A friend has a fried ATI 9800 Pro (128 MB)(has just had a re-install of XP after a bad virus problem, and the computer tech is seeing the card boot up to a black screen; this cards also been over-heating badly in the past).What would be a good upgrade if he wants to do that? I assume there are ATI drivers already installed, and I don;t know if an nVidia card would be a problem (I don't think he wants to screw around with deleting drivers, etc.). I think this is an Athlon system, not sure.Thanks, Bruce.

It really depends on the system he has. If it is, for example, a 2.0Ghz AMD system he may want to just stay with another 9800 Pro. I.E. why throw a ton of money in the latest and greatest VC technology if the system isn't up to the same performance spec? That's for him to decide (it's his money).An advantage to staying with the 9800 Pro is that he won't have to change drivers. Even going to a 9800 XT would require a driver re-install, whereas dropping another Pro would just require changing the cards out. But really, changing drivers isn't all that difficult if his computer tech knows what he's doing.The 9800 Pro offers great bang for the buck today. If he decides to go with another he would be wise to add something like an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer. Works much better than the stock cooling and only costs around $20.00. Cheap insurance in the end.Hope this helps,Greg

I agree with Greg, buy another 128MB 9800 Pro. He could spend 2-3 times the price but the performance gain, if any, isn't going to be very noticeable. There is no better bang-for-the-buck right now than the 9800 Pro's (and the 128MB version is fine, no need at all for the 256MB variety).Doug

Thanks guys, appreciate the good advice. I'll pass it on. I'm not in the market for a new card (also 9800 Pro 128), so I wasn't sure what the best advice would be.Bruce.