DDR2 Ram Vid Card on a DDR System??

[djsrc]

Hi:

I have a Dell Dimension 8300 system that uses DDR PC3200 400mhz RAM.

My Radeon 9800 Pro, 128mb Video Card went kaplooey.

I wamt to buy a Geforce 7600 GS that has DDR2 video RAM.

Can I use a DDR2 Vid card on a motherboard that houses DDR SDRAM?

Compusa said that it would work.

I just want to make sure before I go ahead and purchase it.

Also, what about GDDR2? Is that essentially the same as DDR2, and just as workable on my system?

What about a GDDR3, or a DDR3 card?

I would really appreciate your advice, because all these video card specs have been making me nuts.

Thanks in advance,

DJSRC

 

[Sleepsalot]

Yes they will all work. The question is what your main goal is besides replaceing you old card. I have spent about 6 hours in the past couple of days looking at video cards. The best I have found for the money is the 7800 GS Tiger Direct has it at $169.00 with a $30.00 rebate See it here.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1831181&CatId=318

This is AGP.


Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[djsrc]

Hey, thanks a whole lot!

I also have been looking at that GF7800 GS card.

At NEWEGG.com right now, it is $119.99 after a rebate, until 7/31/07!

Only thing is that I have to upgrade from my 305watt PSU to a 400watt, or so.

Otherwise, I would get the 7600 GS, but that is only 128 bits, as opposed to the 256 bit 7800. (AGP, BTW.)

Not only that, but I will have to cut out more room on the back of my tower plate to use any PSU not supplied by Dell.

On top of that, I have seen Dell selling PSU's that require the same cut job, which I find surprising.

Why Dell would make a plate that extremely limits what sort of PSU one could use, frankly, really surprises me.

There is one review from a Dell 8250 customer, who bought a 360watt PSU from Dell, who told him it was compatible, and he had to do the cut job. He was pissed, and gave the PSU a bad review.

I don't really blame him, as I will probably have to do the same thing anyway.

Go to NEWEGG.com and save yourself another couple of bucks.

I used them once before, and they provided very quick and reliable service.

Once again, thank you so much for your help, because that vid card spec thing was making me psychopathic.

I now consider myself to be something of a real expert (notwithstanding the RAM compat thing), on the subject after reading just about anything I could find on the web.

BTW, here is a great site I found, if you want to compare just about any PCI-E or AGP card on the market, listed by class:

http://www.playtool.com/pages/selectvid/select.html

It even gives an overall rating as the first number to the right of the card name, albeit somewhat subjective (by his own admission), as rated by the site-owner, but it really helps.

Check it out, and may the FORCE be with you,

DJ

 

[Sleepsalot]

Thaks for the info the main reason I use Tiger Direct mos of the time is that they have a store 10 miles form the work place. And I don't have to pay shipping. But that much price difference I can do New EGG for sure. My card is going in a dual xeon machine I had given to me.
Thanks Again

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[ATLMatt]

The card will work because the memory on the card will be using the bus of the pci or agp slot it is plugged into, not the bus of the system memory, so no worries there.

As far as the power supply, that is always annoying, when I worked as a pc repair tech, I ended up taking a file to quiet a few Dells and misc other machines to get a power supply to fit. I think the best bet it a dremmel tool if you have access to one, and if not a round metal file.

Newegg rocks, I don't even price shop anymore when I need parts, and their user reviews usually have some good info on configuring what I bought.

 

[djsrc]

Hey, thanks for your response about the plate filing thing.

BTW, I just ordered a brand new XFX 7600 GT video card from Newegg that has 256 mb of GDDR3 RAM!

That video card site I linked has that as slightly above even the 7800 GS (AGP), believe or not, even with the 256 bit bus width of the 7800! I guesss that's because the 7800 only has a 375 core clock speed, as opposed to the 560 core clock of the 7600. That would make a significant difference, I assume.

As a matter of fact, the site dude says that they are virtually just about at the same performance level, and to get which ever one is on sale.

The 7800 GS is about $150, and the XFX 7600 GT is $140, plus a $30 rebate, so I ordered that one.

I can't wait to get it!

All the best to everyone.

 

[djsrc]

And furthermore, one Newegg reviewer of the 7600 GT said that he has a 250 watt psu, and his card runs just fine, and to not worry about the 350watt minimum rating.

Apparently, the 7600 GT only draws up to 36 watts, and I have seen other comments about it not requiring a major psu upgrade, whereas the 7800 GS supposedly runs hot, has a big form factor (I think it's called), and requires a minimum 400 watt psu.

Those reasons, other than the 7600 GT's value for punch, made me go with that one, which beats the crap out of the 7600 GS specs, anyway.

