Apollo

Hey guys, can someone tell me what type of graphic card to get for my PC...
I dont know much about Graphic cards and would like to know what a graphics card can do to a computer.I wanted to play a Different game but my graphics card couldnt support it so i got a different one that a friend of mine had.But since i installed that Graphics card and played a game it ran fine...but after a while when i tried to play the same game my computer just restarted (which is very annoying).
Im not so sure why it restarts, but the only component that i have changed on my PC was the graphics card...so i thought maybe it was because of that.
Can someone tell me how graphics cards work and what they do to a computer?
What type of graphics card should i look for?

My PC specs:
Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2Ghz
1G ram
Radeon 9200 SE 256mb (previous graphic card was the Nvidia 5200 FX 128mb)

ranger1033

Quote: Originally Posted by Apollo Hey guys, can someone tell me what type of graphic card to get for my PC... I dont know much about Graphic cards and would like to know what a graphics card can do to a computer.I wanted to play a Different game but my graphics card could support it so i got a different one that a friend of mine had.But since i installed that Graphics card and played a game it ran fine...but after a while when i tried to play the same game my computer just restarted (which is very annoying). Im not so sure why it restarts, but the only component that i have changed on my PC was the graphics card...so i thought maybe it was because of that. Can someone tell me how graphics cards work and what they do to a computer? What type of graphics card should i look for? My PC specs: Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2Ghz 1G ram Radeon 9200 SE 256mb (previous graphic card was the Nvidia 5200 FX 128mb)

First of welcome to pcApex Apollo, i see you are using a Radeon can you tells us if you motherboard has a AGP slot ,pci slot which i know all Motherboards to have or PCI -Express that would help everyone here decide and help chose a video card, since a lot of pimps use PCI -Express i myself have been using my AGP slot on one of my machines and use a ATI X800 XL AGP 256MB and this card has run awesome for me and plays every game i have. BF2,COD2,F.E.A.R,QUAKE,MOHAA etc.this is just few of my games i have i play om my video card.

PS. you might want to tell us what your price range or budget you are looking at on spending towards a video card.

Here is some AGP cards to look at if you have a AGP slot.
Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

Here are some just plain PCI slot cards
Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg i would highly recomend you to stay away from PCI for they are very limited for playing high end games.

Here are the PCI -Express cards.
Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

And another good place to look at for great deals on video cards.
ZipZoomfly

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$SOLID$ Necro

Did you remove the old NVIDIA driver and run Driver Cleaner?

Got all the latest updates for DX-9c, Motherboard chipset, etc?

As for what to look for in a video card..it depends on your budget of course...ATi and NVIDA have some nice cards in the 150~250$ range...i would look at the NVIDIA 7900 series or ATI X-1900 Series if you are going to spend in the 200$ range!

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900XT 100168L CrossFire Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com
eVGA Geforce 7900GTO 512-P2-N573-AR Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com

Under 150$
BFG Tech Geforce 7600GT BFGR76256GTOCE Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com

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Apollo

Thanks Ranger1033 for the welcoming,,
I have a P5P800S ASUS motherboard with an AGP slot, and the price range i can go up is about 170 €uros..(not to sure how much that is in Dollars) ill see if can get that graphics card you have there (the ATI X800 XL) cause i really want to play BF2...my computer restarts when i launch the game which sux....

$SOLID$ Necro....i formated my computer twice..just to wipe everything off and start new.
but i havent updated my motherboard chipset,actually i never new i could do that.
I will definetly look into the Updating process of my PC..

If my PC still restarts when ever i open to many programs or games then it could be the heat right? the ASUS probe on my PC says when i open a game (counter strike: source) it goes up 50cº to 57cº
when i run to many programs it freezes for a couple seconds and then i hear some noise in the hard drive(it sounds like its coming from there)..like as if it is starting up again (like when i switch the computer on) and then it makes a *click* sound...what could it be? is it my Power supply? harddrive? i dont know how to check what is broken on my PC
Any help is Apreciated...
Thanks guys and everyone at PCAPEX

$SOLID$ Necro

The most common issues that cause problems like yours in order are: Heat, Power Supply, Ram, and Driver or OS issues.

You can eliminate heat from the table by removing the side panel of the case and placing a house fan next to it blowing in.

Get the following programs from the link below:

Speed Fan. OCCT (Or Prime 95) CPUZ, and ATI tool..also 3DMARK 01 or 03..along with anything else that grabs your attention! (You should be able to find a link to your chipset here if you haven't found one yet...the ASUS website should have them.

http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html

A trip to PCPitsop.com and running the "Full Tests" may also reveal ojher issues!

Now..once Speed fan is installed..you will then install OCCT to test stability...it may need to be configured to read the CPU and case temps properly by pointing it to the corrext ones...you can always go back and change them later if you good though. (You can applly a load to identify the CPU temp..it should rise fairly quickly)

When configureing OCCT, set priority to Normal, it may set to "High" by default.

