My graphicscard likes it colourful now

**Husar** · 11-08-2010, 21:20

Well, since today my GTX 260 has suddenly started putting some artistic effort into the pictures it produces in 3D mode:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I haven't changed the graphics driver within a month or so, restarted, turned it off for three hours, but the problem seems to persist.
Temperature is at 70°C in World of Tanks according to the NVidia sidebar gadget so I doubt it's overheating.
If noone thinks that it could be something other than my graphics card going bad, then I guess I'll have to get a new one.

IF you think it's the graphics card (which I think is very, very likely but I personally cannot rule out the mainboard etc. since I have a tendency to get really weird problems

), then which one would be best to replace it?
My personal opinion so far goes like this:

NVidia:
GTX 460 is more or less the only option, would cost me around 170€ for the 1GB version, not sure how much faster it would be than my GTX 260, wouldn't want to spend 170€ for a 10% performance increase. Everything above is too noisy/expensive/too much power consumption, lower is too slow.

ATI:
The HD 6870 seems like the best option here, would cost me around 215€ but significantly above the GTX 460 in performance, less power consumption and noise (I think less than my GTX 260 as well), the 6850 is the somewhat better equivalent of the GTX 460 but I'd be willing to pay a bit more for the performance increase since the 6870 is actually not worse in terms of noise.
Problem with ATI are the drivers, I could live without PhysX but recently they downgraded the anisotropic filtering quality quite a bit to gain more performance, it can be restored somewhat by manually selecting higher settings but is still worse than it was, which was already below NVidia niveau. I'm not just worried about small decreases but it just seems like a really cheap move and I wouldn't want them to decrease it any further.

Currently I have a tendency towards getting the HD 6870 but would still prefer not to have to buy anything. Opinions and corrections welcome.

**naut** · 11-09-2010, 03:09

NONONO on the HD 6870. Not worth it. It "seems better" but tests indicate it isn't. Get the EVGA GTX 460, overclocked GTX 460, best bang for buck. I'll find the comparatory article that was on Tom's later when I have more time.

**Husar** · 11-09-2010, 05:59

Originally Posted by Psychonaut

It "seems better" but tests indicate it isn't.

All the tests I saw concluded it is even faster than a GTX 470 but significantly cooler, quieter and using less power. I'm an NVidiot usually but if ATI offers the better product I'm willing to try it. I'd think an overclocked GTX 460 would be closer to it's physical limits and thus more likely to die early as well. I was thinking about a new graphics card next year(skipping an entire generation) but looks like I'll have to upgrade early.

Just upgraded the graphics driver to be sure it isn't that but as expected the problem persists.

**naut** · 11-09-2010, 06:47

Here's the article. The HD6850 is not worth it. The HD6870 is the only mid-level option you should consider from ATI, I'm an ATI fanboy myself, and I'd have to say the offerings below 5870 or 6870 aren't worth it. Overall, bang for buck, HD6870 or EVGA 460GTX or Palit 460GTX Sonic Platinum (800MHz core speed, 32ROPs, 1600MHz shader domain, 24*C Idle/55*C Full, 42dBa, nice card). If you are worried about the service life of the EVGA card they've been offering 10 year warranties if you register your card on their website. So.... IMHO that's a pretty sweet deal. Runs at 30*C Idle/56*C Full, 37dBa.

But, on the ATI side I'd only consider the HD6870 or higher and for nVidia, an overclocked 460GTX (EVGA or Palit Sonic Platinum) or higher. In fact I'd consider the Palit Sonic Platinum over the ATI HD5870 even, it's the card I'm getting for the rig I'm building this summer. It pumps out about the same level of performance as a 470GTX for US$100 cheaper.

**Husar** · 11-09-2010, 07:32

Well, I wasn't considering the 6850, the 6870 seems to score consistently, high, some averages from a german review where it seems quite on par or even better than the GTX 470 and a review on HardOCP (conclusion page) where it also scores consistently higher than a stock GTX 460.

The EVGA GTX 460 FTW seems to score really high, but also costs > 200€ and uses 49 Watts more under load than a stock GTX 460, which is already relatively high compared with an HD 6870.

So yeah, I'm not a big fan of overclocking I guess.

**LeftEyeNine** · 11-09-2010, 08:27

6870 isn't better than my 5870, that's what I saw all around.

Taking this into consideration you may want to wait for the next step up the 6xxx ladder. And in that case, you may still be using your GTX 260 for Physx effects.

Here is the Physx mod that allowed me to benefit from Physx for a year now.

**Husar** · 11-09-2010, 10:20

I know LEN, but I guess the better ones will cost 300€ and up and that is definitely too much for forced upgrade, will look at the PhysX thing

**LeftEyeNine** · 11-09-2010, 10:46

Simply, 6870 is a no-no. Get a 5870 for now and start saving, I say.

**Husar** · 11-09-2010, 11:55

Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine

Simply, 6870 is a no-no. Get a 5870 for now and start saving, I say.

Too expensive, I'm already saving money for something 10000x more important and 200 is already a bit much to pay now, but I'm willing if the performance is worth it compared to a stock GTX 460 or even slower card.

**Husar** · 11-09-2010, 18:29

Ooops, called the shop and it turns out it was still under warranty, so I brought it back and will have to wait for the result now, could take a few weeks I suppose but it doesn't cost a thing.

**LeftEyeNine** · 11-09-2010, 22:16

Nice to hear.

**Furunculus** · 11-18-2010, 17:20

6870.

nearly as fast as my 2GB 5870, for half the price.

**Husar** · 12-23-2010, 17:53

In case anyone cares, the issue has finally been resolved.

My dad said I should have sent it directly to the manufacturer but I'm not sure that would have had a better result.

The shop called early today and said the manufacturer had sent a credit voucher that wouldn't be of much use to me, so the shop decided that they give me a replacement card. And since the GTX 260 is not available anymore and I had to wait so long(not even the shop's fault), they would give me a somewhat better card, a GTX 460.

Seems to work just fine, that's what I call customer service!

**rajpoot** · 12-24-2010, 13:08

Err...maybe it's the wrong place to ask, but what're those games in the 3rd and the 5th screenshots?

**Husar** · 12-24-2010, 14:02

3rd is World of Tanks (beta)

5th is R.U.S.E. (demo)

**Beskar** · 12-28-2010, 23:55

Looks like I have the most identical problem to yours. Well, almost identical anyway. Fallout: New Vegas killed my video card which is almost up to its third birthday.

**Husar** · 12-29-2010, 03:30

Time to get a new one if it's that old.
You asked for a repair shop in another thread but if the actual chip is damaged, a repair is completely useless, fixing the problem in the chip is either impossible or would cost you in the thousands and putting a new chip onto it would also cost in the thousands because:
1) removing the old one and putting a new one in it's place without damaging anything requires some fine work of an expert
2) graphics chips from three yerars ago aren't produced anymore if it was anywhere in the mid or high tech range back then, making one just for you would obviously cost more than an entirely new graphics card from current mass production