Looking for a Nvidia GeForce Card (650W)

[Arjento]

Hi all,

Well I bought my Dell XPS 600 in early 2006 and wish to finally get a new Nvidia Geforce graphics card since my card may be getting a little old (I have a NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800 256MB SINGLE CARD). I've put it off until the last moment when I absolutely need to upgrade my graphics card (Dragon Age!)

I'm a relative newbie when it comes to upgrading and I don't even know how to install the card when I get it! (I'll cross that bridge when the time comes)

After contacting Dell I've been told that my power supply is 650 watts (I believe this is important). I've been looking at the 9800GT's on Amazon and this one I am interest in - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zotac-GeForc...7295120&sr=1-3

Should I go for higher than the 9800GT? Would my power supply allow it?

My PC Stats are:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz
XPS 600, PD, 830 (3.00GHZ) 2X1MB, EM64T
MEMORY DUAL CHANNEL 2048MB (4X512) 667MH
250GB SATA (7200RPM) HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800 256MB SINGLE CARD

(If you need more spec information let me know how to get it)

I just copied/paste my specs above not sure what they all mean.

Thanks for your help.

[Asylum]

Go with this one.
Your PSU should be fine with this card.
Make sure you have a PCI-E slot on your motherboard first.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BFG-GTS-250-...295820&sr=1-17

[MKmods]

Originally Posted by Asylum

Go with this one.
Your PSU should be fine with this card.
Make sure you have a PCI-E slot on your motherboard first.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BFG-GTS-250-...295820&sr=1-17

the 9800GT is fine but the GTS 250 Asylum posts is quite a bit better and only needs 1 6 pin power plug so it would fit nicely.

An ATI 4770,4850 is also a good choice in ur price range.

If ur PS is 650 watts it should be plenty for 1 video card.

Unless you have a 24" or bigger LCD a 512mb video card will be fine for you.

[KainXS]

just incase you have performance problems you have a pentium d, dragon age origins requires a core 2 @ 1.4ghz and your pentium d is around there in terms of performance.

[Arjento]

Wow I didn't know my power supply would be able to run a GTS 250!

I have a 19inch monitor (4:3).

How can I check that my motherboard has a PCI-E slot?

[MKmods]

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1845022,00.asp

[kajson]

As your system was made with idea of making SLI realistic, the 650 watt PSU should be a quite decent one, so I think you could go even higher, you could also invest 50 bucks more and get a nvidia 260 which is the most affordable high end card of it's generation,

maybe other peeps can recommend a specific one, also could you maybe post your exact motherboard, because if you really want to give that system a boost a dual or quadcore processor would be amazing.

You'd need a bit of a hand by someone who knows what he's doing to put in a new cpu though, but a combination of those 2 would make it great

[MKmods]

Originally Posted by Arjento

I have a 19inch monitor (4:3).Should I go for higher than the 9800GT

no

[mrhuggles]

i have an asus dark knight GTS 250 512mb 55nm[1 power connector]
i absolutely love it it barely uses any power compared to my old card [2900xt 1gb] and it doesn't get hot even when folding and and and...

im pretty sure if you get one you'll be happy with it all around.

EDIT: btw, im not sure but i think the 1gb ones are not 55nm? or maybe they are i don't know, maybe having the extra ram makes them need 2 power connectors? wouldn't mind if someone could clarify that for me.

[Arjento]

Originally Posted by MKmods

no

I would have thought to go for the most recent Geforce card that my power supply could handle would be the best policy.

This not true?

[Jstn7477]

Originally Posted by Arjento

I would have thought to go for the most recent Geforce card that my power supply could handle would be the best policy.

This not true?

Your CPU (Pentium D) is rather old and wouldn't be able to unleash the full potential of a very high-end GPU. A Core 2 Duo at a much lower frequency would walk all over your Pentium D, because of how much processors have advanced in the last 3 years, and how much of a failure the Pentium 4 and Pentium D lineup was (AMD Athlon 64 was much faster at a lower CPU frequency).