Use the 30 minute stability test.

Then open the 3D winow of ATI tool, it should be a spinning cube.

Thsi will combined load the CPU, Ram, and Video card...and allow you to watch the temps and other items...pay attention to the voltages too..spec's call for 12v, 5, and 3.3v with a +or- .1v (So the 12v rail should be 11.9~12.1v) under load, or the power supply may be on the weak side.

I did not catch the part about you having an AGP card...I did the conversion and it's about 212$USD

XE.com - UCC Error

You can ge the 7800GS for 209$ USD after rebate, that will give you the best performance in BF-2
BFG Tech Geforce 7800GS BFGR78256GSOC Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com

I alos recomend no less than 1GB of ram for that game..even that is not realy very good..it will load slow and have a bit of lag at first...2GB is what that game realy craves!

If you have too, drop the video card down to a 7600GS and get some extra ram...or plan on getting more of it later.

One last thing..I don't know if the 9200SE is going to support BF-2..it says below all Radeon 8500's and up will work..but yet ATI's page says it's only DX-8.1

BF-2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows XP (32-bit) with Admin rights

• 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
• 512 MB of RAM or more
• 8x or faster CD/DVD drive
• 2.3 GB free hard drive space or more
• Video: DirectX 9.0c compatible (see video)
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible (Sound Blaster X-Fi series recommended )

VIDEO
Video card must have 128 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets:

• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 or greater
• ATI Radeon 8500 or greater

ATI 9200SE: Full support for DirectX ® 8.1 programmable pixel and vertex shaders in hardware
Radeon® 9200 Series

Here are some tips for improving performance in the game with low end hardware!

TweakGuides.com - Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide

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Apollo

Hey there guys, i installed the speedfan and on the graph where it says +12v it is at 11.6 or 11.4...and ASUS pc Probe it says (on the history) that it went down to 10v..is that bad?
Is it my power supply?
At this moment im not on my PC because i cant even get to my desktop..the computer just wont stop restarting...im going to send it to where i bought it cause its still in its garentee..
Thanks for the Help guys.. ill then ask them if there was anything else wrong with the computer..
Im thinking of buying a graphics card for 150€, its the ATI Radeon X700 or the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro
Are they good enough for BF2 and other Cool games?
and if im not getting that one im gonna get the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or the NVIDIA GeForce 7300GS...which one do you think would work best on my PC?

reflux

Quote: Originally Posted by Apollo Im thinking of buying a graphics card for 150€, its the ATI Radeon X700 or the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro Are they good enough for BF2 and other Cool games? and if im not getting that one im gonna get the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or the NVIDIA GeForce 7300GS...which one do you think would work best on my PC?

Get yourself a nVidia 7600 series card if you can - don't even bother with the 7300GS, and the 6600 and x700 are old tech now. You can get an AGP 7600GS for around £100 here in the UK, so I guess it might be cheaper in Portugal.

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AntiM

Quote: Originally Posted by Apollo Hey there guys, i installed the speedfan and on the graph where it says +12v it is at 11.6 or 11.4...and ASUS pc Probe it says (on the history) that it went down to 10v..is that bad? Is it my power supply? At this moment im not on my PC because i cant even get to my desktop..the computer just wont stop restarting...im going to send it to where i bought it cause its still in its garentee.. Thanks for the Help guys.. ill then ask them if there was anything else wrong with the computer.. Im thinking of buying a graphics card for 150€, its the ATI Radeon X700 or the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro Are they good enough for BF2 and other Cool games? and if im not getting that one im gonna get the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or the NVIDIA GeForce 7300GS...which one do you think would work best on my PC?

That's extremely bad. PSU's should remain within 5% of the spec voltage. 11.4 is barely adequate. A drop to 10 is very bad indeed.

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Rockin'male

I agree with anti-m 100%.....

Anything above or below 5% of each voltage rail (3.3, 5, and 12) is very bad. Since your 12v is dropping down to 10ish that tells me something is up with that psu. I dont have much information to go on but, I have a hunch when you put that new video card in your psu is being overworked and crapping out. Then again i could be wrong and the psu is just defective.

I DEFINATELY RECOMMEND A NEW POWER SUPPLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot ensure this 100% but its a pretty good guess that's why your games are crashing and the system is running unstable.

Are you running a good quality power supply or a no name brand?
What the maximum watts this psu can put out?

Just to forewarn you undervoltage is just as bad as overvoltage. The hardware has to work harder to try and keep up but it lacks the power. Which causes damage to your components over a length of time.

Wait a second I just re-read your post and your taking in for repair. Which is under warranty.
May i ask is this a dell, hp, gateway, etc pc?

