Was Lied To About Video Card

[Irons Maidens]

Hey guys.

I previously had an NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT plugged into my computer. It ran WoW pretty decent on high setting, sans raiding (no worries, I'm a PvPer)

I even got 60fps now and then, in Arena.

When my card died on me unexpectedly (fuck you nvlddmkm.sys), I had my computer taken to the shop that initially replaced my onboard with the 8800GT. They said that for 75$ they could put in a GeForce 520. They said I could get DX11 finally (that part was true) and they told me that it was newer, had newer drivers, and was more powerful than the 8800GT.

They lied.
I can barely run WoW now I have to lower the resolution and drop a bunch of sliders to low... not to mention running Rift with the low render on...

Can you guys perhaps suggest a better card than the 8800GT that isn't wallet slaughter that I could purchase to get my WoW frames? It would be wonderful.

[Chrysia]

There is absolutely no reason the 520 should be running poorer than the 8800GT. Check drivers.

[vesseblah]

There is absolutely no reason the 520 should be running poorer than the 8800GT. Check drivers.

Except that it's meant for office desktop, not gaming use. It is indeed slower than old 8800GT in gaming.

Can you guys perhaps suggest a better card than the 8800GT that isn't wallet slaughter that I could purchase to get my WoW frames? It would be wonderful.

a) you get what you pay for, so what's your budget?
b) framerates also depends on CPU, if it's bad, not even $500 graphics card will help you much

[DeltrusDisc]

There is absolutely no reason the 520 should be running poorer than the 8800GT. Check drivers.

Please don't spread false advertisements, the GT520 is a very low-end media graphics card, definitely not for gaming, maybe some light facebook gaming and that's it. The 8800 GT, was, in its prime, the top GPU from NVidia, so no, not even the 520 with lolDX11 will do better, it is not built to be better.

@OP, if you want to stick with NVidia (I like to stick with who and what I know, personally, probably bad but oh well!) then I would suggest dropping $200~ on a GTX 560 Ti or if you want to check out AMD, invest in an HD 6870 or 6950, the 7850 might be worth looking into as well, though I think it's a bit more expensive.

Quick lay-down about NVidia's current-gen for those who don't know:

GT 520: Only for very low-power builds with little to no gaming or graphically intensive applications.
GT 530&540: Only found in pre-built OEM machines.
GTX 550 Ti: Very weak video card for gaming, however can be used for gaming at lower resolutions decently (i.e. below 1920x1080)
GTX 560, 560 Ti: Good gaming graphics cards for gaming on usually decent graphics settings, however will have trouble in the ranges higher than 1920x1080.
GTX 570: Very good graphics card for gaming, excels all over the board.
GTX 580: Slight improvement on the 570, best for tri-screen setups, HUGE resolutions such as 2560x1600, etc. Overkill for most.
GTX 590: Dual underclocked 580s, even better at tri-screen setups. Immense overkill for most.

[Chrysia]

Jesus, you're right vesseblah. Researched it, and I thought the 520 would at least be*close to the 450 I have, but it's miles behind. Good god.

[Alan1187]

It is more powerful, but slower, so in a sense they didn't lie, but it doesn't provide the performance where you need it :\. On the cheap you could go with a 550 ti, but I'd suggest going with a 560 ti personally.

[grandpab]

I wouldn't buy anything lower than a GeForce 550 Ti (or maybe 460) or Radeon 6790. If you wanted to spend a little more like $160-$200, then GTX 560 Ti, or 6870.

All depends on how much you're willing to spend and where you buy it from though.

[kidsafe]

What shop is this? You should make sure nobody you'd consider a friend ever has to deal with them. They didn't really fleece you with the $75 cost+install fee, but that's not the point...they sold you a pointless downgrade. I'd start to suspect they sold you a refurb or known faulty 8800GT too.

[Lucarocks92]

for about 200 u are looking at ati 6950 or a gtx 560ti personally i would get the 2gig ati 6950 it's faster than the nvidia.

