a display....... thingy" .......then it will "catch" and be fine for a few hours to several days.

To me that does not sound like a dead card. It sounds like a driver problem, or maybe a loose socket as I mentioned.

To me a "dead" card is one that produces no video output at all.

If the POST boot-up screen displays correctly then there is probably nothing wrong with the card at all.

[TheLaughingMan]

Heya, my non radeon card just died and looks terrible, there was a freeze, then when i booted up it was impossible to see anything clearly. My Radeon: after about 8 months I started getting these weird "windows has recovered from a display....... thingy" .......then it will "catch" and be fine for a few hours to several days.

To me that does not sound like a dead card. It sounds like a driver problem, or maybe a loose socket as I mentioned.

To me a "dead" card is one that produces no video output at all.

If the POST boot-up screen displays correctly then there is probably nothing wrong with the card at all.

Well youre right im not so sure about my crappy old nvidia card dying, the post bootup screen is NUTS, crazy blotchy colours and too big, but I think the problem was I could not install the driver when I tried so it stayed like a bad psychadelic trip, however just having installed my new nvidia card it too looked exactly the same (crazy) but this time the driver installed and now its a dream. I'm playing my game on ultra settings with no worries about crashing. Such a nice worry free feeling!

The expensive radeon has been crashing for 2 years... and yes I tried EVERYTHING, but it would work for a time before beginning its repetitive crashing cycles again every time I thought I found a solution or updated the software. After 2 years of headaches... today I finally just replaced it and for 5000 baht I couldnt be happier.