graphics cards and motherboards etc

Tar.Aldarion

Hi, I have never really upgraded a computer before apart from sticking in ram so, are all graphics cards compatible with all motherboards? What do I have to look out for in particular when changing gpus? Power, etc?

This is what I have, bought this a few months ago second hand:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 (4MB L2 Cache)
Patriot 2GB PC6400 (800MHz)
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320mb
19'' Cibox C1905 Widescreen TFT 5ms
X7 1000DPI Gaming Mouse
Zboard Merc Keyboard
450 psu of some brand 'sum vision switching' or something. I was told it was 450 when buying but 500 is written on it.
motherboard is an nVidia chipset, the nForce 650i Ultra.
The HDD is a SATA2 (3.0Gbps) with 7,200RPM. 320GB.

350 Euro

So anyway my nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320mb seems to have died, i get 'no signal input' on my monitor anyway with the monitor and pc working fine. My computer even came back working for a few days and then the screen froze and I get the signal error again.

I am looking at getting this second hand:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=426720
It is 80 sterling + 5 postage so about 100 euro off the guy, he has only used it once he says. Seems like a good deal?
So would that fit grand into my motherboard, and what about the extra power cables it needs at the back of it over my current gpu etc? IE, 2 sets of 6 holes instead of one, how do you set up the second set? What about connections to the motherboard, how do I know it is compatible? Does anybody know how much bigger this one may be to my old one also? May have to leave the side of the case off :P

Thanks

StopNotWorking

Aww no luck with the 8800 then?

Shame really. I wouldn't go for a second hand GPU. If anything happens to it you are stuck with no return policy. If I were you I would seriously think about buying a new one.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/2428538/art/pixmania/radeon-hd-4870-512-mb-gdd.html

But thats just me, if you trust the guy then you should be good to go with that GPU. Should have no problems installing and using it. Some may say the PSU is a bit lacking but it should be ok.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks, well I don't know what to do to 'fix' it. So i'll mess around with it again and see today.

What is the difference between these cards that makes the price differ, practically the same name etc?
http://www.komplett.ie/k/search.aspx?q=4870+1GB

And how would teh card you mentioned and the one I linked to compare to each other and to my 8800?

StopNotWorking

I believe the lite-retail ones are repackaged cards. No clue why they would be repackaged but I believe they miss some of the original content that is boxed. For example by 4850x2 came with some stupid ati disks with wallpapers and game demos.

Those lite-retail ones would only have the card, instructions and maybe the xfire bridge.(a clip used to connect two cards together)

Aside from that the manufactorer vary the price as much as they want. Some have better coolers than others. Coolers mean a lot on cards, look how much vapor-x models go for compared to the standard card.

EDIT: The one I linked to may will be a bit slower than your one on a big monitor( basically the more RAM on the card the better for high resolutions).

Compared to your 8800.. it should be maybe 1.7 times better.

Tar.Aldarion

I see yeah, seems that vapour-x model really brings up the price.

So would people recommend not getting one second hand even at less than half teh komplett price,as I wouldn't be able to do much if it broke?
and teh one for 143e, is not really different much from teh 209e one, apart from some cooling thing I probably don't need?

StopNotWorking

It all comes down to how picky you are. The second hand one is better than the one I linked to you. It is quieter and will run better on a larger screen. But depending on what games you are playing you wont notice much of a difference at all.

Say for example.. Either one of those cards will max out CoD:WaW,TF2 and CoD4 along with many other games, I can't imagine a huge difference performance wise.. I know the stock cooler(on the card I linked to) is quite loud. But loud depends on who hears it. I was told not to get a 4870/90 because it was so loud. So I got a 4850x2.. which turned out to be much louder! :rolleyes:

Wait for other people to post their own thoughts though, I could be horribly wrong after all.

Tar.Aldarion

Well I think I would feel more comfortable with a return policy, how long is a standard gfx one?

I think I would like http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=388744 as it is practically the same price as the one you linked to, but it has a bigger number, oooh ahhhh. lol
Unless other people make a good suggestion about what else to get or see it cheaper elsewhere.

Cheers for the replies! I'm sure all these are fine for the games I play atm anyway.

Frederico

Is his PSU up to more powerful cards?

StopNotWorking

I don't know about the return policy. I'm sure it will tell you something on komplett about their one. And then sapphires webpage should have some into on their own policies. That card looks good though, can't say there is anything wrong with it.

Did you ever get around to checking the 8800 in another computer to see if it was a problem on your end?

EDIT: If it was able to run an 8800 then it should be up to the task of running a 4870 no?

