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evil_homer
All-Round-Good-Guy
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 656
Location: Preston Lancashire
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 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:22 am Post subject: PC update |
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i've been using my PC for online games a lot since recently but some games have to be run on the normal, low or off settings.
its a Fujitsu seimens scaleo p with Pentium 4 cpu 3.40GHz with a gig of ddr ram, the graphics card is a Leadtek GeForce 6200.
if i get a better graphics card will that mean i can play games at the best settings or do i need to update to dual/quad core and do i need more ram etc? if i just need a card the ones i'm looking at are
BFG OC NVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB
i'm looking at playing Battlefield 3 when it comes out and crysis
any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers  |
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Middenrat
actual speed
Joined: 10 Aug 2007
Posts: 2260
Location: Location: Location.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:59 am Post subject: |
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that's a good GPU, I run one and it plays TM on High @ 100fps.
I'd guess you'll need another GB of RAM to back it up, and make sure your mobo supports all its features. It's also a big fat b****** and squeezes other slot cards out of the way, so forget SLi. CPU is plenty fast enough already - by the time this component is outclassed you should be thinking of a new build.
But hey, I'm a know-nuthin bum and stand ready to be enlightened
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Pepper
Site Admin
Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 851
Location: wooops...
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:19 am Post subject: |
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The 8800 Nvidia and 2 Gb of Ram would be good Homer 
...sorry, evil homer i mean  |
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Gording
Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Posts: 61
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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You'll be hanging on by a thread....
The 8800GT by itself needs 105W of power, (nvidia specs) and this is variable depending on how much RAM, its clock speed, and on board cooling solution, when it can need even more!
With not enough juice, you're PC can have odd shut downs, and system crashes, as parts of the hardware just aren't getting enough power to work. An unrealistic power draw on a small PSU (you likely only have 350W, and that's being optimistic!) can also lead to hardware failure.
The more hardware in your PC, and connected to it, the more power it draws, and as your PSU simply doesn't have vast reserves of power to pool from, shoving in such a hungry graphics card could present problems. You might have to consider a watt upgrade, or hope you're just lucky.
Also the nV6200 came in PCi, AGP, and PCI-E versions, it's vital that you know your PC has the PCI-E variant, or you can't even use a modern card like the 8800GT.
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evil_homer
All-Round-Good-Guy
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 656
Location: Preston Lancashire
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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just had the side off my PC and theres 3 white slots, i think these are PCI's and one black one of a similar size to the white ones, i'm thinking PCI-Express?
i did buy a PCI-Express card off ebay, a Leadteck Winfast PX6800 GT TDH 256MB DDR3 it did fit in the slot, but the screen came up as blocks when i put it in, i did install the drivers and i tried running it with a seperate PSU for it, i assumed it was a damaged card (should have bought brand new)
so, up to now i need another gig of ram (the ones in at the mo are 2 x 512 but theres 2 more slots)
a PSU
and a graphics card
the framerate for trackmania now are around 15fps |
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mark-s
PRO Admin
Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 527
Location: nice
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evil_homer
All-Round-Good-Guy
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 656
Location: Preston Lancashire
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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scanned my system its telling me i've got an ASUS P5GD1 motherboard
not sure how to upload photos on her but theres a pic at
http://www.unitedsale.net/pics/adapter/Asus-P5GD1-FMS-Intel-915P-Socket-775-mATX-1.jpg
Maximum Memory Capacity: 4096MB
Currently Installed Memory: 1GB
Available Memory Slots: 2
Number of Banks: 4
Dual Channel Support: Yes
CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz Model 4, Stepping 3
CPU Speed: 3391 MHz
Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700,DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 2GB kit (1GBx2) per slot
its advising 2 sticks of 1 gig to take it to 3 gig |
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DanTheMan
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 1668
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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it is pci-e, look at ur psu before you buy one, i`ve seen 500watt ones placed in prebuilt systems before
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DaCheese
Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Posts: 1471
Location: GMR Towers, South Shropshire, UK.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| evil_homer wrote: | | i did buy a PCI-Express card off ebay, a Leadteck Winfast PX6800 GT TDH 256MB DDR3 it did fit in the slot, but the screen came up as blocks when i put it in |
Not sure whether that card needs a seperate power supply or not, my PCI-E 8600GT in my new system doesn't but on my old PC I used an AGP interface Radeon X1650 Pro and without an external power connector the result was similar.
If you're planning on running a good graphics card, make sure the power supply you get can provide the neccessary connectors. Mine was probably overkill for my system as it is (600W with two connectors for graphics cards), but should be ideal for future upgrades. I was going to recommend it, but don't think Ebuyer have any left.
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Gording
Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Posts: 61
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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Careful! In computer hardware terms, terminology is everything. I'd guess that only a handful (maybe less? lol) of PC's in the UK could qualify as having an "external power supply" or "independent power supply".
Here's a "Scaleo P" slightly above the 3.40Ghz and looky loo...PSU ...only 350 Watts. So a model under this might have even less! I can't imagine it would have larger.
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Fujitsu_Siemens_SCALEO_P__6312960
Given that graphics will suck away 100W at least, and the P4 is a bit of a room heater when loaded up, that's another 140ish watts away, and because PSU's in badged PC's usually fall short of their stated output, this could leave hardly 100W left to power optical drives, sound, motherboard, and RAM (fans only take a tiny bit, unless you're sitting in a wind tunnel for modern PC cooling). So I'll stick to my previous post, and say it could be a small margin for working.
By the way the old nV6800GT could take about 60 - 70 watts loaded, and if your current PSU could not power that, it may have actually been perfectly functional, but may have shown various artifacts simply due to lack of power. If this was the case (trying graphics cards in other computers is the only real way to see if they're really broken) you'd be well short of powering an 8800GT.
Consider, and think very carefully, before splurging out.
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xaniel
Joined: 31 Dec 2023
Posts: 1741
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xaniel
Joined: 31 Dec 2023
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