[Lawnmower]

OP: Have you gone back to that computer shop and asked for your 8800GT back? Sounds like to me they ripped you off. They got an 8800GT and got rid of an almost worthless card for a profit.

[Veroly]

Honestly a pvper being proud about getting 60 fps in an arena you probably run with minimal mods and settings anyway to load in faster, But to be honest go back and demand your shit back if they kept your 8800 or even buy a new 8800 if it worked well for you.

and to kidsafe holy hit SnK are still around damn, i used to be in Pkpkgankyounow in BC, gankin with ironhide and smug.

[DeltrusDisc]

OP: Have you gone back to that computer shop and asked for your 8800GT back? Sounds like to me they ripped you off. They got an 8800GT and got rid of an almost worthless card for a profit.

The 8800GT is worth close to nothing now and most people would not buy them because they do not support DX11 and would crumble under games like Skyrim. I get what you're trying to say but that simply isn't the case here. The most a used 8800GT could honestly be sold for is likely around $30 now.

---------- Post added 2012-03-08 at 06:32 AM ----------

Honestly a pvper being proud about getting 60 fps in an arena you probably run with minimal mods and settings anyway to load in faster, But to be honest go back and demand your shit back if they kept your 8800 or even buy a new 8800 if it worked well for you.

No, he gets 60 fps in arenas because arenas have very little going on, compared to much more demanding things in WoW.... like world pvp/raids.

[arpium]

if it doesnt run faster than it should atleast run cooler... that 8800 series would get cooking.

[mercutiouk]

Without being mean in the slightest it's always worth checking stuff like that with someone who knows. Some shops will try and get rid of tat on those that don't know better.

Go on anandtech.com there's a "bench" link on the front page which will let you look at the relative performance of various cards/cpu's/ssd's/laptops and will save you getting ripped off in future.

In this case you COULD argue that they sold you a dud and ask for money back.

Take them a printout of the anandtech compare page. If they aren't listed under "2011 graphics cards" they PROBABLY aren't worth buying. Considering there's ATI 4870 listed on that site which is worth about £70 (generally second hand) these days and has about 7 times the power you can see why the 520 isn't listed.

If you have to I'd even suggest getting mildly "heavy" about it. When you start threatening to "go public" about the crap they've tried on you most places get a lot more helpful.

(It actually even works internationally - have a GF in greece who's folks were getting screwed around by Vodaphone. Got onto their head office here in the UK about it, suggested I tarnish their good name by putting the details of the issue on various mobile phone forums, suddenly a phone call from Greek Vodaphone to my lasses folks being only too helpful)

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

If you have to I'd even suggest getting mildly "heavy" about it. When you start threatening to "go public" about the crap they've tried on you most places get a lot more helpful.

Isn't that blackmail?

Anyway, I'd second the 6850/6870 from ATI/AMD or the 550ti/560ti from nVidia. Maybe you could find a GTX 460, that is still a pretty decent card.

[Saithes]

I wouldn't really go public, but stating you would submit a report to the BBB would definitely be something you could do if they don't oblige to your request. Wouldn't really be blackmail but more of seeking a higher authority to rectify the situation.

[Drunkenvalley]

Only escalate as necessary. If kindness meets a stonewall then yeah.

[Deleted]

Defo report it if they refuse to help. It's a straight out lie (that any IT shop should know what a lie)

[Deleted]

LOL I also had a*NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT and it stopped working for no apparent reason a little over 1 year after I bought it. Got a Radeon 5770 after that, it runs a bit better but has some memory leak problems that cause it to crash under certain conditions. I am looking forward to getting back to NVIDIA as soon as I can afford it.

[Deleted]

My girlfriends GPU died recently, a 9800 gtx+. I did a bit of research and decided on the 6850 for its cost/performance value. If I could go back in time I would be using this in my PC instead of the 6950, it was half the price and 4/5ths the performance. The 6850 is a fantastic buy if you are looking for an excellent card that doesn't break the bank!