I have a 305 watt Dell psu, BTW, so I am not that concerned.

I'll keep you all posted how this turns out when I get the card and install it later this week.

Thanks for all your help, once again. I can sleep soundly now at night.

 

[Sleepsalot]

Well you did well then I'm glad for you. My video card purchase is on hold. The machine I wanted it for is having a heat issue. At 50% cpu usage I'm running around 57c and 135f with all the covers on. With one side off it is down to 46c and 115f but the machine is also a dual Xeon so I have to get more fans going before I put more heat source in.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[djsrc]

Well, everybody keeps mentioning, in different threads here, about how they can tell the exact celcius temperature inside a tower.

How do you do that, by sticking a European themometer in its rear end?

hehe.

And, on a more serious note, how do you measure CPU usage?

Is it some program in: "Programs, System Tools, Accessories", or something like that?

I remember seeing it, but I can't recall how to do it now.

(Answers to both questions would be much appreciated, BTW.)

Thanks for your help.

This website is cool.

(I got to it through a recommendation from Newegg in their "Help and Info Tab": "Forums" Section, as a place to get tech answers, and I haven't been disappointed yet!)

DJ

 

[Nelviticus]

Most motherboards have various temperature sensors and the manufacturers provide Windows utilities that let you monitor these. I have an Asus board and their monitoring app is called PC Probe.

To see a graph of CPU usage, right-click an empty area of the task bar and select 'Task Manager'. On the 'Performance' tab you can see a graph of CPU usage, amongst other things.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[Sleepsalot]

For the temp I use a program called aida32 This is a link.

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=181

it is free and doesn't install to your machine. It is real good for most info about your machine.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[djsrc]

Hey Thanks!

Wouldn't you know it???

I finally have my 7600 GT on the way today via UPS. I just looked at the Newegg site, and they dropped the son of a gun another $10.00, effectively making it $99.99, after the $30.00 mail in rebate!

I stared at that price for a couple of weeks, and then right after I order and it ships, it drops another $10.00.

GRRRR!!!

(May my sacrifice benefit those of you who have helped me with this major life altering experience. Anyone wishing to donate the $10.00 I lost in being so impulsive, as a gesture of kindness, is welcome to send me a check or money order for what I lost...)

;<)

Oh well, I still got it for an overall price of $109.99, so I can't really complain that much, right?

Anyway, how can a utility program measure the temperature inside a tower?

I don't get that at all.

There would have to be a themometer in the computer, no?

Does the software somehow read the temp off of a stock heatsink, the backup battery, the motherboard, or something?

I'm confused...

 

[Sleepsalot]

It gets the infomation from the sensor chip on the mother board. It really doesn't give case temp. but the temp in the case will be lower than the cpu temp. Your dell may not have an onboard sensor. This one I use at work doesn't have one.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[djsrc]

OH_MY_GOD!!!

1-First of all, and not to go on and on about them, I just cannot believe that I placed my order with NEWEGG on Monday, 7/23/07, at 12:00 EDT, and the 7600 GT and two sticks of 256 mb system RAM were sitting on my coffee table, exactly 48 hours later, which is today, coming from 3,000 miles away in California!!! I only sent it via UPS 3 business day delivery at a 3 pound total cost of just onder $9.00! It arrived in just two days, including processing. AMAZING.

Next:

2-This card is simply wonderful!!! It runs beautifully on my 305 watt PSU, it is fast as heck, and I talked to XFX tech help twice, and they were the best, sending me another DVI_I/VGA D sub adapter, since there was only one in the box. There was also a molex splitter connector, and an S-Video connector!

The card, BTW, is dual DVI-I. BE CAREFUL if you are ordering one, because some of them have only one DVI-I with a VGA D Sub, instead of the other DVI-I. Then there are a couple of cards that clock at 580/1500, instead of the stock 560/1400, but I didn't think a factory overclock was worth the $50 or so extra, since I could do that myself, if I so choose.

The CD comes with three game demos, which I have yet to check out, but I did run Medieval II Total War Gold Demo, and it rocked!!!

The three game demos are: Armored Fist 3, Delta Force Land Warrior, and F-16 Multirole Fighter, none of which I am familiar with.

This card is just miles above my burnt 9800 Pro.

There is an overclocking utility on the CD, which I will not run until I add some more fan jazz, which I have yet to research, and it has a GPU temp program on the CD, so I can check out how hot I am running.

My Dell 8300 P4 with HT, 3 gig, now has 1 gig of system RAM (512 Samsung that came with it, and 512 Wintech that I just got from NE, and my comp is rockin'!

I am happier than a little clam, nestled in a can of empty Spam!!!

(Whatever that means, but it rhymes, soooo...)

