Gaming Getting a new graphics card

[Elias843]

no i knew about that, it's just the 6 pin connectors? I think that's what they are.

 

[TheWingless]

well I had a 5100 so I can tell you with confidence that it doesn't support PCI-E 2.0, however all 2.0 does is up the bandwidth, allowing you to play better at insane resolutions (1024x768 is about as low as resolution goes nowadays). I have no idea what the difference between the 5100 and the 5150 is, but my 5100 had a 305W power supply which easily handled an x1650 - one of the most power demanding cards that doesn't require an external power source, so you should be able to use any power cordless card on the market (I recommend an x4670, the most efficient and powerful card that fits that bill). The thing that had me kicking myself when I took my x1650 out of it 2-3 years later to put in my new computer was the fact that the stock PSU has a 6 pin PCI-E power cord and dual 18A 12v rails, probably the same PSU which people had claimed success running the 8800GT (one of the most power-hungry [edit: single core] cards out there) on.

From this information... You might have a 6 pin? I tried looking up info on the power supply but I didn't find any so you'll have to check yourself by opening the computer up. If not you could use one of those adapters that come with some (People said Sapphire has them) brands that convert two molex? connectors to a 6 pin.

Unless if you're asking like if you can fit your 6 pin connector to the 4770? I thought those were all the same really. Though if the PSUs are similar then the information quoted below is a bit discouraging.

QUOTE(notnarb @ May 16 2009, 02:56 PM) Problem: just got my the adapter from my sapphire 4830's box to see if it would reach the graphics card (which I doubt, it barely makes it), and I noticed that the six pin on the PSU is just barely different from a normal 6 pin, which would explain why it is so short (I checked the adapter to see if you would need to get a 6 pin extension cable or if the cable sapphire provides would be long enough to get the 4 pin under your CD drive to the card)
Wtf is this? Image thing

http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...;l=en&s=dfb

 

[notnarb]

no i knew about that, it's just the 6 pin connectors? I think that's what they are.
no, as far as I can tell it wont fit

. I still have no idea what that 6 pin connector coming from the PSU is for and the spare molex connector is just barely too far from where the card would go to use the sapphire adapter.

Sorry for the threadjacking bro. Just didn't want to start a new one and get users all cranky because there was already one made.

Also, to raki, I'm not sure what "how much A to the 12v rail" is exactly, but I looked at the unit and this is what it said.

-12v = /1A Max
+12vA = /18A Max
+12vB = /18A Max

and if you don't think either card is fast enough, what would you recommend in a $100 price range.
You looked in the right spot, but look around on the PSU to see if it has a cap on the 12V rails. The 51x0 has a not which says something along the lines of "total output on 12vA and 12vB shall not exceed 264W" effectively giving it 22A on the 12V rails total, but since you have a 375W PSU, its probably higher, but it doesn't hurt to check anyways. You should be good with a 4770-4830-4550-9600-9800 if you have at least 22A


@anyone confused in this thread
CODE

Watts = Amps x Volts

 

[Elias843]

OFFTOPIC:
Since this is my topic, and you've all been so helpful

i thought I'd carry on posting here and not make another topic.
I have my hdd partitioned to 2 parts, it came like this from dell, 1 main and the other is backup.
Recently I formatted my computer and the drive letters switched (the main partition was C:\ which became D:\ and backup was D:\ which became C:\)
But windows was still installed on the main partition. (I know this is getting confusing.)
So I installed partition magic which gave me the option to rename drive letters, so I did, afterwards Windows wouldn't boot.
Luckily I have Ubuntu dual booted on my backup drive. I can access everything on my windows drive from linux but is there anyway to just change the drive letters back to allow windows to work, or somehow use a system restore?
I could use linux to backup my HDD and reinstall windows but that will be my last resort >.>
Edit: This makes no sense how does ubuntu boot, i changed its drive letter as well..

 

[kjean]

OFFTOPIC:
Since this is my topic, and you've all been so helpful

i thought I'd carry on posting here and not make another topic.
I have my hdd partitioned to 2 parts, it came like this from dell, 1 main and the other is backup.
Recently I formatted my computer and the drive letters switched (the main partition was C:\ which became D:\ and backup was D:\ which became C:\)
But windows was still installed on the main partition. (I know this is getting confusing.)
So I installed partition magic which gave me the option to rename drive letters, so I did, afterwards Windows wouldn't boot.
Luckily I have Ubuntu dual booted on my backup drive. I can access everything on my windows drive from linux but is there anyway to just change the drive letters back to allow windows to work, or somehow use a system restore?
I could use linux to backup my HDD and reinstall windows but that will be my last resort >.>
Edit: This makes no sense how does ubuntu boot, i changed its drive letter as well..

Changing drive letter with PM is not physical thing, it just assign your OS' drive letter, I mean what it looks are not what it really gets, and PM is windows app. I can't tell which one is your real first partition. Can you provide us some screenshots?

Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Disk Management
or PM's

 

[Blythe31]

You looked in the right spot, but look around on the PSU to see if it has a cap on the 12V rails. The 51x0 has a not which says something along the lines of "total output on 12vA and 12vB shall not exceed 264W" effectively giving it 22A on the 12V rails total, but since you have a 375W PSU, its probably higher, but it doesn't hurt to check anyways. You should be good with a 4770-4830-4550-9600-9800 if you have at least 22A


@anyone confused in this thread

Watts = Amps x Volts

I checked where it said "total output of 12va etc. etc." and it said 375w

I ended up purchasing a PNY GeForce 9800 GT 1gb because I got a great deal on it. Would my PSU be enough? if not, what whould I look into getting that's affordable?
Thanks for all the help btw! When my games are running flawlessly I'll be thanking all the helpful members of gbatemp. haha.

 

[steve007]

yeh i got the same card how munch memory do you have i got 3 gig 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu 160 gig 80 gig inside 160 gig usb and a 260 gig usb yeh i am set windows xp pro sp2 and a Xfi soundblaster pci e x1

 

[WhySoSerious70]

You looked in the right spot, but look around on the PSU to see if it has a cap on the 12V rails. The 51x0 has a not which says something along the lines of "total output on 12vA and 12vB shall not exceed 264W" effectively giving it 22A on the 12V rails total, but since you have a 375W PSU, its probably higher, but it doesn't hurt to check anyways. You should be good with a 4770-4830-4550-9600-9800 if you have at least 22A


@anyone confused in this thread

Watts = Amps x Volts

I checked where it said "total output of 12va etc. etc." and it said 375w

I ended up purchasing a PNY GeForce 9800 GT 1gb because I got a great deal on it. Would my PSU be enough? if not, what whould I look into getting that's affordable?
Thanks for all the help btw! When my games are running flawlessly I'll be thanking all the helpful members of gbatemp. haha.

Is that the XLR8 card? I just got one of those about a month ago. Running off a 485 watt PSU. That card along with a Athlon X2 5200 running stock @ 2.7Ghz and 2GB DDR2 800 memory runs Crysis on all high settings. It handles just about everything I throw at it except PS2 emulation. I kick myself in the ass for not getting a Core2Duo every time I try to run PCSX2.

Anyway, for my specific system PSU Calculator 2.5 recommends 245watts PSU for my setup. I went in the 400's just to be safe, plus I have dual 12v rails with 18A on each so it works well for everything I have in the system.

 

[Blythe31]

yeh i got the same card how munch memory do you have i got 3 gig 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu 160 gig 80 gig inside 160 gig usb and a 260 gig usb yeh i am set windows xp pro sp2 and a Xfi soundblaster pci e x1

I'm sorry, but like I stated before, not too terribly tech savvy. I don't know what half those terms mean and it's pretty much gibberish. I know that I have a single core processor and 150gig C drive. o.O Please excuse my computer illiteracy. =/


and yes, it is the XLR8.

 

[Joe88]

I ended up purchasing a PNY GeForce 9800 GT 1gb because I got a great deal on it.
how much?

QUOTE(steve007 @ May 20 2009, 10:48 PM) 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu

thats not what that means

2.4ghz is shared between the 2

 

[kjean]

I ended up purchasing a PNY GeForce 9800 GT 1gb because I got a great deal on it.
how much?

QUOTE(steve007 @ May 20 2009, 10:48 PM) 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu

thats not what that means

2.4ghz is shared between the 2

Yes, 2.4 each not multiply 2.4 by 2.
If that's in that case my quad got 3.0 * 4 = 12.0Ghz!!!?? OMG?!?!?

 

[Joe88]

just wait till the octo cores with a 4ghz clock = 32ghz
:0

 

[Raki]

yeh i got the same card how munch memory do you have i got 3 gig 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu 160 gig 80 gig inside 160 gig usb and a 260 gig usb yeh i am set windows xp pro sp2 and a Xfi soundblaster pci e x1

I'm sorry, but like I stated before, not too terribly tech savvy. I don't know what half those terms mean and it's pretty much gibberish. I know that I have a single core processor and 150gig C drive. o.O Please excuse my computer illiteracy. =/


and yes, it is the XLR8.

well I guess you'll get limited by your processor...what single core is it? Pentium 4 3 GHz ? or and AMD Athlon?

 

[Blythe31]

I believe it's a pentium 4 3ghz.

and It's nothing extreme. Got it for 100 with a corporate account off of cdw.

 

[notnarb]

yeh i got the same card how munch memory do you have i got 3 gig 2.4 ducore so thats a 4.8 cpu 160 gig 80 gig inside 160 gig usb and a 260 gig usb yeh i am set windows xp pro sp2 and a Xfi soundblaster pci e x1

I'm sorry, but like I stated before, not too terribly tech savvy. I don't know what half those terms mean and it's pretty much gibberish. I know that I have a single core processor and 150gig C drive. o.O Please excuse my computer illiteracy. =/


and yes, it is the XLR8.

