Upgrading graphics card.... voltage question and more..

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 17:16:24 -0000
"Welder63" <@nospam.ntlworld.com> wrote:


I'm going back to your original post first. Don't worry about the video
board damaging your motherboard or vice versa--the sockets are keyed
so that a video board will only fit into a socket that provides the
right voltage.

Next, the Molex socket is the standard power connector used on hard
disks, DVD drives, CD drives, and anything of a like or similar nature
except 3.5" diskette drives. Your motherboard does not need one and
usually will not have one--the Molex socket will be on the video board
and all you have to do is plug one of the spare connectors (if any) from
the power supply into it.



--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I`m toying with the idea of upgrading my graphics card. I currently have a
64 mb GeForce 3 TI500,
in my current system, which is a 1.8 Ghz Pentium 4, 512 RAM.

The motherboard is a Asus P4B, Socket 478.

on the circuit board diagram, the AGP lot says `AGP + 1.5v`

does this mean i can only fit a graphics card that run from 1.5v?
Can i fit a 3.3v card? will it damage my motherboard?

The problem is, all the grahics cards i`m looking at , don`t mention any
voltage at all.
even on manufacturers websites, the data is very obscure.
Am i worrying over nothing?

I`m looking to buy possibly a Creative GF FX5900 DDR AGP , would i run into
any problems
fitting this card into my motherboard... and does anyone have any comments
or exprience with this card.

many thanks for your help.

Sparky.

u.k.

"Welder63" <@nospam.ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:CdJxb.130$2b7.110@newsfep3-gui.server.ntli.net...


Do not worry about that marking, it is moot with any card you may buy today.

Be wary of buying a top level card if you have an inadeqaute power supply,
most cards need external power supplied by a molex (the plastic 4-wire
connector) and this can take a marginal power supply and make it unstable.

Thanks for the reply, Derek, so i need to know if i have a molex socket ,
forgive my ignorance
but where on the motherboard should i look ? Where would the graphics card
power plug into?

thanks for your help.

Sparky,




"Derek Wildstar" <gunner@argo.mil> wrote in message
news:FTJxb.241812$mZ5.1800241@attbi_s54...
a
today.

J., thanks for the reply, thats cleared things up a bit now. Much
appreciated.

regards,


Sparky.




"J.Clarke" <jclarke@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:20031128011534.29b42d1b.jclarke@nospam.invali d...

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 11:10:40 -0000
"Welder63" <@nospam.ntlworld.com> wrote:


Most AGP video boards except the very early ones support at least two
levels of AGP. Any AGP 8X board should support 4X as well--many will
also support 2X.

And don't put too much stock in AGP 8X--I've never seen any test that
indicates that there is any perceptible difference in performance
between 4X and 8X. 8X is mainly "bragging rights".


--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

>> > > The motherboard is a Asus P4B, Socket 478.


Another issue for you...

You need to check the EXACT make of motherboard - for example I have
an Asus P4S533 which supports AGP 1x, 2x, 4x. The card you are
considering is AGP 4x and 8x only, so you need to be sure that your
board DOES have AGP 4x on it - that way the card should work but
obviously not at full speed (but I am sure it will still be
impressive).

I don't know where you are considering buying the card from (mail
order or retailer), but if it is a retailer, it may be worth asking if
THEY install the card for you (for a small fee), that way if it
doesn't work, there is a higher chance they'll accept it back from
you. Tell them what motherboard you have (take a spec sheet from the
asus website with you for them to check first). Honesty up front may
save you from an expensive purchase which doesn't work (cautionary
tale, several years ago I bought a Geforce3 card which supported AGP2x
but although my motherboard at the time said it supported AGP2x, it
was a very early release and was not fully compatible - the result -
card was in perfect working order but didn't work on that board -
since I imported the card from overseas I ended up having to buy a new
motherboard/processor/ram just to get the card to work!)

Another topic, if you find the card is noisy, may I recommend checking
out the Zalman website for the Zalman video card cooler - it is a very
impressive beast (if a little large)

Thanks for the help Helix, god, this gets more complicated as i go along,
lol.
I`ve installed everything else on a pc, except a graphics card, now i know
why, lol.

I`m still trying to find out my exact model number, but don`t know where to
look,
my mo`board manual tells me just that its a P4B, i`ve tried looking inside
but can`t see
anything yet
According to my mo`board manual, its AGP 4X and is backward compatible...
so i`m still not sure if a AGP 8x will run on it.

Are cards available themselves with AGP variations? ie: 2X / 4X / 8X on
one card?
maybe i should start looking there.

I was considering buying mail order, i not keen on retailers, where i go to
the shop
and some spotty faced teenager thinks he knows what he`s talking about and
rips me
off with a crap card, i prefer to find things out for myself.

anyway, i`ve just emailed Asus, and may email Creative, to see what the say.

thanks for the info and advice, though, much appreciated.

Sparky.
u.k.



"HelixStalwart" <nomail@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5ejgsvorndt71t8n42qo2hrhmv7t89f8j7@4ax.com...