My Visiontek HD4870 has been slowly going south the last month. Shutdowns with D1603 LED lit & fan spinning @ 100% on reboot. Wasn't overheating just kept getting the D1603 error which means power error. This morning it died, wont go past boot. Tried 2 other power supplies, still no joy. Forums say the power VRM is trashed. Slapped an old trusty Geforce 6200LE laying around for the time being.

Gonna go shopping for a cheap card this weekend while this one gets RMA'd from VisionTek. Started saving my pennies for a server build but looks like it's gonna go for a video card now.

Any advice on a Sub $150.00 Card, no preference in brands except the older ATI cards have problems in FSX in clouds.

SlackAdjuster

what would you do with this < $150.00 card? That would help anyone make a good suggestion. Can you hold out and save that money towards a newer card? I'd go that route if possible. Maybe it won't take so long to raise enough pennies.
Flyby out

Strictly gaming with this rig. FSX, Arma II, Rise of Flight, Call of Duty 4, etc. With Christmas coming, Kids, Mother-in-Law living with us needing round the clock care, funds are tight & $150.oo is all I have to spend right now, so I may hold off till I get word on the RMA, but it seems that Visiontek is dragging their feet so I may have to bite the bullet.

SlackAdjuster

OK, if you can't wait, check out this link. It's about the ATi 5770, in Crossfire. It compares well to what you had. The price should be close to your budget (for one card). Hope you find it useful: http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=907:his-radeon-hd-5770-1gb-and-crossfire-performance-review&catid=13:hardware-reviews&Itemid=27
Flyby out
PS: here's a link to an Asus version of the card over at NewEgg. Best wishes!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...1-350-_-Product

one more link that might be of interest. Please note the performance of the Nvidia GT250. It might be a card to consider as well. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/10/12/amd_ati_radeon_hd_5770_5750_review/9
Flyby out
you may have to copy and paste.

Thanks for the links, I had heard about the 5700 series awhile back but did not know they were out already. The 5770 looks to be the way to go. 3 days now & 3 emails & still no response from Visiontek other than the standard form email in regards to the RMA for the "lifetime" warranty on this card.

Thanks again IFlyby for the links....

SlackAdjuster

glad to offer you a few options. always do your due diligence when making a (video card)purchase. I'm still pondering what card to get for my next system build. It will be a pure gaming rig. The ATi 5870 looks very impressive, and out performs the GTX 285, which was my target card.
Anyway, the 57xx series seems like a good way to go until you can get that real killer card. Good luck!!
Flyby out

VRMs overheat just as easy as the CPU/GPUs do nowadays, My first MSI Mobo I ordered when I built my last system had the VRM Fry in 2 weeks, in a 65 Degree Room.

Here is Tom's Hardware "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" in September. The October update should be soon. October will no doubt point you to an HD5xxx card in the relevant price ranges.

Best Cards for the Money

I'm see reading where the 58xx series cards are hard to come by due to a shortage of 40nm wafers. I guess that will drive the prices up (as announced somewhere). Still, I guess if you can hook one, the Asus 5870 is receiving very good reviews:supposedly a quality card with good overclocking. What ever one decides to buy, I've found this site to be a good place to compare cards:
http://www.gpureview.com/ Look on the left side menu and see "compare cards". It's a good feature, and is usually up to date.
Flyby out