Good news everyone! Another graphics card thread!

[Zetanio]

I currently have a GTX460 that I bought from a BG'er. It's been fractal'ing or whatever (Different areas of the screen flicker a bit on a plane when the card is under even mild load) so I thought I'd pose a few questions.

First : System Specs
Intel i7 860 @ 2.80GHz (Not OC'd)
8GB Ram
GTX460
SeaSonic 620W PSU

The strain is obviously on the card, I was having issues with WoW on Ultra. It's been getting worse to the point that I can't even dualbox FFXI without massive issues.

Questions:
Can it be repaired? Should I bother? It is NOT under any warranty.
What is a suitable replacement? I could spend up to 200 bucks on it but I'd rather not go that high.

Games that need playing:
ME2
BF3
FFXI x2
Crysis 2
TF2
Duke Nukem Forever

I don't want to futureproof but I'd REALLY like to be able to play the new Star Wars MMO on full graphics.

[Gryffes]

Could be overheating, compressed air > fans.

Try reseating it also.

Could also be the heatsink on the card becoming detached, gentle force will let you know on that one.

[Zetanio]

I tried all of that. It's still fractal-ing.
Another thing I've noticed is the fan speed doesn't adjust with the GPU usage or temp. I have to manually set it to a certain level and even at 100% it's still glitching about.

[Zetanio]

Anyone have any other ideas short of replacing the card?

[Olo401]

Not sure which version of the drivers you're using, but I would try either updating to the latest version or backing down to a previous one.

BTW which manufacturer's card do you have?

[Zetanio]

EVGA, I've got my drivers up to date but I tried them on a rolled back version yesterday.

[Boyiee]

Have you tried NOT running wow on Ultra? Maybe the card just cant handle it. Issues with dual boxing ffxi is not your graphics card either. You are also probably running into a bottleneck with that processor. You really don't have a system capable of running games on ultra graphics. Upgrading your graphics card will solve some problems, but will only be short term since you are going to run into problems with your cpu soon being too far behind a high end card.

tl;dr I don't think you should be running at ultra on wow. Even higher end cards will have some issues in certain areas/situations.

edit: you are going to have problems with the future games you mentioned, but you are going to need a lot more than gpu. You are going to need a psu and cpu upgrade as well.

[Cephius]

One of the reasons EVGA is so great is because they have excellent customer service. Try giving them a call and explaining your issues. Since it's not under warranty you're not going to get a free replacement, but in my experience they'll try to work with you to come up with a solution.

[Zetanio]

I gave them a holler. Can't RMA because I can't give them proof of purchase (original). The guy said the card was likely faulty and I'd have to buy a new one (Which I'm fine with) but he couldn't give me any deal on it because I wasn't the original owner etc. So I need to take a look into a new card. Something sexy, something slimming. Make me feel pretty BG

[Cephius]

Ah, sorry, my reading comprehension fails. I missed the part where you said you bought it from someone else. I guess you could try asking the person you bought it from for the PoP but... probably more trouble than its worth.

If you're going for a replacement, the 550/560 are both under $200 and pretty good cards

[Zetanio]

Anything outside of nVidia? My last 2 cards from them have been subpar.

[Arkanna]

Anything outside of nVidia? My last 2 cards from them have been subpar.

Radeon cards have traditionally played FFXI better for me. The 6950 is a pretty good card for the money. If you want to stay under $200, the 6870 is a good choice.

[Dranio]

Radeon cards have traditionally played FFXI better for me. The 6950 is a pretty good card for the money.

everyone I've known has had Radeon cards play XI better than Nvidia. Though SE touts the Nvidia cards as best, from what I've gathered, though I haven't spoken to everyone who played XI mind you, Nvidia tends to have the most issues. This may not be true for everyone, but for most everyone who's played XI that I know it is.

Also, I'm biased towards Radeon as I've never had a faulty Radeon card, yet every nvidia card I've tried has had something wrong with it,

The 6950 is a good card for the money as has been said above me.

[Zetanio]

Well I may be stuck with nVidia after all. The size of the cards is an issue.
The usual size for Radeon cards is around 10" while the GeForce (including my current one) cards are ~8.5".
I have about .25 inches of clearance with my current card so I definitely can't go the Radeon route.

I'm looking at the 550 and 560, is the 560 a huge upgrade and worth the extra 60-70 dollars?

[JetEnduro]

Don't bother with a 550 or non Ti 560. 460 is better than 550 and 560=460....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814261100
This 560Ti is $199 after MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130651
$219 after MIR

I'd go with EVGA (Have 2 of the SC non dual fan ones and they're awesome)

[Reality]

Have you tried NOT running wow on Ultra? Maybe the card just cant handle it. Issues with dual boxing ffxi is not your graphics card either. You are also probably running into a bottleneck with that processor. You really don't have a system capable of running games on ultra graphics. Upgrading your graphics card will solve some problems, but will only be short term since you are going to run into problems with your cpu soon being too far behind a high end card.

tl;dr I don't think you should be running at ultra on wow. Even higher end cards will have some issues in certain areas/situations.

edit: you are going to have problems with the future games you mentioned, but you are going to need a lot more than gpu. You are going to need a psu and cpu upgrade as well.

His card is malfunctioning, not performing horrible because it can't handle a game maxed out.

You can run Crysis 1 with a Radeon X1950 maxed out in DX9 mode, it isn't going to malfunction because it can't handle the framerates

[Arkanna]

There are still some Radeons that would be possible choices, even if you require a shorter card. For instance, this can be had for $178 and appears to compete with the GTX 460: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127566

Here is HardOCP's review of that card: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/..._card_review/1

If you game at 1920x1200 or less and are against buying an nVidia card, that Radeon should do well.

*edit*

Just looked it up on MSI's site: that card is 217mm long, which is just over 8.5".

[Zetanio]

I ended up getting this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130652
I know, I know. It's still nVidia but the reviews are really solid and it kept me right on my budget.

I see that I could have spent 50 more and gotten the 560Ti but this one is very similar to what I have right now and I'm happy with it

[Arkanna]

I ended up getting this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130652
I know, I know. It's still nVidia but the reviews are really solid and it kept me right on my budget.

I see that I could have spent 50 more and gotten the 560Ti but this one is very similar to what I have right now and I'm happy with it

That's a decent choice. 2GB RAM and a free current game are hard to find at that price, I'd think.

[Cephius]

Looks like this is done but I might have fat finger closed this... so I'll reopen jic