PC Memory question,amount not right?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by legendary, Feb 15, 2007.

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  1. ThunderZ

    ThunderZ Registered Member

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    Yes, I would install it first. Then when you restart your PC go straight in to BIOS to disable "onboard video". It should be called something like that and you may have to hunt through several screens to find it.
     
  2. FastGame

    FastGame Registered Member

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    So what video card are you looking at ? we all can help you get the best for your $ :D
     
  3. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    ignore the total wattage
    what you want is the model number\manufacturer (if given)
    the amount of amps on the +3.3V +5V and the +12V rails (which will be listed, ignore the other rails)
    (and any combined ratings for instance +3.3V and +5V combined as watts)

    also check the motherboard and count the number of wires\pins on the main connector (it will be either 20 pin or 24 pin, counting one side 10 or 12)
    determine if there is another auxiliary connector to the motherboard typically a yellow and black wire 4 pin connector (auxiliary +12V)

    meanwhile I'll work up some probable figures for you ;)

    please list the number and size of fans in that cxae
    and the number and type of drives as well ;)
     
  4. ThunderZ

    ThunderZ Registered Member

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    Now you had to go and make it hard.....:mad: ;)
     
  5. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    its what I do :p
    (errr.....did)




    Intel Pentium D Presler? 631 = 84 > 95 Watts thermal design power
    (Prescott 630 series at 84 but the Presler Core described at 95 watts)

    CPU = 7>8 Amps +12V
    mobo = 0.5A +12V
    HDD = 1A +12V (per post spinup during a write)
    80mm Fan = 0.25A +12V (per post spinup)

    or somewhere around 10A +12V as a worse case CPU pegged w\ a lone fan and HDD during a write

    and some power consumption figures for graphics cards

    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-powercons.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-vs-nv-power.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_5.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-6800gs_3.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-x1900xtx_7.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800gtx512_5.html
    http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/fsp-vga-power_6.html



    for instance a Radeon X1900XTX comes in at 44Watts PCI+e and 72 watts auxillary
    to convert watts to amps divide the watts by the volts or in this example
    3.6A PCI+e and 6A external connector to the card (+12V)

    which if we add to the computer above as a worse case comes to 19.6A +12V
    then comes the fun part of what the manufacturer was doing when they rated the supply since there are no real standards established in testing specifically regarding derating curves (capacity drops as temperature increases, and they often test artificially low)
    to be safe deduct one third of the rated amps off the +12V rail

    so an OEM supply rated at 30A +12V would be inline for that given card and computer
    but as mentioned they dont sell "commodity" computers with an extremely narrow profit margin with anything but the barest minimum of extra capacity

    based on what the computer is described as, if its built to spec it will have an ATX 2.0 PSU with both a 24 pin main connector as well as a 4 pin auxiliary +12V mobo connector, but OEMs do weird things, so verify
     
  6. legendary

    legendary Registered Member

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    ICE !!!!

    Are you trying to have smoke come out my ears!!!!!!!!

    Just refer me to a card that is just a tad better then the on board one i have now please!@
    Also my Pc has 2 big fans inside it.
     
  7. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    Im not the best person to give vidcard advise unless your looking to make games rather than play them :p

    but when a card has caught your fancy that you can afford, I'll try to find its power requirements for you. But suggest we run down the power supply's capacity and reliability first since if you do need to upgrade thats going to effect your budget.

    The PSU is the one component that can turn all the rest of your computer into just so many interesting wall decorations. CPUs have been following Moore's Law but GPUs were for awhile outstripping them coming near 300% increase. Short of fancy architectural tricks (asynchronous processing multiple cores, ect) there is a fairly tight correlation between speed in cycles (MHz\GHz), power required and heat you have to dump. The example I posted came pretty close to doubling your power requirements.

    I'll leave the Vidcard recommendations to others but help with the PSU ;)
     
  8. legendary

    legendary Registered Member

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    ok i'll just post everything the powersupply has written on it for ya. Thanks
     
  9. legendary

    legendary Registered Member

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    How about this card?


    VisionTek RADEON X1050 256MB DDR PCI Express Graphics Card

    Model: X1050 256MB PCI
    Powered by the ATI RADEON X1050 graphics processing unit (GPU)
    256MB DDR memory
    PCI Express interface
    Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year limited
    Type of Video Card Graphics

    Video Memory 256MB DDR

    Interface Slot Type PCI Express
    Type of Processor ATI RADEON X1050 PRO

    Number of Processors 1
    Clock Speed of Video Memory (RAMDAC) Dual RAMDACs (2 at 400MHz each)
    Maximum 2D Resolution (at 32-bit color) Up to 2048 x 1536Maximum 3D Resolution (at 32-bit color) Up to 2048 x 1536
    Supports MPEG-1, 2 Yes
    VD Decoding Yes
    TV-Out Yes
    S-Video Output Yes
    Video Format MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4, WMV, AVI
    Software Included ATI Catalyst drivers, 3D demos, utilities
    System Requirements Intel® Pentium® 4, Celeron®, AMD Duron™, Athlon™ XP, Athlon™ K8 processor; Windows 2000, XP Media Center Edition, Vista; 512MB system memory; CD-ROM drive; 300-watt power supply
     
  10. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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    It´s no better than your current integrated VGA.
    Decent yet "cheap enough" VGAs: 7600 GT (NVIDIA), X1650 XT (AMD/ATI)
     
  11. legendary

    legendary Registered Member

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    Thanks Lucas!

    How about:

    ATI Radeon® 9550 Video Card (100-437105)
    ATE 100437105CCS
    • 256MB AGP
    • Great 3D game play • Amazing video playback
    • Dual-monitor support
     
  12. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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    That card is 3 generations old.
    You need PCI-E 16x cards, this is AGP 8x.
     
  13. Notok

    Notok Registered Member

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    I'd say to go for an nVidia 7600 GT. I have one and am quite happy with it, while another machine runs an ATI X1600 Pro and has a lot more problems.
     
  14. FastGame

    FastGame Registered Member

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    I would also say the 7600 GT, the ATI X1650 XT looks good but I have no experience with them.

    I do agree with those who say get a good card, if you game or going to, otherwise keep your onboard video and save $$ for the C2D CPU...
     
  15. DVD+R

    DVD+R Registered Member

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    Windows reads MB as bytes for instance click on a 160GB Hard disk will read as 149GB in size in Windows explorer, yet if you click on the Drives properties, you wil see the size reads as 160,031,014,912 bytes = 160GB

    Hope this clarifies things :cool:
     
  16. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    that sort of came out of left field :p

    actually it reads MiB and GiB but lies and reports them as MB and GB
    http://www.pcguide.com/intro/fun/bindec.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebibyte
    http://www.iec.ch/zone/si/si_bytes.htm
     
  17. DVD+R

    DVD+R Registered Member

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    Well you know what I meant anyway, Windows is a tricky Devil :p and fools the heck out of some people :shifty:

    By the way, Wish I had a yottabyte brain power, I'd be quite smart :cautious:
     
  18. Ice_Czar

    Ice_Czar Registered Member

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    yep, but was wondering if you were answering a question from a different thread :p
     
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