So I have this EVGA 9600GT that I picked up in 2008 on the heels of TR's review about it. It wasn't the most powerful available, but the power draw was low and performance was more than adequate for StarCraft II.
Just three months shy of six years later, the card appears to die, booting Windows 7 64-bit into Safe Mode only. When a normal boot is attempted, it goes to the "Starting" screen and is followed by a completely black screen thereafter This persisted after two reloaded restore points AND a driver update from Safe Mode.
It just so happened that I was able to swap it out with an XFX R7850 that was given to me by a friend, coincidentally, on the very day the 9600GT went out. It's been a week so far with no problems; working fine with the latest Catalyst drivers. I haven't tried StarCraft II, but Star Trek: Online looks great.
So, with that in mind, I'm wondering if my 9600GT has indeed bought the farm? Maybe my expectations are misaligned, but I was hoping for more time with it. As good as my games look, I feel like I don't need the extra power draw to justify it. My last build had a Voodoo FX Banshee that lasted a good 9 years before it went south! Maybe I should just let it go, but it was such a sensible card...
Thoughts? Anecdotes? Thanks in advance!