Do you keep any spares lying around???

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Parker

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
418
Just looking through the posts about dead 7900GT's (which I'm glad to not be a part of :D ) and got to pondering. Do you keep a spare video card in case your current craps out? It takes several days to RMA a card correct? I still have my Radeon 9600XT in the closet but I might just keep it in case my card drops the bomb some day. I ditched the Radeon initially because the fan on it was making a weird noise. I later found out that there is an aftermarket cooler available. Oh well.
 
How do you keep a spare AGP card, when your rig is PCIe? Generally, yes- I have a PCI video card in my closet- I think it's 4MB, and some sort of Trident. I also have a TNT2 M64- they've both served me well for over eight years, so I trust them wholeheartedly as spares now.

This seems like a good place for a poll.
 
I was gonna say.. a lot of good that AGP card will do you now as a backup. I have a really old PCI card for a backup. I had to use it in between my 7800 to 7900 upgrade
 
I have a spare Geforce 420MX PCI just in case the shit hits the fan, and before that I had a Voodoo 3, but the driver support was lacking so I got my friend's old 420 from him for $20.
 
Some day, and that day may never come, I may call upon my 9800 Pro to do a service for me. But, until that day, my X850XT does fine ;)
 
I have an old trident card just in case but I have 3 test servers for my company so if something goes wrong I just throw the hard drive into one of those boxes ;)
 
No, I don't really keep a backup. My old hardware usually either gets sold or put into one of my brothers or parent's computers. I have old PCI cards I can use for diagnostic purposes and stuff, and if it really came down to it I could pull the Radeon 8500 out of my 2nd box. For short term problems I just use my laptop. I can even just hook it up to my KVM and pretend it's a real computer, heh.
 
Leon2ky said:
I have a spare Geforce 420MX PCI just in case the shit hits the fan, and before that I had a Voodoo 3, but the driver support was lacking so I got my friend's old 420 from him for $20.
Click to expand...

Same here. £5 well spent, as the 16 meg TNT I had before was slow as hell just running XP, even using classic style.
 
I got a spare cheap PCI video card.

It's has no 3D abilities and sux big time.

However, it's saved my noodles more than once !!

Always have a backup video card available - and you can't go wrong with PCI !!!

If you messed up your PCI-e or AGP card doing a BIOS update, no probs.

Put in your PCI video card and reflash your primary video card. :)

I had a X800 pro and a 6800 Ultra in the past that died suddenly.
No probs, RMA the primary card and slap in the cheapo PCI video card :)

No gaming for a week or 2 or however long it takes for you to get an RMA replacement. But at least you can surf and read email !!
 
I always keep my PCI video card safe. It's been invaluable in the past for troubleshooting problems.

 
i have some old agp cards lying around but i mainly use my laptop if something went wrong.
 
I have a spare PCI card.

That said, I also have a spare computer (Mac Mini) that does -most- of the things I like to do.

Now that I have the money, I don't just do data backups...I have HARDWARE backups :D
 
nvidia 6100 integrated

plays bf2 at 1024x768 medium settings

not bad for onboard and surely not bad for backup (hope i wont ever have to)
 
I do the same my laptop is my spare
I tried to get my wife to use the laptop but she prefer's my box just to annoy me I think :rolleyes:
 
I'm saving up for a 7800 or 7900 PCIe but for now I'm running a Radeon 9800.

I'm lucky though as my board supports both AGP and PCIe. Hooray for ASRock Dual SATA2!!!
 
I have some spare AGP cards, like my 9800p, 8500, although they will do little good now that I have PCIe.
 
I actually have my trusty Voodoo 5 PCI in my kids comp right now as the 9800 pro that was in it kept locking up. RMA in progress. Man that Voodoo is one LONG card. I had to re-route some cables and swap slots with another pci card to get it to fit. But it still runs like a champ !!! Love my VOODOO !!!
 
spare agp: 6600gt
spare pci-e: 6500

...i have spare everything pretty much. all that parts hording :D
 
I've never upgraded to a new card unless the old one has crapped out. My 9700pro died on me last year, so I got a 6600GT. My next upgrade will be a brand new system.
 
LOL, yup its a Geforce 2 MX200.. and im on it right now.. my 9700Pro took a dump so now im waiting for my cpu,mobo,graphics card to get here from the egg
 
If by "spare" you mean several drawers, boxes, computers and closets full of parts.....then yes, yes I do. :D
 
I don't have a spare PCI-E card, nor do I need one. I have a spare computer. If my current card craps out, I'll surf on my HTPC until I get the replacement parts. That was what happened to me a month ago when I motherboard blew up. Granted I can't play games on it but I could still surf the web, check email, chat with friends, watch p.. movies.
 
i have more video cards than i care to think about...

so yes, i have many, many spares.

I also have backup rig #1, which is a 2.4ghz aXP, 1GB TCCD, 6800GT and 200GB HDD, backup rig #2, which is dual 1.4ghz P3-s, 1GB, and a r9600p.... Then theres my laptop, which is in my sig, and my backup laptop... a Thinkpad T23.
 
radeon 7500 pci passive for my backup. It was my transition card for my former intel 925xe and 3.6 es DO prescott WAS that a hot processor, sheash very hot processor.
 
I keep a whole spare Rig in case mine takes a crap.

I have a 6600LE PCI-E too, incase my card dies.

Spare rig:

Rosewill TU-155 Case w/all red led Logisys 80MM's
Antec 400w PSU
DFI nF2 Ultra Infinity
AXP 1800+ Tbred A -- Zalman CNPS3100-Cu
2x256MB Corsair CH-6 UTT
80GB Hitachi Deskstar
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro w/Arctic Cooler

Not bad :)
 
mavalpha said:
How do you keep a spare AGP card, when your rig is PCIe? Generally, yes- I have a PCI video card in my closet- I think it's 4MB, and some sort of Trident. I also have a TNT2 M64- they've both served me well for over eight years, so I trust them wholeheartedly as spares now.

This seems like a good place for a poll.
Click to expand...

same here. I always sell my last video card to recoup some cash for the next big thing :p

Para
 
I keep a spare Cirrus Logic 1MB ISA card around in case grandma's existing card overheats while playing windows solitare.
 
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