Broken card, any suggestions

[Vedder]

Ok I have been running the following system now for about 2 years:

P4 3.0Ghz (HT) LGA775
Corsair 1GB
XFX 128MB Geforce 6800 AGP

The other night it was idle while i watched TV and due to the noise of the rear system fan i unplugged it, i then plugged the fan back in later and the cable might have touched the graphics card, the entire screen had locked up and when i restarted the monitor led sat there flashing as if there was no graphics card. No big deal I thought, I would get a replacement model to tide me over until after xmas and when these Core 2 chips come down in price, the trouble is that with PCI-E taking over I cant get a replacement cheap at all. Here are my options: ( i assume there is absolutley nothing that can be done to bring my card back to life)

1. Buy a PCI-E capable mobo with one of the new Core 2 Duo chips and a new graphics card and break the bank. The trouble with this is that I dont really have the cash right now and I have a backlog of games to play as i did my final year of uni this year. The games I am aiming to get finished before I think about any more are:

Doom 3 + Expansion
Call of Duty 2
Quake 4
Half-Life 2 : Expansion

2. Buy a decent £150-200 AGP card. This would be an easy option but as my CPU is 2 years old would'nt this prove to be the bottleneck?

3. If all i want to play right now are fairly older games can I get a cheapo AGP card until i finish them all, then by that time I will have the upgrade cash and time to do it properly

4. Final option is to borrow my parents Geforce 4 ti 4200 but I doubt that would keep up with those games.

Any help or ideas appreciated!

 

[Tetras]

I'd try reseating graphics card and replugging connectors but in answer to your question, why not just a cheap second hand card to tide you over (or is that number 3?)? For £50 or so you could get something decent and quite poss faster than what you had.

Another option would be (is that 1GB of Corsair RAM DDR2?) getting a Core 2 Duo compatible motherboard with PCI-E that you can use your current P4 with for now, buy a nice PCI-E graphics card and then when you have the cash/will get a Core 2 Duo.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Grab a X1600pro, X1650pro or 7600GS, which offer about the about same performance of a 6800 (slightly slower for the X1600pro) & you should be playing happily without too much money spent.

 

[melbourne720]

No point spending money you don't have on a Conroe system. I'd try and get a replacement for your 6800 AGP. The OCUK PoV one is very good - I unlocked mine to all 16 pipes and I play most of those games you mentioned, albeit at 1280x1024 with no AA and no AF (detail pretty high).

What with the push to Conroe, there must be a few powerful AGP cards available S/H.

 

[Vedder]

I'd try reseating graphics card and replugging connectors but in answer to your question, why not just a cheap second hand card to tide you over (or is that number 3?)? For £50 or so you could get something decent and quite poss faster than what you had.

Another option would be (is that 1GB of Corsair RAM DDR2?) getting a Core 2 Duo compatible motherboard with PCI-E that you can use your current P4 with for now, buy a nice PCI-E graphics card and then when you have the cash/will get a Core 2 Duo.

Hi. The RAM is DDR 3200 so I assume its DDR 1. Thats a good idea though as the conroes are LGA775 as well aren't they?

 

[Tetras]

Well.. DDR 3200 can be DDR2 too, there is PC2-3200, try checking with CPU-Z: www.cpuid.com

Trouble is that if it is DDR (assuming you wouldn't wanna buy new RAM) you'll be limited to one (afaik) motherboard, the Asrock 775Dual-VISTA which only has a 4X PCI-E physical 16X slot (similar to AGP 8x bandwidth).

While it isn't a problem with even quite high end cards it might turn out to be a lot more so later and though it is only around £35 you would still be stuck with a neutered PCI-E.