And once again, muchas gracias, and felice Navidad.

;<))

 

[FatPaddy]

I'm surprised at how many people modify there Dell's to fit psu's. There are several psu's out there that fit Dells without cutting the back...which is not an easy job. Sparkle Power, BFG, and PC Power&Cooling all make them. They are also high quality and not the cheapest...but why would you put a junky psu with that brand new video card?

 

[djsrc]

I didn't change the PSU for a number of reasons:

1-A few people who commented on NEWEGG about the 7600 GT said that the 350 watt PSU requirement was not accurate, in that they had less, and the card worked fine. I think XFX is just covering their bases if someone has their TOWER fully stacked.

2-My 305 watter appears to facilite the card very nicely, in other words, no problems, at least yet. Anyway, I am not using all the slots, or molex connectors.

3-I really didn't want to have to chop the back of my TOWER.

and

4-I am assuming that changing the PSU to a more powerful one, especially 400 watts or more, is only going to make the inside of the TOWER that much hotter.

BTW, NVIDIA has a cool new driver update called NTUNE that allows me to track the temp of the GPU, aside from a chitload of other wonderful features, including being able to finetune the features to specific 3-D games, of which NVIDIA has a whole bunch already listed.

If anyone has an NVIDIA card, now is the time to download it, as it was released at the end of July.

DJ

 

[FatPaddy]

Yeah...I was just speaking generally about ppl who upgrade their Dell psu's. You should be fine djrc. I almost bought the 7600GT....its a good one. I decided on the X1950pro instead for my 8300. When I did that I put a pcpower&cooling psu in mine.

 

[Mojojoe]

I am in a similar situation with a Dell 8300 and I have the ATI radeon 9800 pro. Started getting artifacts with games and icons on the desktop that don't show up correctly. On start up I get blue block/squares all over the dell boot up screen. I was wondering if I should get the 7600GT with 560mhz core clock vs. 580mhz core clock version. Won't the 580mhz version generate more heat? Both are $109 at tigerdirect. I wonder if that is a mistake, because newegg has the 580mhz priced higher at $139. after rebate. Any advise or help would be great.

Thanks

 

[djsrc]

Hi Mo:

Yeah, been there, done that. Those little block squares & artifacts appear to be the death throws of that card, at least AFAICT. Good card in its day though. Too bad.

Anyway, just to let you know that my EXPERTISE, per se, comes from having been in exactly the same position as yourself, back in June '07. I then spent July studying up on vid card specs, tech, features, Brands, feedback, etc.

"Won't the 580mhz version generate more heat?"

Yes, the more clock speed applied to a GPU, the hotter it will run, that much sooner. How much more, and how much sooner? I don't know, but I am sure you could find a chart on the Net to answer that question.

From what I have read, a 580 mhz core clock, is simply a factory overclocked 560 mhz core clock. Nvidia actually supplies the software to do that if you wish to with a 560 CC. However, I would imagine that the 580 is under warranty at that speed, whereas if you mess with the clock speed yourself on a 560 stock model, it voids the warranty if you crash it. Check into that, if you are going to check into anything. Otherwise, I don't think there is any difference in hardware, within the same brand, of a 560 mhz vs. a 580 mhz GPU, other than the overclocking.

One other thing when comparing what to actually buy from whom:

1-OUTPUTS!!! Make sure that the outputs are what you need. Some cards look identical, except that one will have two DVI outputs, and the other will have one DVI and one D-SUB for a CRT connection. If you have two LCD's, for instance, the dual DVI would be the correct choice, without having to start messing with adapters, and Digital to Analog and back to digital conversion, etc.

2-Double check that the item you are looking at for a lower price is NOT either "Open Box" or "Refurbished". I have made that error, at least initially.

3-Of course, check to see if it's PCI-E, or AGP8X, of which the former is now less expensive than the latter, but I am sure you have done that already. The Dell 8300 would accomodate AGP8X, and not PCI-E. The 8400 was the first Dell Dimension line to switch to PCI-E.

4-SHIPPING costs & delivery time. Not that big a deal, but it does affect one's decision as to which company to order from.

5-MEMORY. Always check that the cards you are comparing have the same amount of RAM.

6-INTERNET & MANUFACTURER RELIABILITY. Of course, One does tend feel somewhat helpless at times, in this regard, but the better informed a buyer is about who he is doing business with, the better off he is going to end up, usually.

Take it from me, the 7600 GT 256mg card is a perfect upgrade on an 8300. You will be very happy.

Anyway, I doubt that the benchmarks on the 580 mhz overclock are going to be that significant over the 560 mhz stock speed.

Good luck, and let us know how you do!

DJSRC