[Shambling]

Had to BFG 8800 GTX cards in SLI and they both went dead at about the same time. What are peoples recommendations for upgrading. Also any other things that may need to be upgraded. Looking for best bang for buck.

Current System
PSU: Silverstone 1000w
Motherboard: Evga Nforce 680i sli mobo
cpu: intel core 2 extreme x6800
ram: 2 gig
vid card: was bfg 8800 gtx x2 in sli


Shambling

[Fozzik]

You should probably be at least a little bit concerned about WHY the cards both went bad at the same time, especially when they both went bad so soon (they are supposed to last for years). BFG didn't give you a lifetime warranty? Seems like you should still be able to contact them and get replacements.

Heat is one potential cause - check the airflow in your case and the temps that the CPU and motherboard are seeing. Where the two cards getting adequate breathing room and running at healthy temps?

The power supply is another thing to focus on. Is the power over the 12V rails fluctuating a lot? Was there a surge that got through the supply and fried the cards? When you get a new card, definitely watch it closely for "weird" behavior that might be due to shaky power.

Best bang for the buck is going to be a single video card. It really depends on how much you want to spend, but it's unlikely you are going to see a huge performance improvement regardless of what you buy (what you had was darn good, even compared to the most recent stuff).

[Shambling]

Yeah it does worry me I use a full tower aluminum case and there is lots of room for airflow. Other problem with 8800 gtx cards is they seem to be less and less available. New egg is not even carrying them. My comp is still under warranty but even the company i got it through doesnt use 8800 gtx anymore. Just curious if this seems to be a problem with the 8800 gtx line as a whole. I have been looking at the 9800 GTX and the 2 series and wondering if I would need a Mobo upgrade in addition to a CPU upgrade with the newer cards.

Shambling

[Fozzik]

If it's still under warranty, it shouldn't matter whether they still carry the same GPUs or cards. You should be able to get a "comparable replacement" for anything that goes bad. Graphics cards never stick around for all that long... a couple years and they are gone and replaced with the newer and better (usually). Especially in the high end, the turnover rate is pretty high. If it's a decent warranty, and a reputable company, they should replace it with something they have now...which means you could get a bit of an upgrade for free.

[rabb1t]

The 8800 GTX is now 1 full generation behind. (One full generation and one half-generation card set has launched.) It wouldn't surprise me at all if it quietly hit end of life quite some time ago.

You don't need a new motherboard if you are worried about PCIe v2. The v2 cards will work just fine on v1 boards. (Well, ok, there is like one in a bazillion which don't because they are on PCIe v1 instead of 1.1 which pretty much everything on the planet is, but still.)

Of course, if you have unlimited monies I'd recommend dual Evga GTX 285 Superclocked $340 each post rebate. If you want to stick with a really good price to performance ratio and don't quite have unlimited monies, dual Evga GTX 260 Core 216 55nm would be roxor at $245 each. Of course you'd need a 1920x1200 monitor to really push those. A single Evga 9800 GTX+ is likely the king of price-performance ratios right now, followed by a 9800 GT, but I'd really recommend for people looking at single GPU they look at the 9800 GTX+ or GTX 260 55nm.

(Of course this is all based on you wanting to pair an Nvidia card with an SLI motherboard.)

As Foz mentioned, I'd recommend trying to solve the 'why did they both die at the same time' issue before sticking new cards in there. If the motherboard or power supply fragged them it may happen with new cards as well. Have you tried disabling SLI and running just 1 card? Maybe only 1 is dead, but being set to SLI causes them both to fail.

As Foz mentioned, being BFG you should be able to send them in and get 'trade in value' towards new card(s) since they have lifetime coverage.

Oh bother... that means I'd need to convert all those reqs to BFG, good thing I basically have those at my site as well. um... BFG GTX 285 OC $360. They don't have a GTX 260 Core 216 in 55nm (for some reason Evga seems to be the only one I've seen so far). This GTX 260 Core 216 looks like the nearest match to Evga's at $260 post rebate. And here is a 9800 GTX+.

[Shambling]

Monitor is 24" Dell widescreen. 1920 x 1200 resolution.

I have pulled everything out and reseated it. I have tried with just one card in either pci slot. I have tried hooking up to the different ports on the gpu's, I have tried with one stick o memory in and 2 sticks. I plugged a friends monitor a 22" acer in with my cards and had same results. Plugged his evga 8800 gtx card into my comp and everything came up normal.

My case is a full tower aluminum with 2 120 mm fans one in front one on the top. and 2 80 mm fans in the back along with liquid cooling on the cpu itself.

The fans on the gpus do run as i can feel airflow. From past experiences my cards have never been hot to the touch like other cards i have had in the past moderately warm at times but not burning up.

I am at a complete loss. Comp company is going to send me new cards not sure what yet but I have already been through 2 other cards on this comp also.

Not sure what else it could be system does actually boot up but I get no graphics from bios screen to windows. When it actually gets to windows I would get red and green squiggly lines across the screen.

Anyways something is not right its boggling my mind. But with everything else working it seems it doesnt make sense.

Thanks for the info on cards.

Shambling

[rabb1t]

Yeah with that kind of artifacting and your friends card working fine it most certainly sounds like GPU failure. But two at once... twice now... that almost certainly sounds like something is backlashing onto the cards to cause the failure. I'd guess a very rare power spike through the PSU or MB. Do you have the system on a surge protector?

If they sent you somethings with no questions asked I'd guess it's replacement 8800 GTX cards. No doubt some are still laying around in backstock.

As a side note, for maximum enjoyment of current games I'd recommnd dual GTX 260 Core 216s on Nvidia's side, particularly if you hook that puppy up to the new GeForce 3D Vision glasses. One would likely be enough (though some games may require reducing settings), but if you have the money and the PSU, overkill would maximize yer fun.

If you do decide to upgrade the board though, and you again want to stay at the near bleeding edge of things, I'd recommend a Core i7 920 on an Evga 132-BL-E758-A1 (or Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R for teh cheap) and OCZ XMP 6 gig DDR3 @1800 kit