Radeon 4890 for £5?

[ralph09]

Hi all,

The computer I built around 5 years ago has a Radeon 4890, which is great except that it's slightly broken, so I'd like to replace it.

I have had a look on ebay and it looks like I could pick up an identical 4890 for around £5 plus P+P.

It sounds like a no brainer to me - but could I get a slightly newer/better second hand card instead for a similar price?

 

[Mauller]

What is the rest of the system specs? might be good to get something more modern for a bit more.

What do you use the computer for? gaming?

 

[ralph09]

Well its got me thinking now, because I was planning to buy a new system next month for around £800, but perhaps I could upgrade a load of my existing components by buying second hand parts, and that could see me through a bit longer?

Here's what I've got:

AMD Phenom II X2 550
Motherboard: Gigabyte M720-US3
4GB DDR2 RAM
Radeon 4890

Windows 7
500GB HDD

Thing is I think everything would need upgrading right?

 

[Mauller]

In all honesty, a full system upgrade would be better if you are looking to play more modern games with decent quality and FPS.

does the 4890 still work?

 

[ralph09]

It works, but for some reason I have to follow these steps to turn my computer on every single time:

1. turn on, computer doesn't boot
2. turn off by holding power button
3. wait 10 seconds
4. turn on, this time it boots!

 

[Mei]

sounds more like the power supply?
but could be anything i guess!

 

[Mauller]

Do you get a message saying the BIOS reverted to Default settings? if you do then the battery on your mobo is dead and needs replacing. Sometimes that does not happen as some mobo's will not boot at all with a dead battery.

The problem you described is usually a symptom of what you wrote. Try using a spare CR2032 if you have one lying around.