I need a video card for Compaq Presario sr2030nx

[macgeek2005]

Hi,

I'm looking for a video card to buy for my best friend for christmas, and he has a Compaq Presario sr2030nx.

I'm willing to spend around $250. I'm not trying to get a 8800GTX in there, but I don't want something too shabby either. Maybe something equivilent to a Radeon X1800 or X1900.

I'm aware that it has a PCI express 16x slot.. but due to power supply wattage, case size, and other requirements, i'm not sure what this machine can take. I know he has either an nvidia 6150 or 7100 in it right now. Either way, whatever I get him will be a lot better.

What's the best thing I could get in the $250 range?

Thanks

edit: would this work in that machine? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150254

If so, I might jump the gun and do that... my friend would be overjoyed.

[George Hallam]

edit: would this work in that machine? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150254

perfect choice mate thats probably the best bank for buck card out at the moment.. Half the price of the GTX and only 10% less performance

Maybe something equivilent to a Radeon X1800 or X1900.


that will blow them away :D

My only fear is the PSU power and does it have a 6 Pin PCI-E cable?

[macgeek2005]

perfect choice mate thats probably the best bank for buck card out at the moment.. Half the price of the GTX and only 10% less performance



that will blow them away :D

My only fear is the PSU power and does it have a 6 Pin PCI-E cable?


Well, after a LOT of searching, I finally found out that this is the power supply in my friends computer:

http://www.power-on.com/atx12v250bt.html

It's only 250 watts. I've thought about buying him a new power supply as well as a new video card, but considering that his video card is currently an ON BOARD 6150 LE, even getting him an X1600 or an Nvidia 7600 GT would be a massive upgrade from what he has.

The problem is, I can't find listings of video card wattage requirements anywhere!

edit: I've also decided that even if I need to get a new power supply, my best choice is the 8600 GTS. It's so much cheaper than the 8800 GT, and frankly, it won't make much of a difference for this guy. Have you ever gamed with an on board GeForce 6150 LE card with 256mb of shared graphics? Even the 8600 GTS can play pretty much any new game with maxed out settings or almost maxed out settings.

So I need to figure out what that computer has in it, and the 8600 GTS's wattage requirements. Anyone?

This is the motherboard in his machine: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00757470&dlc=en&lc=en&cc=us It looks like it has the 4 pin 12V1 connector for a video card, up toward the top left.

[mjc]

New power supply...but the case may not accept a full size ATX unit.

[macgeek2005]

New power supply...but the case may not accept a full size ATX unit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052

This looks about the same size as the stock Power Supply of that machine. The reviews are also good. What do you think?

[saphalline]

Even the 8600 GTS can play pretty much any new game with maxed out settings or almost maxed out settings.Not even close! :p But given the restrictions on the system and the budget, it does seem like the best choice. You get what you pay for, in all respects. Gaming on a budget is never earth-shattering, but it can still be fun. ;)

Get an 8600 GTS. It will blow away any onboard video, fits the budget, and won't tax that stupid little OEM PSU too much.


EDIT - If you really want to spend even more money :p then a new PSU would allow a nice upgrade to an 8800 GT. Something to think about, but I'd say your friend should front some of the investment, too, don't you think? :D

[macgeek2005]

Not even close! :p But given the restrictions on the system and the budget, it does seem like the best choice. You get what you pay for, in all respects. Gaming on a budget is never earth-shattering, but it can still be fun. ;)

Get an 8600 GTS. It will blow away any onboard video, fits the budget, and won't tax that stupid little OEM PSU too much.


EDIT - If you really want to spend even more money :p then a new PSU would allow a nice upgrade to an 8800 GT. Something to think about, but I'd say your friend should front some of the investment, too, don't you think? :D

Nah.. we've been best friends for nearly 5 years and i've never gotten him a christmas present (he hasn't gotten me any either, haha), so I think I can afford to pay for it all.

Will the 8600 GTS work with the OEM PSU? Or will I still have to upgrade that? I found out online that it's a 250 watt PSU, but then HP told me that it's 350 watts. If it's 250 watts, will the 8600 work with that?

This is the motherboard:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00757470&dlc=en&lc=en&cc=us

Does it have the appropriate connections for an 8600 GTS?

[saphalline]

I found out online that it's a 250 watt PSU, but then HP told me that it's 350 watts.I thought so. Yeah, it will be fine for a puny 8600 GTS! :p

Does it have the appropriate connections for an 8600 GTS?All you need for an 8600 GTS is the black PCIe x16 slot. That's it.