[JrRacinFan]

It's not a fact of the CPU that is the case. It's monitor ALTHOUGH, with a higher end card, it just means that Atjento would just be able to bring up eye candy a notch even more.

Arjento, if you do opt for a GTS250 and you find it MAY be too much. Compare your prices to a 9800GTX+. The GTX+ is in theory the same card.

Must it be nVidia though? Surely for the price you get a GTS250@ you could probably add not much more and get an HD4870.

[wolf]

high end 9800, like a 9800GT, or GTX+ (GTS250 pretty much same) seems like the perfect card to not upgrade the rest of your build.

the Pentium D 830 is a dualie yeah? he should be ok with one of those cards.

In your shoes I'd get a gfx card now, and save some $$$ towards a new budget build for sometime in the next 6 months, it will be able to accept whatever card you buy now, and unleash it's potential a little more.

[kurosagi01]

why not a 5750?? i know its in nvidia thread but i think looking at ATI be good option too,an 5750 is a better card than GTS250 and it uses less power and it be great future card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/178941

[MKmods]

Originally Posted by mrhuggles

i have an asus dark knight GTS 250 512mb 55nm[1 power connector]
i absolutely love it it barely uses any power compared to my old card [2900xt 1gb] and it doesn't get hot even when folding and and and...

im pretty sure if you get one you'll be happy with it all around.

EDIT: btw, im not sure but i think the 1gb ones are not 55nm? or maybe they are i don't know, maybe having the extra ram makes them need 2 power connectors? wouldn't mind if someone could clarify that for me.

The 9800GTX + is when they went to 55nm, The GTS 250s are almost exactly the same cards.
The advantage of the GTS 250 is some are shorter and only need 1 six pin power plug.

Originally Posted by Arjento

I would have thought to go for the most recent Geforce card that my power supply could handle would be the best policy.

This not true?

Sorry last night when i was answering this I didnt have a keyboard so I cut/pasted words.
What I was trying to say was because of your older CPU and because you are using a smaller screen buying a fancy/high end card like the 260 or above is a waste. Even the GTS 250 is a bit much just the link he posted showed the good 250 for almost the same price as the 9800GT (in that case I would get the 250)

One other tidbit when it comes to latest/greatest...Personally the 8800GT (old card) was so good that they just changed its # to 9800GT and continued to use it(same with the 9800GTXs). I run a pair of the 9800GTs in my current comp (in SLI) and they play everything fine at 1920 X 1200 (24"lcd) with everything at max.
I wish I had gotten GTS 250s though (are a bit better than the 9800GT) Just at the time they were like $60 each more and it wasent worth it.

I have used a bunch of ATI cards but because your motherboard is Based on Nvidia I would use an Nvidia card (dont have to just I like things to match up)

[LittleLizard]

where is my other post??. whatever. if u prefer the nvidia side, go for as all said the gts 250. it uses almost the same power as the 9800gt but it has more shaders. also check if your board support a new cpu. i bet it probably wont take news 45nm core 2 but probably it will take first core 2 (65nm ones). If it takes them, consider also updrage to an e4xxx or an e6xxx. You will enjoy a lot more performance with that AND the gts 250. the problem is that finding a 65nm core 2 right now is quite hard so im afraid that if u want to upgrade your cpu too you will have to go to ebay

[Arjento]

Thanks all for the great feedback.

I will probably get a GTS 250.

Got a few questions I hope you can help me guys:

1) BFG a good make? Compared to Zotac, Palit etc?

2) I noticed the BFG is overclocked...I've read that overclocking may damage your card...is it safe for BFG to do this?

3) Due to my 19inch 4:3 monitor would the 1GB be a waste of the extra cash if I stick to the 512MB version?

4) And finally, would installing the card be the case of just pulling out the old one and slotting in the new one?

Sorry for the newbie questions. I've never opened up my PC before, very carefull I don't want to break anything!

Mostly just want to get a new card so I can get better fps in games I have (Fallout 3, Crysis, Mirror's Edge etc) and games I will get (Dragon's Age, Modern Warfare 2 etc) before this system dies out.