Nvidia recommends, what, 24A on the 12v rails (total) for the entire system? You should be good. Don't worry about what steve said, he essentially said gibberish which roughly translates to his specs - 3 GB of ram, a 2.4 dual core of an unspecified manufacturer (which does NOT add up to 4.8 ), his assorted hard drives, external and internal, his operating system - a not up-to-date Windows XP, and his soundcard. I would equate what he said to "Yeah I have the same cat how munch dogs do you have i got 3 cats 4 birds one relative one brother two cousins yea im set two doormats and a windshield wiper for a toyota" - a bunch of loosely related stuff with little relevancy and an utter lack of punctuation - gibberish

 

[Elias843]

OFFTOPIC:
Since this is my topic, and you've all been so helpful

i thought I'd carry on posting here and not make another topic.
I have my hdd partitioned to 2 parts, it came like this from dell, 1 main and the other is backup.
Recently I formatted my computer and the drive letters switched (the main partition was C:\ which became D:\ and backup was D:\ which became C:\)
But windows was still installed on the main partition. (I know this is getting confusing.)
So I installed partition magic which gave me the option to rename drive letters, so I did, afterwards Windows wouldn't boot.
Luckily I have Ubuntu dual booted on my backup drive. I can access everything on my windows drive from linux but is there anyway to just change the drive letters back to allow windows to work, or somehow use a system restore?
I could use linux to backup my HDD and reinstall windows but that will be my last resort >.>
Edit: This makes no sense how does ubuntu boot, i changed its drive letter as well..

Changing drive letter with PM is not physical thing, it just assign your OS' drive letter, I mean what it looks are not what it really gets, and PM is windows app. I can't tell which one is your real first partition. Can you provide us some screenshots?

Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Disk Management
or PM's

The problem is windows is unable to boot, so i can only access anything on my hdd through ubuntu.

 

[Blythe31]

Nvidia recommends, what, 24A on the 12v rails (total) for the entire system? You should be good. Don't worry about what steve said, he essentially said gibberish which roughly translates to his specs - 3 GB of ram, a 2.4 dual core of an unspecified manufacturer (which does NOT add up to 4.8 ), his assorted hard drives, external and internal, his operating system - a not up-to-date Windows XP, and his soundcard. I would equate what he said to "Yeah I have the same cat how munch dogs do you have i got 3 cats 4 birds one relative one brother two cousins yea im set two doormats and a windshield wiper for a toyota" - a bunch of loosely related stuff with little relevancy and an utter lack of punctuation - gibberish

Ahaha actually made me chuckle. I have 375w of output. This video review says that it uses 105w and recommended PSU is minimum 450w.

Is this about right? will I have to get a new PSU?

 

[notnarb]

Nvidia recommends, what, 24A on the 12v rails (total) for the entire system? You should be good. Don't worry about what steve said, he essentially said gibberish which roughly translates to his specs - 3 GB of ram, a 2.4 dual core of an unspecified manufacturer (which does NOT add up to 4.8 ), his assorted hard drives, external and internal, his operating system - a not up-to-date Windows XP, and his soundcard. I would equate what he said to "Yeah I have the same cat how munch dogs do you have i got 3 cats 4 birds one relative one brother two cousins yea im set two doormats and a windshield wiper for a toyota" - a bunch of loosely related stuff with little relevancy and an utter lack of punctuation - gibberish

Ahaha actually made me chuckle. I have 375w of output. This video review says that it uses 105w and recommended PSU is minimum 450w.

Is this about right? will I have to get a new PSU?

graphics card manufacturers overestimate how good of a power supply you need because of power supplies that put a lot of power on the rails that don't really matter (3.3v and 5v), just so they can sell make their '500W' power supply look better then your 375W even though they have the same amount of relevant power output. Sometimes the wattage advertised for the PSU is the peak output, and not what can be delivered consistently. Just look at this power supply, it has two 13A 12v rails, allowing it 312W of output on the 12V rails, while yours allows even more (although 5v and 3.3v usage will take away from that 375W, it shouldn't take more then 75W). PSU's which come with computers aren't rated to sell themselves, they have no reason to rate their peak output power and not their continuous, but manufacturers must prepare for a worst possible senario

 

[Blythe31]

Thanks.

You've all been a great deal of help.

 

[Blythe31]

hm.. so i've had some problems thus far.
Properly installed my PNY GeForce 9800 1gb.
I start up the computer. Then I try and install the drivers and boom.
My monitor goes black. It basically shows that it's not receiving any output.
I can tell it's still running though since someone tried IM'ing me and i still got the sound.
Cables are all properly connected and whatnot.
And it ran rather loudly. Installed a new fan as well, so i'm not sure if it was the cards fan or the fan in the pc.
But the card was running REALLY hot when I opened up the tower.

Not too familiar with how hot they're supposed to run, since I just recently took an interest into computers, but it seemed relatively hot.
What could be the problem? I'm guessing it's the PSU? Maybe?