[rond36]

The motherboard has a PCI-E slot so the PSU should have a PCI-E power connector. If it doesn't, most PCI-E video cards come with an adapter that will allow you to use a 4 pin Molex connector to supply power to the video card.
The adapter is labeled "power cable" in this image.
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-150-254-10.jpg
If you need to use an adapter, try to use a Molex connector that is on a harness that doesn't have anything else drawing power from it if possible.

[macgeek2005]

The motherboard has a PCI-E slot so the PSU should have a PCI-E power connector. If it doesn't, most PCI-E video cards come with an adapter that will allow you to use a 4 pin Molex connector to supply power to the video card.
The adapter is labeled "power cable" in this image.

If you need to use an adapter, try to use a Molex connector that is on a harness that doesn't have anything else drawing power from it if possible.

So the 8600 GTS does require an external power connection? Does it plug into that 12V port in the motherboard? or directly into the power supply? And are you sure the card will work with the OEM PSU?

I've never heard of plugging in a video card using the 4 pin power connectors (the wide white ones). How does that work?

[saphalline]

All you need for an 8600 GTS is the black PCIe x16 slot. That's it.Let's take a minute to review things here...

GeForce 8600 GTS. Max power draw of ~60W under load, perhaps up to 70W for a factory OC'ed version.

PCIe x16 slot. Max power output of 75W.

The slot provides more power than the vid card uses. Which means no extra power cord required. Which would explain why 8600 vid cards never have an extra power plug on them. It's not needed.

Does it plug into that 12V port in the motherboard?Modern PCIe vid cards that require extra power use the new 6-pin PCIe power connector. This is part of the ATX 3.0 spec. The 4-pin square +12V connector is specifically for providing extra power to the mobo's power circuitry surrounding the CPU power sub-system. This is part of the ATX 2.0 spec, inclusive in 3.0. They are used for different things, although the connectors look similar.

4-pin for mobo/CPU, 6-pin for PCIe vid cards. Check the pics that rond36 posted.

[macgeek2005]

Let's take a minute to review things here...

GeForce 8600 GTS. Max power draw of ~60W under load, perhaps up to 70W for a factory OC'ed version.

PCIe x16 slot. Max power output of 75W.

The slot provides more power than the vid card uses. Which means no extra power cord required. Which would explain why 8600 vid cards never have an extra power plug on them. It's not needed.

Modern PCIe vid cards that require extra power use the new 6-pin PCIe power connector. This is part of the ATX 3.0 spec. The 4-pin square +12V connector is specifically for providing extra power to the mobo's power circuitry surrounding the CPU power sub-system. This is part of the ATX 2.0 spec, inclusive in 3.0. They are used for different things, although the connectors look similar.

4-pin for mobo/CPU, 6-pin for PCIe vid cards. Check the pics that rond36 posted.

If the 8600 GTS doesn't need more power than what the slot provides, then how come there is a power plug on it?

And since the PCIe slot provides all the power it needs, would that card work in a machine with a 250 watt power supply?

[saphalline]

If the 8600 GTS doesn't need more power than what the slot provides, then how come there is a power plug on it?I don't know! I just looked at a few on Newegg, and you're right! I have no idea why, however, since NVidia's reference design doesn't need one. What happened to the 8600 GTS??

[macgeek2005]

I don't know! I just looked at a few on Newegg, and you're right! I have no idea why, however, since NVidia's reference design doesn't need one. What happened to the 8600 GTS??

Hm... well in any case, will it work with a 250 watt power supply? The only other stuff in the machine is one hard drive, one optical drive, and a floppy drive. Then maybe a few fans and the ram, which is DDR2. The CPU is also pretty new.

[saphalline]

Yep, it will still work. I wonder if perhaps the latest heavily OC'ed versions reach into the 75W power consumption range and feature an extra power connector just to be on the safe side. Or perhaps they reach up into 85W and actually need the extra power connector. In either case, it will work with the current PSU, but just barely. Be warned on the active word there: barely.

It's kind of strange. I saw the 8600 GTS debut earlier this year (benchmarks on still-fresh reference designs) because I was originally looking to upgrade to DX10 for cheap, but then I saw the abysmal performance relative to the mighty 8800 GTX and said no way! Honestly, I don't know if I've looked at another 8600 GTS again...

[macgeek2005]

Yep, it will still work. I wonder if perhaps the latest heavily OC'ed versions reach into the 75W power consumption range and feature an extra power connector just to be on the safe side. Or perhaps they reach up into 85W and actually need the extra power connector. In either case, it will work with the current PSU, but just barely. Be warned on the active word there: barely.

