a computer update
i performed a little experiment last night. norcalpaco expressed concern that the possible problem with my video card issues might stem from the card's own cooling fan. apparently, this happened to celtcub a while back. he was having the same problems i'm having and they found it that the fan stopped working and his card essentially burned out. i really don't want to have that happen, so i checked things out last night.
i cracked open my case and left it open. i started her up and everything, aside from being super dusty, seemed to be working fine. the fan on the video card was running perfectly and everything appeared to be hunky-dory. marshall suggested i fire up the sims and play along. basically wait until i come across the same issue; perform your basic QA bug-checks. so, i play. i got a lot done and made sure to save each chance i got. sadly, i got lazy, and after a while i didn't get the chance to save right before my monitor turns off. this is sadly after BOTH my sims got promotions, but since i'll essentially REPLAY what happened last night the next time, i'll be alright. i at least know which answer is correct when their little work "dilemmas" come up. anyway, i got down on the floor with my flashlight (of course my card is situated upside-down when my case is right-side up) and checked the fan on the video card. the fan was still working, albeit a little on the warm side. up until then, the air coming through the exhaust pipes on the card was cool, this time it was rather warm. my CPU fan was running fine and everything, too.
marshall put out the idea that maybe i could just get the fan replaced on the card. the fan looks to be in a position on the card that doesn't seem easily replaceable. and really, if it's not performing well, i might as well get an upgrade, right?
before i had even checked to see if my video card was broken or not, i browsed newegg to see what they had available. i wanted to go with the same chipset that i currently have now: nvidia. this is the video card i currently have. it's an older model, for sure, but it does have a nice chunk of RAM. so far, i've found 2 within my price range that are a slight upgrade. unfortunately, i have NO CLUE what all the numbers and letters mean surrounding the product name for video cards. this is the first one i found yesterday that sparked my interest. it has an upgraded chipset, runs directx 10, and has double the memory of my current card. what i don't understand is the GDDR2. my current card is a GDDR3. does the fact that 3 > 2 mean anything in this situation? a little more digging and i found this one. this has the same amount of memory as my current one, it has an upgraded chipset and also runs directx 10. it is also a GDDR3, the same as my current one. the thing i like the best about this one is it has this huge fan on it. apparently it's a special deal, but i couldn't tell you why. while reading the customer reviews, i noticed everyone was extremely pleased with this particular card. plus, with the $30-rebate, i'd end up essentially paying LESS than the first one i found.
in all actuality, though, i've merely scratched the surface of video cards. i know i don't want to pay any more than i have to. i'd love to pay less than $100 for an upgrade to my current video card. my cap would be $125 for a new one. i know there are plenty of better cards out there, but they're also expensive. i'd rather buy a cheaper one now that's a slight upgrade and just wait for the bigger upgrade to come down in price.
ultimately, i'd just like to play sims for more than 2 hours before it crashes my computer and not have to be super paranoid and click "save" every 2 seconds...
i cracked open my case and left it open. i started her up and everything, aside from being super dusty, seemed to be working fine. the fan on the video card was running perfectly and everything appeared to be hunky-dory. marshall suggested i fire up the sims and play along. basically wait until i come across the same issue; perform your basic QA bug-checks. so, i play. i got a lot done and made sure to save each chance i got. sadly, i got lazy, and after a while i didn't get the chance to save right before my monitor turns off. this is sadly after BOTH my sims got promotions, but since i'll essentially REPLAY what happened last night the next time, i'll be alright. i at least know which answer is correct when their little work "dilemmas" come up. anyway, i got down on the floor with my flashlight (of course my card is situated upside-down when my case is right-side up) and checked the fan on the video card. the fan was still working, albeit a little on the warm side. up until then, the air coming through the exhaust pipes on the card was cool, this time it was rather warm. my CPU fan was running fine and everything, too.
marshall put out the idea that maybe i could just get the fan replaced on the card. the fan looks to be in a position on the card that doesn't seem easily replaceable. and really, if it's not performing well, i might as well get an upgrade, right?
before i had even checked to see if my video card was broken or not, i browsed newegg to see what they had available. i wanted to go with the same chipset that i currently have now: nvidia. this is the video card i currently have. it's an older model, for sure, but it does have a nice chunk of RAM. so far, i've found 2 within my price range that are a slight upgrade. unfortunately, i have NO CLUE what all the numbers and letters mean surrounding the product name for video cards. this is the first one i found yesterday that sparked my interest. it has an upgraded chipset, runs directx 10, and has double the memory of my current card. what i don't understand is the GDDR2. my current card is a GDDR3. does the fact that 3 > 2 mean anything in this situation? a little more digging and i found this one. this has the same amount of memory as my current one, it has an upgraded chipset and also runs directx 10. it is also a GDDR3, the same as my current one. the thing i like the best about this one is it has this huge fan on it. apparently it's a special deal, but i couldn't tell you why. while reading the customer reviews, i noticed everyone was extremely pleased with this particular card. plus, with the $30-rebate, i'd end up essentially paying LESS than the first one i found.
in all actuality, though, i've merely scratched the surface of video cards. i know i don't want to pay any more than i have to. i'd love to pay less than $100 for an upgrade to my current video card. my cap would be $125 for a new one. i know there are plenty of better cards out there, but they're also expensive. i'd rather buy a cheaper one now that's a slight upgrade and just wait for the bigger upgrade to come down in price.
ultimately, i'd just like to play sims for more than 2 hours before it crashes my computer and not have to be super paranoid and click "save" every 2 seconds...