Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

lol You are a funny man.

The Ultra was cheap because I got it for a 100 with a great case included. The Case plus PSU is 36 pounds. Just the case is 20 pounds. Do the math

P.S. Sam hates Ultra.

 

Sixteen pounds for the PSU!

Holy Sh*t!! (More of that religious talk.)

Here's one on newegg - $65, then they send you a $30 rebate check - total $35. Two 12 volt rails, total 29 amps:

Thermaltake PSU

What do you guys think - thermaltake, not a bad name - any good in PSUs?

 

(double post)

 

Now wait a sec! Here's the above dude says "No" to thermaltake psu, gets rid of it, buys a better one, with 18 amps on 12 volt rail, and life is good. And he says "Pay attention to the amps, mofos!"

Well, I already have 20 amps on my 12 volt rail. Why am I letting you guys get me all stressed out?? lol

 

Nobody tells you what their PSUs weigh, except for abuzar, and his is 16 pounds, which is ungodly heavy. Never heard of anything like that! What the hell is inside the thing that makes it weigh so much!!!

I guess if you go to the manufacturer web site they'll tell you shipping weight. I swear I read that weight is a very good indicator of PSU component quality - it's got to weigh at least 5 pounds I think I read.

You can put small lightweight capacitors, diodes, windings etc. and run the thing at the edge - total weight 2.5 pounds, or you can put heavy components in and run it safely within specs, lots of room for no-problem surges, whatever, total weight 5 pounds, the thing runs cooler and lasts for a long time.

Or you can take it to the next level, add 10 pounds of lead shielding, advertise that it will survive a high altitude H-Bomb gamma ray blast, "You'll be the only kid playing COD4 while all your buddies are out in the street cryin" and put the Ultra label on it.

Yeah!! Got to get me one of those! LOL

 

Hmmm, well I doubt the PSU weighs 16 pounds. Probably a crap load of packaging and stuff. But still, it's a decent PSU.

 

I'm looking into a new graphics card maybe around December or so and wanted to know what is the best value card. All I want to do is be able to run games at maximum settings (or close to so I can see the detail) on my monitor that supports 1280x1024 as the max resolution (Dell ultrasharp 17" ftw)

Nvidia 8600
Nvidia 8800
ATI 3870
ATI 3870 x2
ATI 4850

The case I have is the 1st gen XION with 2 HDs and a C2Q @ 3.07 idling close to 40C. I have a 650w Cooler Master PSU. Whatever card I get, I would like it so that it doesn't turn my computer into a heater (Which it currently acts as in winter).
Would any of these new cards run cooler than my 6800 GTO (Dell OEM Card) and are they any longer?

 

yes tehy are longer, and yes they will run hotter

well apart from the 8600

 

How much longer? An inch or 2 i can will still fit in my case. Any more and it'll start causing problems and I'll have to remove the HDD Tray.

 

Probably around two or three inches more.

 

darn, I really don't want to get a new case. If I do end up getting it I'll probably have to end up mounting the hard drive some other way.

If anybody has the cards could you please take measurements for me?

 

With the best will in the world, scared is what I was hoping for. I do respect you Rich, but your decision to still keep with that PSU in the face of all our advice to change it is a little odd.
DO NOT get a cheap PSU replacement, otherwise you'll make the situation even worse. Almost all cheap PSUs are ass. Installing a decent PSU is a piece of cake, and strongly recommended.
The A-Power unit will almost certainly go up in flames. As will a list of around 50 PSU brands I posted a year or so ago (wish that had been stickied...)
Abuzar is right, I don't like Ultra PSUs, primarily because some of them work fine, but others literally catch fire like cheap units (because they actually are just cheap crap underneath).

Thermaltake are another odd company. Some units like the original Purepowers are terrible, but the Toughpower series is excellent. Why? Because it's not Tt at all, the Toughpower is made by ChannelWell, a respectable manu.



Core2kid: Old 6800s are typically 8-9" long. 4850s, 4870s and the like are typically around 10", the dual cards around 12".

 

Well, maybe I'm coming around to swapping out the PSU - it depends on what time of day you catch me. Shaff this is all your fault! Not to mention boozer with his accurate "thick headed" observation - and sam correctly characterizing my stubborness as "odd." Lol Ok I have to agree.

Damn I don't want to put another dollar into the stupid case - but if the Allied tanks like happened to Sam I'll be wasting LOTS OF TIME - so I probably should just stop being so lazy, and stop bitching about forking out another $75. Besides, the rig has to last another year probably, so what the hell!

Sam, you gave me a PSU recommendation a while back. The PSUs that have multiple rails - is that really any advantage? - one of the most respected PSU brands has ONE MAIN rail. Anyway, rather than the 50 pieces of sh*t - what are the brands you like. You said ToughPower. How about 5 more - if you have any newegg links handy even better.

Thanks guys - everybody - for all your help!! Shaff BE QUIET! LOL

 

I ought to mention, it's not just me that this has happened to, I must know at least a dozen people that have had big financial setbacks due to dodgy power supplies. I don't like to see it happening to anyone.
I like the following units:

Single rail:
Corsair VX
Corsair TX
PC Power & Cooling Silencer (note, these are NOT quiet units despite the name)
Thermaltake Toughpower (don't be fooled, the four 'rails' are all soldered together!)
Seasonic S12

Multi rail
Corsair HX
BeQuiet! Darkpower
Enermax Modu82+
Seasonic M12

 

Oh and the high end Zalmans are nice too.

I would just get a Corsair HX1000 and be done with it LOL.

 

Ooh forgot about those, yeah, my mistake. The 850 and 1K units are much better than the 600 though, which is a shame.

Core2: Get an HD4850, it's vastly better than anything else out there. Nothing will run as cool as the 6800 you have now except the 8600, and they're not any faster than your 6800, so pointless upgrades.

 

Ok, dudes, this is like the first on Sam's list. Corsair VX450.

I read a review about it - I don't know the weight, but it looked pretty substantial under the covers. I could go to the manufacturer web site I guess and look it up, but I guess at least in the 4.5-5 pound range. Output is 33 amps on the 12 volt rail. So while it shows 450watts versus the 500 watt allied, that I have now, it's running 33 amps on the 12 volt rail instead of the weak 20 amps I get now. We calculated around 16-17 amps between the gfx and my p4 both running busy - this leaves lots of room above that. (Yes I know I could get better and move it to another case later, but I will be doing a complete new build later and keep this box intact as-is, maxed out p4 agp, for a friend, or as a spare.) Here's the link.

The Corsair PSU VX450W at newegg

Price is $75 with $15 rebate, or $70 with free shipping brand new on ebay. Everybody good with this? -Rich

 

perfect choice IMO. its a brilliant PSU, and will last you many an upgrade.

 

Corsair 650TX

75 after rebates, and free shipping.

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-tx-...x-cmpsu-650tx-atx12v/q/loc/101/206178324.html

 

Thanks dudes - I'll see what newegg charges to ship. The 450 is $60 after the rebate. I don't know difference between VX and TX, both on Sam's list, but 650 of course sounds better than 450, but I'm already overkill for my case - and I'm maxed out on agp so nothing more with this case - EVER! This finalizes the p4.

I finally found the weight - 3kg, or 6.6 pounds, take off for the container and packing, at least 5-6 pounds for the PSU = good solid unit. (Of course you don't get the Ultra extra 10 pounds of lead shielding, but ...)

(Seriously abuzar, how could a psu weigh 15-16 pounds - 1200 watts, 1500 watts, well then, maybe, in that case.) LOL