It's kind of strange. I saw the 8600 GTS debut earlier this year (benchmarks on still-fresh reference designs) because I was originally looking to upgrade to DX10 for cheap, but then I saw the abysmal performance relative to the mighty 8800 GTX and said no way! Honestly, I don't know if I've looked at another 8600 GTS again...

So if I got a 8600 GT, would that run more securely with my friends 250 watt PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229

I notice that this video card doesn't have a power connector on it. Maybe you were thinking of the 8600 GT when you remembered the 8600 not having a power connector.

[saphalline]

No, I was definitely thinking of all non-8800's. That was one of the main distinctions (in terms of power consumption) that all the previews/reviews were talking about...

In any case, yes, an 8600 GT would "fit" better into his PSU requirements, but at that point the performance is dropping a bit too much. Better to get a cheap non-factory-OC'ed 8600 GTS (with a standard single-slot cooler) that will have a smaller power footprint than drop to an 8600 GT. The performance you sacrifice from an 8600 GTS to GT is just too much to be favorable. The 8800's are the other way around, though, :p so it can get a bit confusing.

[macgeek2005]

No, I was definitely thinking of all non-8800's. That was one of the main distinctions (in terms of power consumption) that all the previews/reviews were talking about...

In any case, yes, an 8600 GT would "fit" better into his PSU requirements, but at that point the performance is dropping a bit too much. Better to get a cheap non-factory-OC'ed 8600 GTS (with a standard single-slot cooler) that will have a smaller power footprint than drop to an 8600 GT. The performance you sacrifice from an 8600 GTS to GT is just too much to be favorable. The 8800's are the other way around, though, :p so it can get a bit confusing.

My friend is currently sporting the integrated 6150 LE with 256mb of shared memory. Any new game that he plays needs to be played on the lowest settings possible. I think a 8600 GT would be a very favorable upgrade. It would allow him to play the newest games at native resolutions, with relatively high graphics settings. Is the 8600 GT better or worse than the X1900XT? Cause i've got the X1900XT and I can play Call of Duty 4 with all resolution and texture settings maxed out at 1920x1200, and never drop below 25fps. My friends screen is smaller than mine so his resolution is never set that high...

But if you really think it's worth it to get the GTS and you don't think there's a risk on the PSU, then can you recommend which one to get and from where?

Thanks

[saphalline]

For the purposes of playing CoD4, the GeForce 8600 GT is about 1/3 as powerful as the Radeon X1900XT. I estimate he could play at 1024 x 768 with 2x AA/AF and all settings at medium and still get your frame rate.

[macgeek2005]

For the purposes of playing CoD4, the GeForce 8600 GT is about 1/3 as powerful as the Radeon X1900XT. I estimate he could play at 1024 x 768 with 2x AA/AF and all settings at medium and still get your frame rate.

Well that's alot better than what he could do right now. I'd love to get the 8600 GTS, but i'm worried about the PSU. What would you do in my position?

[saphalline]

Considering that the current PSU only has 14A on the +12V rail and it's a Bestec unit, I would suggest replacing it either way! I've seen too many Bestec PSU's fail their owners and turn decent OEM machines into paperweights. It's not worth trying to play games on a Bestec PSU with only 14A of +12V power...

If you want to be certain that your new vid card upgrade doesn't blow out the system in 3 months, upgrade the PSU as well. Might as well go for broke. Plus, an upgraded PSU leaves you room to breathe for future upgrades, maybe even another vid card upgrade before that thing is done.

[macgeek2005]

Well, I just got the XFX 8600 GT in the mail. I'll be taking it to my friends house tomorrow to install. It draws a max of 47 watts and my friends computer has a 250 watt power supply. All he has in the computer right now is one hard drive and one optical drive. It should be no problem at all.

Can someone post detailed instructions of what i'll have to do with BIOS and the on board graphics chip? That would be GREAT! Thanks. :)

[teqvet]

Too bad you couldn't have gotten one of the new radeon3850's(I think). For a 170 it chunks the 8600 ( I have the 8600 on board atm), but would need a larger power supply.

At any r ate, hope your friend enjoys his gift and appreciates what you did for him.

[kimbalaya]

I found this thread by Googling and read it with great interest, as I am looking to upgrade my video card on the same system discussed here.

I play The Sims 2, pretty much exclusively, and am on a budget. There is a list of supported video cards on the Sims 2 website that I have been looking at.

Can anyone tell me if the GeForce 6600 will work in the Compaq Presario sr2030nx? It's a PCI-E x16, which I know is an available slot on this system.

macgeek2005, did you have to do anything special with your friend's system when you put his new video card in? I've looked all over trying to figure out if my current nVidia 6150 is integrated or not, short of pulling my case open.