Upgrading to a ATi 4670

[sabot00]

Lately my 7300GT died on me, it started when the monitor suddenly said "Going to Sleep" while I was playing Combat Arms.

I restarted 20+ times, 90% of the time nothing would happen, the monitor won't turn on. When I did manage to get into windows, the card would not let me play at all.

I reinstalled the card, the driver, but it doesn't work. So I removed the card & used my IGP (GMA950), and bam, it worked.

I've narrowed it down to either the card dying or the PCI-e slot itself being dead. Is there anyway to find out which is dead without swapping it out to another PC? (I don't have another PC with PCI-e slots)


I'm set on buying a 4670 off of newegg, can anyone tell me what the differences are between the tons of models? I know that nothing below a 4870/9800GTX can eat 1GB, so my criteria for the 4670 would be:

512MB or more
The cooler being very good (I want to overclock it lighty)
Price (Cheap)
Reliability (Lasts me 3+ years)



The games I play are: C&C 3, Half-Life 2, Portal, Combat Arms; will the 4670 be able to run them at medium-high settings at 1440x900?

Summary:
What are the odds of the PCI-e slot dying?
Which 4670 on newegg should I get?
Will the 4670 be able to run my games at medium-high @ 1440x900



Edit: I'm running a E4500 (2.2GHz) & 4GB of DDR2 @ 667MHz

 

[Dekasav]

The HD 4670 will play all of those at max, assuming your CPU is strong enough. I've never heard of a PCI-e slot dying. Get an HD 4670 with 512Mb of memory, most that use 1Gb use slower memory, which actually lowers performance significantly. The card runs pretty cool with its default cooler, too. Mine overclocked to the top of CCC's overdrive.

 

[sabot00]

Which of http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=4670&x=0&y=0 would you recommend?

 

[jyjjy]

An HS4670 is a good choice, I would just get the cheapest one. Just make sure to avoid DDR2. Other than that the main difference between the cards is the fan/heatsink.
The only problem is if it's your PSU that is causing the problems because the HD4670 likely uses more power. But then if your PSU can't power an HD4670 it should be replaced in any case.

 

[sabot00]

My 7300GT ran for 2 years, so the PSU didn't cause it to die. Also doesn't the 7300GT & 4670 use around the same amount of power?

 

[jyjjy]

I'm not saying the PSU would've caused the 7300 GT to die, I'm saying the PSU itself could be dying and has reached the point where it can no longer consistently power the card. PSUs tend to get worse over time.
And no, the 7300 GT is uses a good bit less power.

 

[sabot00]

Would this power the 4670? I have a E4500, 1 HDD, 1 DVD Burner.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709010&cm_re=PSU-_-17-709-010-_-Product

 

[jyjjy]

I'm not saying it necessarily IS the PSU is dying, I'm simply saying that it's a possibility. Get the HD4670 and throw it in there. If it works then fine. If not then look into a new PSU.

 

[sabot00]

I know that, I want to upgrade my PSU anyway (current one is a OEM 250watt from HP), and since this one was cheap I'm asking if it would work.

 

[Dekasav]

Definitely go with this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125244&cm_re=4670-_-14-125-244-_-Product

 

[sabot00]

Have you had any experience with the mail-in rebates? Are they reliable?