Topic: Video Card Question from One Out of the Market for a While

[Don Karnage]

also i was reading some info on my video card and I'm not sure how much ram it suppose to have, i might change it for a 256 meg, so maybe that card can be good for you're kid computer since its a agp card, but not sure if its good for the game he play.


http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce6_techspecs.html

[E_Look]

I think Javora mentioned that depending on the specific computer system, a bit difference in RAM on the video card may not change things a whole lot.

[E_Look]

Hey Matt, guess what- I finally got the Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 XT.

But it wasn't for my son... it was for me!  I didn't want him frittering his time away on Call of Duty 4 anyway.

And my video card, the one I still currently have in my computer which has just started a few days ago giving me the bad display with random splotches blinking everywhere on the screen, has to be replaced... pronto!

So I figure, I'll  get it!  Anyhow, I really love this ATI Radeon 9700 128 MB, but I think it's just about kaput.  I initially thought it could have been driver conflicts with some Windows update, so I updated the drivers for this 9700.  No change.  I've never seen any kind of monitor do this, but since the randomly blinking splotches are block-like in shape, and composed of little vertical lines, it looks very much like a video card on its last legs.

What is surprising is that the card is going bad.  Usually, I've heard, they just go obsolete and one throws it away fully functional.

I hope, anyway, it's a simple case of graphics hardware dying, and not something else... like my still sorta new monitor!  Besides, I can hear the hard drive going whenever these splotches appear, so I suspect it isn't the monitor.

I agree that the video card is outdated but I'm not sure how much you want to spend on it as you never specified a price.  Since I really don't think that you will be installing MS Vista on the machine I wouldn't suggest a latest greatest video card anyway.  I'm not sure you're going to find a 8600 Nvidia card for the AGP slot, I know there has been talk about it but I haven't seen any yet.  For Nvidia that leaves the mid-range 7600 series cards but remember that those cards will be as outdated as MS XP is now.  For ATI you might have a little better luck if you ever want to load Vista on your system.  I found a couple of cards that might be what you are looking for given the computers age:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130076

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102718

Given the features of the cards I would probably go with the ATI card this time around even though the ATI card is a little more expensive.  Hope this helps.

[Javora]

Glad it worked out for you Ed.  The 2600 looks like a good choice for your system, it should work for the rest of that systems usable life span.  It certainly sounds like your old card was dying a horrible death, but heck a ATI 9700 is what five years old?  I think you got your money's worth out of that old card.

[E_Look]

Actually, the system it's for has got an Athlon 64, not XP on a then-pretty-cool MSI motherboard.  When I got the 9700, the 9800 was either just released or just previewed or something like that, and I got it for the "low" price of $170 before tax.

Now that you mention it, five years is a good run, but still, I've heard of video cards becoming obsolete much, much, much more than going bad.  But, what can I say... the replacement is, I guess, a superior technology, and about half the price. 

[E_Look]

Hey folks, I want share a warning.

As the title says, I haven't been in the market for these things for a while, and so lost track of small technology changes, like connectors and power requirements.  My old video card, the Radeon 9700 Pro, had a smaller four-pin male power connector, for which the power supply had ONE DEDICATED female connector.

The replacement, the new(er) Radeon 2600XT, has different, larger connector, for which I had to use the supplied conversion adaptor cable so that I can use the PSU connectors.

The problem is, that now there are TWO connectors from the PSU that look somewhat similar and both fit.  Well, I chose the wrong one first and when I tried to boot the system, it came on, but the monitor had no picture and I smelled smoke (or was it capacitor oil??!).  After being shocked (emotionally, not electrically) and dumbfounded for a couple of seconds, I shut the computer down and looked at it again.

It was then I realized there was another connector and when I finally used this one... despite having smelled an odor associated with fried electronics lingering from the first try... it worked and the monitor display was beautiful again, no splotches, no weird blocks, no bad anything.

I really wish the documentation supplied by Sapphire (the manufacturer) would have been a tad bit more detailed and explicit.

*          *          *

It's quiet!

The 9700 Pro apparently was noisier; I used to believe that the sound from my computer was essentially due to my case fans.  But it now seems that it was the video card fan!  It didn't really bother me, but hey, I like this quieter computer now.

[Nemesis]

You may have blown a capacitor in the power supply that fed the wrong plug that you used and if so that plug will never work again.

I had a similar incident (minus the burning smell) with setting up a system with a Core2Duo chip.  The motherboards main power is two connectors, one of which is the standard ATX power connector and the other a 4 pin one that goes in easily and obviously but 180 degrees from its proper orientation and the motherboard power LED lights up but it will not boot.  When I finally forced it in the other way it booted and runs properly (currently doing an extended burn in on SETI).  It will eventually replace my aging dual CPU machine as my primary desktop.

[E_Look]

Thanks for the info, Nem.

I'm relieved it's not anything so smoky smelling on the video card because that plug was essentially unused and there is at least another like it.  So, if it's just one blown cap in the PSU, my system will survive it.  Anyway, I don't have another usable video card in the basement, but I do have another usable PSU with enough power output in the basement.

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

I think the bigger difference is to get one with DDR3 or DDR4, instead of DDR2.  Where 512 comes in is if you have an explosion with smoke or something, it might be a tad smoother.

I am running a 939 board, so I am going to have a 128 memory bottleneck regardless.   That's part of why I decided not to splurge on a Hd 2900.

Jusy curious whats your power supply?  I'm getting ready to chuck my Nvidia 7600 GT.  Piece of junk.

[Nemesis]

Thanks for the info, Nem.

It is just an educated guess, I could be wrong.  My being wrong has been known to happen on occasion.