If so this is may be the issue. PC manufacturers like dell, hp, etc When they design a system. They use a power supply that is capable of running the system without that much overhead for upgrades. So when you take out say a 50 watt video card and put one in that uses a 100 watts. It's gonna push the wattage over the psu limits and cause it to fail.

This is a very common problem with proprietary system like dell, hp, etc. When you add a newer video card chances are your going to need to replace the power supply because it cant put out more than its maximum for a long length of time.

I could be wrong but im curious to know if the system runs fine if you put back in the original card.

I hope the info helps out.......Let us know what happens when you get your pc back.

TC
rockin'male

Apollo

Hey guys...been a while since ive been at this site...but finally ive got my computer!! YAY!
Well when i got my PC back from garentee those guys said that they replaced the graphics card and the harddrive...which i thought it was supposed to be the problem cause it made a wierd sound
But they didnt do anything to my power supply...my pc most probaly had its voltage down because of the other graphics card i had put in...
But now i want a to know what graphics card to get that wont stuff up my power supply...so i can play the new games coming out...
on the side of my power supply it has a sticker and it says 400W...i think thats the power it has....... right?
well im gonna take my whole dam PC to the dam shop and ask them to give me the best graphics card they have that will work on my PC...so what do you guys think?
i just want a graphics card about 200€ to play some battlefield,counter strike and some splinter cell double agent...lol

thanks for the help guys...

Nerdz

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro Did you remove the old NVIDIA driver and run Driver Cleaner? Got all the latest updates for DX-9c, Motherboard chipset, etc? As for what to look for in a video card..it depends on your budget of course...ATi and NVIDA have some nice cards in the 150~250$ range...i would look at the NVIDIA 7900 series or ATI X-1900 Series if you are going to spend in the 200$ range! SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900XT 100168L CrossFire Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com eVGA Geforce 7900GTO 512-P2-N573-AR Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com Under 150$ BFG Tech Geforce 7600GT BFGR76256GTOCE Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com

Necro, I believe he has AGP.

Your Best Bet is probably the X850 (X800GT If you can find it) or 7600GT (I know there was another in that price range..Cant seem to find it though)

Just a note when doing your homework, you will find that most reviews use the PCIE Version. BOTH perform Identically to each other (Ie, PCIE and AGP will get the same scores no matter what hardware you put them in)

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Apollo

Hey guys,,
I went to some sites checking the prices of graphic cards and for the ones that i can buy.... i saw 3 graphics cards that arent so expensive and that look pretty good:

ATI Radeon X1600 PROATI Radeon X700
NVIDIA GeForce 6600

I was checking for AGP ones so i found these 3 but not to sure which ones the best...(i want the one thats best to play games)...
Which one do you guys think is the best? oh yes, if im gonna get a grahics card do i have to have a certain type of RAM to run it?

Well im gonna see if i can get one later on in December (cause they might go on "special" and go down atleast 10€)...so i still have time to think and search for better ones....maybe next week im gonna go to the shopping centre and see if i can find another PC shop with more graphics cards that can work on my PC.

Thanks for the help Guys

reflux

Quote: Originally Posted by Apollo Hey guys,, I went to some sites checking the prices of graphic cards and for the ones that i can buy.... i saw 3 graphics cards that arent so expensive and that look pretty good: ATI Radeon X1600 PROATI Radeon X700 NVIDIA GeForce 6600 I was checking for AGP ones so i found these 3 but not to sure which ones the best...(i want the one thats best to play games)... Which one do you guys think is the best? oh yes, if im gonna get a grahics card do i have to have a certain type of RAM to run it?

Either of those will be a big step up from what you've currently got, but they're still not very good. It really depends on how bothered you are about games looking nice. All three of those cards will run any game on the market today, just not all that well.

And no, RAM and graphics cards have nothing to do with each other - you'll be fine with what you've got.

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Apollo

Hey guys.. its me again with anoter problem,, when i got mz PC back from its garentee i was so happy..
but now it looks like its got the same problem again.. my PC wont stop restarting and the +12V on my PC probe says it sometimes goes down to 10V...
im gonna go to them and do there dam job for them and give me a new PSU...
i cant believe that i know more than they do...gosh...
ive been thinking of asking for the money of the PC and buying a knew one...but should i buy one with windows vista? or windows XP....

reflux

Quote: Originally Posted by Apollo Hey guys.. its me again with anoter problem,, when i got mz PC back from its garentee i was so happy.. but now it looks like its got the same problem again.. my PC wont stop restarting and the +12V on my PC probe says it sometimes goes down to 10V... im gonna go to them and do there dam job for them and give me a new PSU... i cant believe that i know more than they do...gosh... ive been thinking of asking for the money of the PC and buying a knew one...but should i buy one with windows vista? or windows XP....

That's a shame about your PSU. It's not really surprising that they don't know a crap PSU when they see one though - everyone's cutting costs these days and if that includes employing inept support staff, that's what happens.