Tar.Aldarion

Power is a worry, so opinions on that is good.

I will try to swap the gfx from some crap computer in the garage with mine and see what happens, will both pcs run etc.

marco_polo

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I see yeah, seems that vapour-x model really brings up the price.

So would people recommend not getting one second hand even at less than half teh komplett price,as I wouldn't be able to do much if it broke?
and teh one for 143e, is not really different much from teh 209e one, apart from some cooling thing I probably don't need?

Seems to be really just a card for serious OC'ers, that can be pushed a bit harder than the regular HD4870s. The extra GB mmeory doen't seem to have any great performance effect.


Review of it here if you are interested

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd4870_vapor_x/

StopNotWorking

Can you get an exact for the PSU? And are you sure its 500w?

I personally wouldn't worry too much about the psu, the computer itself doesn't look to be very power hungry in the first place.

Also regarding the old computers, if they dont have a PCI-E slot then they wont hold the 8800.

Tar.Aldarion

StopNotWorking wrote: »

Can you get an exact for the PSU? And are you sure its 500w?

I personally wouldn't worry too much about the psu, the computer itself doesn't look to be very power hungry in the first place.

Also regarding the old computers, if they dont have a PCI-E slot then they wont hold the 8800.

Although I was told it is 450, the sticker on teh side of it definitely says 500w so dunno! If I cant get my gfx card into that computer I can get it's one into mine yeah? If my screen comes up it will be the gfx that is bust.

So for future reference, does memory not actually matter too much with a gfx. For instance
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1637125/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-4870-1-gb-gddr5.html
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/2428538/art/pixmania/radeon-hd-4870-512-mb-gdd.html
Same price and the 512 was originally more expensive that the 1gb.

StopNotWorking

Memory does make a difference, a 1GB card will perform better than a 512mb one in a lot of games. Very intensive games, say crysis for example.

Depending on how old the old computers are the gfx may be swappable. Also you will need to install the right drivers on each computer first(not an easy task for your main computer).

If both cards are nvidia and they are both PCI-E then you should be able to plug the old gfx into your main computer. To plug the 8800 into the old computer you would need to update/install the nvidia drivers.

If however the old GPU is not nvidia then you would need to uninstall the nvidia ones and install the drivers for that card. How old is the old computer?

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks, easily 5+ years, not sure.

StopNotWorking

Not a chance then mate. The 8800 wouldn't even fit in the slot, let alone run properly.

Got any mates with a newish computer you could work off? Worse comes to worst you could use mine :P

Tar.Aldarion

Think it might be awkward to arrange, will see. Just call to sligo with a computer and a screwdriver there will ya. :pac:

marco_polo

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Although I was told it is 450, the sticker on teh side of it definitely says 500w so dunno! If I cant get my gfx card into that computer I can get it's one into mine yeah? If my screen comes up it will be the gfx that is bust.

So for future reference, does memory not actually matter too much with a gfx. For instance
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1637125/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-4870-1-gb-gddr5.html
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/2428538/art/pixmania/radeon-hd-4870-512-mb-gdd.html
Same price and the 512 was originally more expensive that the 1gb.

Not quite the difference between from 512B to 1024 MB can be quite important especially for HD monitor resolutions (1920 X 1080)+. It is just that any single monitor would not have much use for the extra 1GB memory in a 2GB Card and so would not have an impact on performance.

Tar.Aldarion

marco_polo wrote: »

Not quite the difference between from 512B to 1024 MB can be quite important especially for HD monitor resolutions (1920 X 1080)+. It is just that any single monitor would not have much use for the extra 1GB memory in a 2GB Card and so would not have an impact on performance.

cheers, seems 1gb is the way forward then.

marco_polo

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

cheers, seems 1gb is the way forward then.

Well you probably don't need it for your current monitor, but given the price difference is practically nothing might as well.

Tar.Aldarion

Anybody got a good guide of how to rate graphics cards against each other when buying? I should know with electronic + computer engineering degree

Choosing between http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=444954
and
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=388744
How does one compare?

PogMoThoin

Without a doubt the 4870, this has Gddr5 and performs much faster than the GTS 250 (bet You saw GTX ). Ati's are much better value atm, nVidia have dropped their price to compete but Ati are still much better value.

There is no way to compare really, most benchmarks are biased to one side or the other, the only way I can do it to keep in touch with technology as its released.

Tar.Aldarion

Ah yeah, have been looking at reviews and things, I'd need my hands on both to test them how I want. And I have been comparing gtx, whoops