A Geforce 4 tit.4600 temperamental?

[CHESSMAN]

Hi everyone;I'm new here. ;)

I was going to buy a Geforce 4 tit.4600 but I'm seeing a number of people having problems with this card.

I have seen that I might have to change a number of bios settings(referring to a thread on this forum) however I've looked at my bios and there is only two or three options to change. :eek:

It's a long card;22.5cm apparently; plus it needs a power supply of at least 300w. I'll check I have those requirements; but:-

With the above problems that the card exhibits and my limited bios options is this card going to be more trouble than it's worth?

:eek: :eek:

[ski]

Before even getting into possible problems with this card, the first thing you need to check before investing big bucks on it is your CPU's speed. If it's not at least 1GHz, then it's highly recommended that you buy a less powerful and less expensive video card.
The reason is that a CPU slower than 1GHz will become a bottleneck when playing games with the graphics maxed out, higher resolutions, and 32 bit color depth, and the card will not perform anywhere near its full potential. In fact, it's frame rates will be comparable to those of a $50 card. And if the games' graphics are not maxed out, resolution is 640x480, and color depth is 16 bit, then a cheaper card will also perform as well as the GF4 TI 4600.
If the above is the case, then either upgrade your CPU, or get a new system if you plan to get this card.

[CHESSMAN]

Thanks for that advice:

My comp has a 2.5gig P4 processor and is a month old.

It's a ready-made Microstar computer; but cause of that I have only limited bios opions.

[ski]

Thanks for responding back with the CPU info. Yes, it's certainly fast enough to reap the benefits of the GF4 TI 4600.
I thought that your comment regarding the 300W minimum power supply size was indicating that you had an older and slower system.
So much for thought.

I have no personal experience with the GF4 TI 4600, but I do have the GF4 TI 4400. I left all of my BIOS settings at default wrt the card, and have had no problems with it at all. The 2 settings which are most critical are 'Video BIOS Shadow'(enabled), and 'AGP 4X'. These 2 settings extract the maximum performance out of the card wrt BIOS.

[CHESSMAN]

Thanks for that info. I mentioned the fact that the PSU might be less than 300W becasue I've heard of some manufacturers skimping on PSUs.

I will look inside the comp.and hopefully will see the PSU rating in there.

Do you think that it's highly unlikely to be less than 300W as I have such a fast P4?

I might go for the 4400 tit. if the bios settings aren't so critical.



:D

[ski]

If your PSM is 300W or 350W, then you may see some rebooting, freezing, or other problems if you play some of the newer games at max settings.
If so, then just get a 400W or 450W unit.
I have a 430W Enermax PS with an Athlon XP 1800+ CPU and the 4400, and have no problems when playing Combat Flight Simulator 2 at max graphics, 1600x1200 resolution, 32 bit color depth, and 4X anti-aliasing. And the 4400 renders extremely fast frame rates plus superb graphics.

[CHESSMAN]

That sounds like a good idea but I've never done anything like that inside a computer.

It's only one month old and working fine. I feel very dubious about changing the PSU.

:eek:

[ski]

Changing a PSM is relatively easy to do.
But if you're uncomfortable messing around with your system's hardware, then a shop or a knowledgeable friend can do it for you.

[ski]

And changing the PSM will be necessary only if you experience rebooting or freezing problems after upgrading your video card.
If everything works ok, then just continue using the original PSM.

[CHESSMAN]

Ok;I'll think about what to do.

Thanks for your advice.

:)