M2TW: suitable nVidia video card

[Shahed]

Ok. Thanks for the help.

[baron_Leo]

Hi!

I have Nvidia GeForce 7300 Gt, and it is good enough for MTW2. I have a PIV 3,0 64 bit with HT, Asrock DULA-VSTA Motherboard and 1 GB DDR400 RAM. And the runs smooth with medium prefs on huge unit size. But if you have some more money Iw ould recommend the 7600 GT or Radeon X1600PRO.

[Shahed]

Hey I just noticed something important probably. My power supply is 350W maximum, whereas on the box of the GS7600 512 is says minimum 400W power supply required.

Should I continue to run on the current power supply ? Will that do any damage ?

[PaulTa]

Hey I just noticed something important probably. My power supply is 350W maximum, whereas on the box of the GS7600 512 is says minimum 400W power supply required.

Should I continue to run on the current power supply ? Will that do any damage ?

NO NO NO!

You, as a rule, want to exceed minimum requirements of your card by a safe margin, just to play it safe. For example, if you require 400 watts, go for at least 450 watts, and probably 500 watts. See, you card may draw X amount of power, but you also have to account for the other things you might have plugged into your PC.

Watt rating isn't actually the big deal that everyone makes it out to be. What you really need to be concerned with is the Amp rating on the 12V rail.

If you look at a power supply on newegg, for example, (I know that you're Europe, but bear with me), you'll see output ratings listed in specifications. Look at the 12V output rating, and figure that you need at least a total of 35-40 amps on the 12V line for a good graphics card (7900 range). See, the graphics card will draw off of the 12V line, and will probably require something around 20 Amps. But the Motherboard will also draw off of the 12V line, and will probably consume around 10-12 amps. If you don't want either of those components to crap out any time soon, then you need sufficient Amp rating on the 12V line.

In the mail for me is a E-POWER ZU 550W power supply. It supplies a total of 550 watts, but it also has two 12V lines rated for 20 amps each. This will be enough to cover my 7900 GS that I ordered as well, and my motherboard. I'm replacing my old parts not just because I want an upgrade, but because my current power supply didn't have the amps needed to run my X800 GTO and my mobo (motherboard) at the same time. I got lucky, and only my graphics card is frying to death. My mobo appears fine so far, but it might have also suffered significant damage. Unless you want to pay anywhere around 400 Euro for a new motherboard and a new graphics card, you should shell out the 45-50 Euro on a sufficient power supply.

Not all power supplies are the same, either. Try and check for reviews before you purchase one, and make sure that your motherboard and power supply use the same connections. For example, if your power supply is ATX and your mobo is BTX, you'd need an adaptor. These are easy things to check as far as specs go when you're buying new products, but don't forget about them when you see a great deal and want to impulsively buy something.

So key points ordered by importance-

1) Proper compatability between PSU and mobo.
2) Sufficient Amp rating on the 12V rails.
3) User reviews. If the product is crap, then someone else has probably seen it and fried their system. Let them suffer the crap and you learn from it.
4)sufficient watt rating, about .2 - .3 over what you require as minimum.


Now for graphics cards, for anyone interested. I don't know where everyone lives, but newegg currently sells a 7600GT OC from BFG Tech. for 143 dollars. eVga sells a 7900 GS KO for 175 dollars on newegg. Keep in mind, both of these graphics cards are factory overclocked with lifetime warranties from the manufacturers, but they both require 20 Amps to the 12V rail. That means that you'll need a sufficient power supply that provides at least 30-35 Amps on the 12V rail.


If anyone needs any help because they are making a purchase and aren't sure about campatability, you can either PM me on here or E-mail me at VeryLowSodium89@hotmail.com

I'm no expert, but I have learned quite a lot while recently making my own purchases and spending a week studying this stuff. I'll try and help you, but I am not a final authority.

[Shahed]

Great. Thanks a lot. Shutting down straight away.

[BlackAxe3001]

For surfing/checking email you should be fine. It doesn't draw that much power idling. I just wouldn't play any games on that 350w.

[Skott]

A 7600GT card will run the game on high settings @ 1280x1024. So if you can try to get at least a 7600 series card but you dont need anything more than a 7600 series just for M2TW.


My M2TW Rig:

Intel E6400 Proc
P5W DH mobo
2Gb PC6400C4 Corsair RAM
7600GT KO Video card
BenQ 1655 DvD Burner
X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card
Seagate 7200.10 250GB Hard Drive
19" CRT Monitor @ 1280x1024


This setup runs M2TW smooth as silk.

[Orda Khan]

This setup runs M2TW smooth as silk.

Hardly surprising

......Orda

[sapi]

Sinan, a few points.

1. If you're running at a decent resolution (1280x1024 or over) running with more than 4x aa is a pointless waste of resources

2. The jump from 8x to 16x af is minimal

3. So you're fine with that card if you're even slightly realistic

4. Get a better PSU (500W minimum)

5. Don't overclock your gfx card - a waste of time imo when you could have just turned the settings down a little.

EDIT:

Also realize that at this point, running Windows XP you really can't use any thing over 2gigs of RAM. Windows Vista in 64 bit mode, which is how it should be installed, will access huge amounts of RAM, but XP is severely crippled in this regard.

Anything over 2gb is a waste anyway (and xp can address more than you think if you trim the pagefile, which is rarely used once you have a decent amount of ram)

[BlackAxe3001]

4xAA and 4x/8xAF is perfect anything over that isn't noticeable really anyway.

Overclocking has it's benefits. I get nearly double the fps with my card overclocked. There are a lot of variables though when it comes to overlocking though.

Yeah the 7600 is probably sufficient, but if you were looking for the best of the best for $250 the x1950xt is probably the way to go.

Yeah get at least a 500w, but check the amps!!! You can buy some 450w with more amps than some 500w ones have. Just make sure to check the amps.

[Barry Fitzgerald]

Much misinformation here...sorry guys!

The 7600GS is a very light card on power...very. Around 28watts peak...that is low....even the GT isnt heavy....less than the 6600 GT.

You wont need a 500watt psu...makers may say min 400 watt as a guideline..but that is a very rough figure indeed..and takes into account poor quality PSU's...which have a higher rating and low efficiency...

Unless you are running an ultra juicy cpu..aka a high GHz dual core Pentium D....then you wont have any issues..

[glasket]

Thanks for all your help.
My budget for the card would be US$200 but I am located in Australia.
I am not 100% sure if the company making the computer for me has other cards aprat from nvidia and I cant ask them now as they are closed for new year.

So I guess for my US$200 budget what would be the best graphics card i could get from
1. nVidia
2. other makes (if the computer builders have it).

[sapi]

@barry, i understand that but it's always good to future proof with a good, name-brand 500w psu.

@glasket, check out www.staticice.com.au - it's a godsend for custom builders.

Expect to pay a huge premium for gear over here though - it's just the facts of life unfortunately.

[PaulTa]

Glasket-

I'm fairly certain that either BFG tech or eVga services Aus. If not, then XFX.

Either one, go with the 7900GS if you're on a 200 USD equivolent budget. Bang for your buck, it's the best card available (I don't want to go into diminishing rate of return right now, so let's just take me as an authority on the subject since I was previously in your same case).