My Leadtek 6800GT 256MB

Yo people. I've had a Leadtek 6800GT 256MB for almost 4 years now, and I have a feeling that it's finally dead, and I need your confirmation.

Two days ago I was playing my favourite game Lineage 2, and all of a sudden the game froze. I mean it completely froze, I couldn't move anything.

So I tried exiting to windows with ctr+alt+del and all the other variations, but nothing worked. I kept trying and trying for a few minutes, but nothing happened. So I figured my whole computer had frozen, so I had no choice but to press the restart button on my computer case.

That same freeze had happened to me ONE time before, so I didn't think it was a big deal. But when I restarted nothing happened. The fans inside the computer were sounding like usual, but the screen wouldn't turn on. It was black. It was as if my graphics card wasn't connected. So I turned off my computer and waited a few seconds, then turned it on again. But the screen was still black and wouldn't go on.

I thought the card had maybe gotten overheated (very unlikely since it's known for being the best standard cooled 6800GT, not to mention I have like 5 fans in my computer). So I waited a whole day, but the next day my screen still wouldn't turn on.

I tried my brothers computer screen incase it was my screen that had broken and not my video card, but the same thing happened with his screen. So I assumed that my graphics card had finally died after all these 4 years. A graphics card has to die some time right?

Or maybe it isn't dead? I've already started searching for a new graphics card anyways, but I just want your confirmation that it really is broken. Because if it's not it would be really good to know.

Thanks a lot in advance(:

Sounds pretty dead to me.. There is a chance it's your PSU that's given up, I suppose, or even the motherboard, but it sounds most likely that it's the graphics card. 4 years is quite a long time, I think we'll start seeing a lot of these old cards turn faulty - I can see my own 6800LE starting to get weaker as the months go by, the 2D quality is just not what it once was and I don't know how stable it is at these ridiculous clocks anymore.. Anyway..

Best thing to do is swap it out for another card and see if the machine at least POSTs. Preferably the replacement should be a card that is at least as hungry as the 6800GT so that you know it isn't the PSU, but that's not hugely important. And test the GT in another machine if you can..

We can't really help much more than that..

Yep sure I'll try my graphics card in another machine.

But I figured it's anyways time to get a new graphics card. I came across these alternatives, maybe you can help me choose.

Club3D Radeon X1650PRO 512MB
MSI Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB
MSI 7600GT 512MB
ASUS AH2600PRO 512MB

The best of the lot is the 7600GT, it should be about 50% quicker than your 6800. The 2600Pro has a bit less power than the 7600, and the X1650Pro really struggles to play many games at all. The X1650XT was pretty sweet though if you can find one on AGP..

Of course there are also X1950 Pro's on AGP and the new HD3850, but you're starting to get into silly money for an AGP system by then..

Yeah I also thought the 7600GT would be the best choice. And yes, I don't want to spend any more than that for my system.

I'm not ready yet to get PCI-E(:

Btw if I were to have a second choice, it would be the 2600PRO right?

Yes, the 2600Pro would do if you couldn't find a 7600GT. An X1650XT would be slightly quicker than it, but they're quite hard to find on AGP.. and The X1650Pro is just weak

Ya if you can find a x1650xt go for it.. Its actually about as quick as crossfired x1650pros so stay away from those.

The 7600gt will work great though.

Snod Blatter is probably right
Sounds to me like something in the PSU gave up the ghost
If the fans spin up but you can't even get a bios post screen or bios beeps, then the PSU is more likely the problem.

I'd try another PSU before doing anything else

Also, if your mobo has onboard video, I'd try connecting the VGA/DVI connector to the mobo from the video card also and see if it boots

It sounds more like a PSU issue than a VGA issue to me. I'm pretty sure even with a chunk of melted metal in a PCI slot the BIOS would still pass POST. Aren't AGP/PCI devices detected after POST? Am I just crazy? Who knows.

I'd try another PSU first.

LeadTek 6800GT love! Mine still works

Ya, but how can you tell it gets past post when you can't see anything?