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Here's my current system setup:
Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton) @ 3200
Asus A7N8X deluxe
2x256 Corsair XMS PC3200 @ 2 3 3 6
Broken ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
WD 120GB SATA Hard Drive
17" CRT (1280x1024 max)
When I shipped my computer, I didn't take my large ThermalTake Silent Boost off of the CPU. It came off and was rattling around in the case. My case fan and video card also came loose during shipping. It managed to knock a switch off of my video card. The result of this is that I can run Windows XP just fine, but when I run my video card in 3D mode, the app crashes after 5-10 minutes.
I'm having some trouble deciding what to do.
I don't have a soldering iron to solder the switch back on.
I think the switch is in the position so that all it's doing is conducting current for two traces, but I also don't have a multimeter so I can't be sure.
I've thought about getting some conductive paint to bridge the gap. One place I found is at High Speed PC.
Since the video card is getting kind of old, I'm not even sure it it's worth saving. I probably won't build a new computer until sometime next year, perhaps when the dual core CPUs start coming out and there's a stable 64 bit Windows.
I do a moderate amount of gaming. Should I get a 9800 Pro, a x800 Pro/6800GT, or just try and fix my current card?
Can my current CPU handle one of the new cards? I can afford a $400 card, but I'm just not sure if it would be worth it. I'm also not sure if I should get an AGP card when PCI Express is coming.
Thanks
Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton) @ 3200
Asus A7N8X deluxe
2x256 Corsair XMS PC3200 @ 2 3 3 6
Broken ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
WD 120GB SATA Hard Drive
17" CRT (1280x1024 max)
When I shipped my computer, I didn't take my large ThermalTake Silent Boost off of the CPU. It came off and was rattling around in the case. My case fan and video card also came loose during shipping. It managed to knock a switch off of my video card. The result of this is that I can run Windows XP just fine, but when I run my video card in 3D mode, the app crashes after 5-10 minutes.
I'm having some trouble deciding what to do.
I don't have a soldering iron to solder the switch back on.
I think the switch is in the position so that all it's doing is conducting current for two traces, but I also don't have a multimeter so I can't be sure.
I've thought about getting some conductive paint to bridge the gap. One place I found is at High Speed PC.
Since the video card is getting kind of old, I'm not even sure it it's worth saving. I probably won't build a new computer until sometime next year, perhaps when the dual core CPUs start coming out and there's a stable 64 bit Windows.
I do a moderate amount of gaming. Should I get a 9800 Pro, a x800 Pro/6800GT, or just try and fix my current card?
Can my current CPU handle one of the new cards? I can afford a $400 card, but I'm just not sure if it would be worth it. I'm also not sure if I should get an AGP card when PCI Express is coming.
Thanks