[Dracho]

I think the bigger difference is to get one with DDR3 or DDR4, instead of DDR2.  Where 512 comes in is if you have an explosion with smoke or something, it might be a tad smoother.

I am running a 939 board, so I am going to have a 128 memory bottleneck regardless.   That's part of why I decided not to splurge on a Hd 2900.

Jusy curious whats your power supply?  I'm getting ready to chuck my Nvidia 7600 GT.  Piece of junk.

My PS is an 800w I bought at CompUSA

[E_Look]

800 W!!

Man, I turn out even the fluorescent bulbs when not in use.  I'd be loath to even boot up if my computer consumed, say, on the average too much over 100-150W( ; I understand that the PSU rating is peak).

[Pestalence_XC]

Most PC's run at about 250 watts when browsing the web.. (going by P IV and higher CPU's and 533 MHz FSB memory at about 1 gb)

with an older vid card (0 to 1 connections from the PSU) the system will usually draw about 300 to 350 watts when gaming. (max settings)

With my 8800 GTX and my system specs, the PSU draws 475 to 525 watts when gaming.. (all settings maxed and Overclocked)

My PSU is rated 1000 Watts, but I don't use anywhere near that amount.. I got a 1000 watt PSU because of degradation..

If your PSU is running peak or near peak, then the life of the PSU will degrade extremely fast and could go out after 3 to 4 years..

However I am running mine about 50% of its duty cycle when gaming and about 35% of its duty cycle browsing the web and what not.. as such, I shouldn't have to replace this PSU for about 7 to 8 years, or even longer.. on my older boxes, I would always run a PSU rated at least 150 watts higher than my actual power draw.. and I have yet to have one go out on me..

Mine is the Ultra X-3 Modular (which means the cables come off the actual PSU and you only use the cables you need, no clutter and it comes with 32 cables for all types of rigs) 1000 Watt PSU with a lifetime warranty. At the time I bought a X-2 750 Watt Modular PSU for $79.99, but it was DOA, Ultra upgraded me for free to a $300 X-3 1000 watt modular PSU. I wanted the Blue LED in the X-2 series, The X-3 does not have LED.. but the 1000 watts make up for that.

[E_Look]

My information may be dated, but I did recall, with the aid of a webpage somewhere some time ago that gave estimates of the power consumption of various parts, adding up the usage of all the parts of an average PC and really, it did not come out to anywhere near 250 W.

If anyone knows, what are the consumption figures or estimates for the various components of an "average" PC nowadays?

To break it down:
CPU
mobo chipset
HD
DVD/CD ROM drive
floppy, if any
Zip/Jaz/Rev/etc. if any
vid card
sound card
monitor (any kind)
speakers (any kind)
wireless peripherals (you know, keyboard and mouse)
USB hubs
card readers

and if anyone can think of anything else...

[Pestalence_XC]

Really old CPU - 40w (Intel Pentium III)
Older CPUs [AMD Athlon, Intel P IV] - 85-125 watts
Newer CPUs (Intel Pentium Dual Core, Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Dual COre) - 55w-95w (Quad cores go up to 125 watts)

Motherboard (w/o CPU or RAM) 50W - 100W (Non Corssfire or SLI)
Motherboard (w/o CPU or RAM) 65 - 120w (Crossfire or SLI)


RAM 15W per 1GB (This is old DDR memory - not DDR2)
RAM 18w - 25w per 1GB (This is DDR2 memory and speed dependant, 533Mhz, 667Mhz, 800Mhz on the fsb)


Hard Drive - 15W - 30W (this is EIDE @ 5400 RPM)
Hard Drive - 25w - 50w (This is SATA Drive @ 5400 RPM)
Hard Drive - 30w - 60w (this is Sata Drive @ 7200 RPM)


Case/CPU Fans 3W (ea.)

AGP Video Card 30W - 50W
Older PCI Express Video 100W - 225W (This is like the ATI Radeon x1300, x1500, NVidia 6800, 7600)
Newer PCI Express Video 175W - 370W (This is newer GPU's like the NVidia 8600, and 8800 series (NON SLI) (Double power consumption for SLI / Crossfire))

DVD/CD 20W - 30W (not counting Lightscribe, DL burner, or Blue-Ray burners)

Average PCI Card 5W - 25W (sound cards, TV Tuners, expansion USB, etc.)

Average 5.1 Surround Speakers - 70w continous peak, 75w max peak

USB hubs considered part of mother board power draw.

My monitor pulls about 100w at 1440x900 at 75hz.. it is energy star LCD Flatscreen

Zip drives usually pull the same as a standard DVD player

Floppy only pulls 10w at the most.

[E_Look]

Hmmm... I'll have to reevaluate my computer usage.

Thanks, Pesty.

[E_Look]

I was given an old nVidia GeForce 5200 FX card today by a friend who will no longer use it.

Does anyone know if this card will run Call of Duty 4?

[Pestalence_XC]

Call of Duty 4 Specifications

Minimum PC System Specifications :

PC Processor Type IntelŪ PentiumŪ 4 processor or equivalent PC Processor Speed 2.4GHz
PC Operating System Windows XP, Windows Vista
PC System Memory 512MB RAM
PC Hard Drive Space 8GB
PC Video ATI RADEON 9800 PRO or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 video card
PC Sound Card DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
PC Drive Type and Speed DVD-ROM 6x
PC Additional Requirements Internet service required to access online features

Recommended system specifications :

CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommended
RAM: 1GB for XP; 2GB for Vista is recommended
Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

the 5200 may play the game, but it will be very choppy and skipping frames, and possibly missing textures

[E_Look]

Actually, the game may not even load, as in the case with the Radeon 9500.

Ah well.  One day, I'll have to spring for an updated card for him.