[LittleLizard]

1) - BFG is one of the best nvidia partners together with XFX and EVGA.

2) - if its overclocked at factory, it means its overclocked to a safe speed and that the warranty will cover in case your card die (probably wont die as the overclock is minimal)

3) - buy the 1gb version just for futureproofing

4 - as long as u unistall the drivers first, then yes

[MKmods]

1-All brands are similar, get the best deal (silly guarantees are just a marketing ploy to fool you into spending more $$)
2-In real life OC dosent mean much (only for benchmarks)
3- seriously 1 gig is a waste (untill you get a big monitor like a 24 or bigger)
4-No, first go to Nvidia.com and DL the latest driver for the new video card and save it.
a-Than go to to add/install software in control panel and UNINSTALL the video driver.(do not install the driver on the disk that comes with the video card, its old)
b-Than turn off your comp and unplug it.
c-Remove the old video card, and replace it with the new one.
d-Make sure the 6 pin power plug is plugged into it.
e-Restart the comp and cancel the box that says it found new hardware and is installing software.
f-Than click on the new Nvidia driver and install it.
g-Restart the comp and have fun.

Dont worry about being a noob, TPU is one of the best places to get help/info.

The 250 is a very good card and will work quite a while. If you do build a new comp in the future you could get a SLI mobo and later on get another 250 and run them in SLI.
Put the 6800 back into ur old comp and sell it.
That way nothing is wasted.

If you get a 250 make sure its the one thats shorter and has only one 6 pin power plug.
Here is what the long one looks like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500100

and here is the short one (I like better as its easier to fit in any case)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125285

[kurosagi01]

he lives in UK MKmods i think if he posted amazon.co.uk links,if your fixed on the GTS250 then heres the inno3D 512MB GTS250 which cost £85 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160675
although you could get the 4850 which cost £75 which is a lot better than GTS250:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168023

[LittleLizard]

Originally Posted by kurosagi01

he lives in UK MKmods i think if he posted amazon.co.uk links,if your fixed on the GTS250 then heres the inno3D 512MB GTS250 which cost £85 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160675
although you could get the 4850 which cost £75 which is a lot better than GTS250:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168023

not. the 4850 has the same performance than a gts250 but with lower power consumption. i didnt know that deal.

Hey arjento, get thet 4850.

[MKmods]

Thanks I saw that, I was just showing him picts (Egg rocks for picts of hardware)

Asylum posted a 250 in the beginning that was almost the same price as his 9800gt.

LOL, as to the 4850 being "a lot" better Im not so sure about that. But for less $ its a good choice.

I really like to use Nvidia with Nvidia and Ati with Ati.

Honestly with this comp, an Nvidia 9600GT,GTO,9800GT,GTS250, or ATI 4770,4830,4850,5750,5770 all will work fine for him.

Yes some bench higher than others but with his setup he isant gonna notice much dif.

Now when he goes to a 20" lcd (or bigger) and next gen mobo (w/ PCI X 2.0)and modern multicore CPU its gonna be a lot different.

[Arjento]

MKmods

Thanks for this, didn't know about the 6 pin and 8 pin versions. Looks like the BFG is the 6 pin (hopefully it is and my Dell insides has the connection and space for it).

I will use that install guide when I get the card.

I do have a 40" Samsung (Wii, PS2...yes PS2 Love the old school Pro Evo), but most probably wouldn't be using it for my PC so I'll look for a 512.

LittleLizard

I will start looking for the best deal for the BFG GTS 250 that Asylum posted (I will probably stick with Nvidia since it looks like my motherboard is based on it).

And yes I'm from UK

Sorry, Quote function not working at the moment.

[MKmods]

there are adapters you can get separately (4 pin to 6 and 4 pin to 8) also most cards come with them.

Just to me the less adapters the better.

And welcome to TPU

PS: take a look at the TPU for sale section, there are quite a bit of good sellers/traders here. And picking up a good used card for less $ is better tan a silly double lifetime warranty.

[Arjento]

Ok finally made the big step and bought the BFG one.

Can't wait!