Replacing or Fixing a Radeon 9800 XT?

[IBM]

It's the fan...sounds like it's only second away from death. Probably only a bearing shaking loose, but hey, what do I know?

How easy would it be to fix? Or, if it's not worth the hastle (and I'm as happy for a genuine reason to upgrade as the next guy), what can I get in AGP for less than £150 that's actually going to make the upgrade worthwhile?

Scan's got a 256MB XFX 6800GS AGP, Mem 1000 MHz, GPU 350 MHz, 12 Pipes, Dual DVI-I, HDTV, S-Video/TV Out for £151.28 with Dual DVI.

The other thing is that I'm thinking of getting a 24" Dell at some point, and might be able to justify spending a little more on a card that's going to be able to play games at the native res of a 24incher. What do you reckon I'm going to need for a GPU?

[trojan698]

The native resolution on that screen would require a much more powerful graphics card, although I suppose it depends on what games you play and how demanding they are.
Regarding the 9800XT, you could quite easily pick up and fit an artic silencer or equivalent aftermarket cooler and fit that, should only set you back ~£15. I wouldnt think going from a 9800XT - 6800gs would be a huge step up tbh.

[IBM]

No? Oh well....I mean, Quake 4 et al all play fine...the Fear Demo played pretty well too, albeit at lower settings (still looked good though) so I don't really need a better card. It's just that if I spend money on a better GPU then I should really fork out for PCI and that means a new Motherboard, and I haven't got the time to start rebuilding my system, which means I'd have to buy a new one, and I don't think I can justify spending £1500 to build something that apart from GPU and Processor will have the same specs as my current one....

[trojan698]

Buy a cooler then

This apparently fits http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=168309

[IBM]

And it'd match my CPU fan too....cool....knew I got that perspex sheet on the side of the case for something...