I’m not really tech savvy, so I need some advice on these things… this is the picture of the 9800 gt I’ve bought online… do you see any problems with it? is everything okay judging by what you see in the picture? are there something missing?
http://s.lowyat.net/uploads//attach-73/post-383173-1294340103.jpg
he sold it to me as is, what I see in the picture is what I get, so…anything wrong with it?
any comment?
Judgeing if a hardware works by a picture is like trying to determine what women think by looking at them - an educated guess at best which can very well end in a disaster 
I see the fan and heatspreader is very clean and no dust to see.
I see that the PCIe and SLI connector got its shoes back on.
If it is a used card the owner takes good care of his hardware.
Problems that might crop up are temperature problems, I don´t see vRAM coolers or coolers on the voltage converters. The current cooler should blow air out radial, but sometimes it ain´t enough.
As iz is an ASUS card you can be pretty certain the card has decent capacitators, no honkong backyard crap to save 0.001 USD per card in the production.
All in all it should be able to handle all tasks in blender and run games pretty decent too.
Bargain IMO if it is the 512mb version. If it is the 256mb version it is still o.k. you just cant work with too many big textures in GLSL viewport.
Said. Mine have some additional heat dissipators, but seems to be the same card. And runs pretty well.
One thing I like a lot is that THE CARD ITSEFL is able to regulate the fan’s speed (no need for drivers. It works fine on GNU/Linux).
I think 30 USD is a pretty good price if it’s the 512 MB version. Good choice.
you said:
“If it is a used card the owner takes good care of his hardware.
Problems that might crop up are temperature problems, I don´t see vRAM coolers or coolers on the voltage converters. The current cooler should blow air out radial, but sometimes it ain´t enough.”
what should I do about it? as you have guessed I am a noob at these things…:spin:
it’s a 512 mb card;)
thanks 
and I am going for Linux
wait… what brand of the card do you have? ASUS? EVGA? what is it?
Quite easy.
Firstly don´t worry
Then, nvidia drivers under linux and windows allow to read the thermal diode. For W7 I recommend “GPU Observer” as desktop widget or any tool that can display the temps in the tray.
For linux there are tools galore as well.
If the card gets too hot (GPU beyond 90-95°C) when gaming or scultping you can buy an aftermarket cooler. I recommend the Scythe Musashi.
The first step when using a “upper segment” graphiccard is to make sure you got enough case cooling. No airflow in the case ends with the components heating the air inside and trying to cool themselfes with the hot air =)
If you get “artifacts” or stripes on the screen your vRAM is too hot.
Generally the card should work as is, after all its manufactured that way, however thermal stress shortens the lifespan of electrical components.
if I do buy an aftermarket cooler should I still be constantly looking or worry about the temperature?
you said:
Generally the card should work as is, after all its manufactured that way.
does that mean, that the card itself is manufactured without a vram cooler/cooler? and it’s complete as it is. nothing missing?
The Scythe Musashi has vRAM, VC and VIVO coolers for cards that got a VIVO chip.
It is not cheap though, it costs more than your card. Personally I got it on 2 Cards both stronger than yours, both OC´d never got beyond 60°C and it is barely hearable - it is the carefree package. 
However. Yeh, thats what I meant.
Asus buys the GPUs and then builds cards to their specifications - if they say their parts endure the thermal stress without cooling, they do. I just like to be sure to have my parts working as long as possible.
While in the 8800/9800 GT series it was rather common not to have vRAM coolers, the card seems to miss (but not necessarily) the VC cooler:
Then again, the image I got is a card with 2 DVI, yours got 1xDVI, 1xVGA connectors, so the above might be a later revision of the same card.
However there are plenty of aftermarket coolers for the VC array only, you just pushpin it through the 2 holes your card got. Costs a buck or two.
I also found images of the 1GB version without any VC/VRAM cooler.
Don´t worry too much, nvidia cards got thermal shutdown/throttle anyways. If it gets too hot it either shuts down or throttles the speed, depending on its generation.
thanks for taking the time to help me:) appreciate it.
If that card works, it’s surelly the best buy of your whole year, man. I’m guessing you’ll have to invest in some extra cooling, but still a great buy. If your case is big and well ventilated you’ll won’t have trouble.
Enjoy your new toy.
will DO!!