I just built an HTPC and decided to just use the integrated GPU and Steam in-home streaming. It works great! Using a powerline adapter. It allows me to have a really small, quiet HTPC, and my gaming PC can do all the work in my room. I would suggest giving that a try

the system is from 2008, it doesn't even have digital outputs lol (Lenovo mATX workstation) but the E8400 should still be a decent chip for HTPC tasks. Yes gamestream/steam streaming is what it'll be primarily used for.

Dell's refresh of their XPS 13 looks amazing

Dell's new XPS 13 has a stunning edge-to-edge display | The Verge

I have the worst luck with video cards...

The 8800GT in my first DIY built computer back in 2008 came DOA so I RMA'd it and it was fine for 6 years until recently when it went bad. EVGA quickly RMA'd it and I rate their customer service a solid 10/10 for how quickly they respond.

While I was waiting for my new replacement card, I built an entirely new computer since it was time to upgrade anyway. My Gigabyte R9 280 was working fine until recently where it would randomly black out and give me an error about how the AMD driver stopped responding and recovered. According to Windows Event Viewer, the amdkmdap driver was having issues. I reformatted the computer as a result and it worked fine for a couple days then it started doing it again. I have practically done everything I could short of RMA'ing it which I am slightly worried about given some of the stories I've read online about how Gigabyte tries every possible excuse to deny any warranty exchanges. Unfortunately I am about a week past the NCIX 30 day policy. I've tried underclocking, overclocking, and tweaking the BIOS settings in VBE7 then flashing it with ATIwinflash but still having the same issues.

Should've stuck with EVGA and NVIDIA... FML

Edit:
Will the process be any quicker if I were to RMA it myself compared to having NCIX do it on my behalf? I figure I can save $30 in shipping costs if I let them deal with it, lol.

Never had NCIX do an RMA, but I'd imagine it'd take about the same.

When does it crash? Desktop, gaming, both?

I'd imagine you already tried different drivers, and temperatures are in check.

Try in a different system as well. I recently bought an older 7850 that kept crashing on my home computers, but wouldn't crash at NCIX's test bench. Returned it for a different card, and no issues.

Yes, have tried a variety of different drivers all with the same negative results. Frequently crashed when using Chrome but improved significantly after I disabled the hardware acceleration option. I've noticed that artifacts appear once the voltage rises under load. In the case of BF4, the game gives me an error and shuts down about the same time a map is loaded while in Sims 4 (gf plays it mostly but I have no shame in admitting I play sometimes), the screen flickers and is covered in an excessive amount of green squares/artifacts.

I have no idea if there's any correlation, but this all started happening after I ran dual monitors temporarily then went back to my one monitor with dvi connection. When I had 2 monitors hooked up, the 2nd one was with hdmi

see if NCIX will budge since it's only a week too late...they might try to tack on restock fee but i'd just take that hit instead of waiting few weeks of downtime.

6 years on the 8800GT was a good run

EVGA lifetime warranty ftw. Received a GTX 650 as a replacement. No hassle or anything. Should've paid the premium and just stuck with them

8800GT was pretty high-end back in the day.. only slightly lower tiered than the 8800GTS and 8800GTX. You should've got a 660TI IMO, haha.

^ I would've been happy to receive an old 8800GT so a more modern replacement with better specs was a nice surprise

Any of you guys replace gpu cooler on brand new gpu card? My friend said don't touch if you want to maintain warranty.

I'm pretty sure nowadays everyone allows removal of the stock cooler. You just gotta make sure to revert it back to stock if you need to RMA.

I replaced my R9 280X heatsink with a NZXT G10 + Corsair H55 since my video card fans were making this awful whining noise and I didn't want to RMA it.

nice
now they only carry lifetime warranty on very few products and requires registration within 30 days of purchase

Anyone got an older system running DDR2 RAM that I can quickly test some RAM on that lives in Burnaby?

Any deals on good GTX 970s?

Has anyone done a RMA with Crucial? Filed an online RMA on the 5th of this month, and STILL haven't heard from them. Maybe I should give them a call tomorrow.

Best price for a non-reference card that I can see on pcpartpicker.

EVGA 04G-2974-KR GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0 - Newegg.ca

Slightly paranoid that the video card I'm sending back to Gigabyte for an RMA will be denied since the problem with it seems to be on and off. Does anyone here have any personal experience with them? Also wondering if I can do a step up to a 280X, but I guess I can call them tomorrow and ask.

I'm looking in to upgrading my video card.
I currently have a GTX 460.

Budget is $200~<300.

I was looking at this MSI GeForce GTX 660 Gaming Edition 1033/1098MHZ 2GB 6GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DP PCI-E 3.0 Video Card - N660 GAMING 2GD5/OC

looks like a steal if i can actually get the rebate?

perhaps

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-...98788-1261.htm

??

660 will be a substantial upgrade but it's getting old and a poor value at $200+
i'd pay a bit more and go 970...it's a better value in the long run

$146.40 after taxes and MIR.

Not worth it.

A used R9 270X for $120 is much better.

Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 OC 1072MHZ 3GB 5.0GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card - GV-R928WF3OC-3GD

hows this look guys

its the r9 280 for $230 + tax = $257.60 - $20 rebate = $237.60

is that price point worth it over the $146.40 for the gtx 660?

I'm looking to buy new as i dont want to risk buying a mining card.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...xZY/edit#gid=0

Some R9 280X/7950s here.

^Whered you find that?... :o