AGP upgrade question

[jeggsy]

I will apologise now because I've posted a similar question on the Nvidia section of this forum. See link below:-

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/6800-AGP-Upgrade-ftopict218695.html

Currently got a Asus 9999 Geforce 6800 256Mb AGP card but was thinking of upgrading it to a newer card but was wondering if it's actually worth upgrading. Was after a newer Nvidia based card but a few people have suggested an ATI X1950 AGP based card.

I have seen a Sapphire X1950Pro 512Mb AGP and was wondering if it's much of an upgrade compared with what I've currently got.

My main worry is my PSU being only a 350w and I don't know how many amps are on the 12v rail. Does anybody know power wise the difference between my old 6800 and a X1950 ???? Don't want to end up with a new card and it not working !!!

Any advice would be great !!!

Thanks all
Paul

 

[dean7]

Use this PSU calc to help you figure out power requirements:

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

I think it sounds risky to use a 350w PSU that you're not sure about with an X1950 card. If you want to upgrade your card you should probably upgrade PSU.

Anyway, you will see a performance jump with a 1950. In Oblivion the difference between a 6800GT and 1950 Pro at 1024*768 is 10fps vs 24.7fps. Check out the THG VGA Charts to see if the games you play are listed there:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=545&model2=607&chart=204

(on that link I highlighted the 2 GPUs mentioned)

 

[chogo]

The x1950 Pro requires at least 20A on the +12V rail so likely requires a new PS as 350W is insufficient. There should be a label on the side of the PS that indicates the number of amps on the +12V rail.

If you aren't planning on buying a new PS then I would recommend a 7600 GT as it only uses about 36W vs 38W for your old 6800. See here for details Video Card Power Requirements.

The 7600 GT AGP should give you a nice bump in performance vs your old card. You should use the VGA Charts to compare 6600 GT (close enough to 6800) vs 7600 GT in various games.

 

[bluntside]

You will definetly need to upgrade your psu if you are planning to upgrade.
@http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103941

You said that you found a 1950Pro w/512mb of memory?
Make sure you double check, that 512mb could be ddr2 rather than GDDR3.

Get the card with GDDR3. Even though it has 256mb of memory

Hope this helps

 

[jeggsy]

Thanks all.... Certainly got me thinking !!!

Just cracked open my case and found out that I have a FSP 400-60PFN PSU. Looked on the website and it's a 400w PSU with a single rail +12V @ 15.0A.

Looking at what a x1950Pro needs then my PSU will not be man-enough.

Just looking on the FSP website for PSU's, the newer models have 2 12V rails at say 18.0A's each. When you say the x1950Pro needs 30.0A, does this mean that the 2 18.0A rails will be OK ?????

 

[jackyle]

That's an excellent question about the power. I hope someone answers cause I have the same question.

Also, Bluntside that you for making the point about the ddr2, and 3. That was great info.

 

[Datman]

I have not seen a X1950Pro with anything but GDDR3.

 

[easymoney9]

The sapphire x1950 pro 512mb uses two molex(the kind your cdrom uses) connectors to supply power to the card. I checked my computers ( I have 3!) power supplies and all three of them get power for the molex connectors from one rail only! If this is standard pratice throughout the power supply industry no wonder so many people are having problems with the sapphire x1950pro agp. It simply is not being supplied with enough current from multi rail power supplies. You need a power supply with a single 12v rail at least 35 amps or more. I personally would not cut it so close (the sapphire x1950 pro agp requires 30 amps on the 12v rail ) so I would look for a power supply with a single 12v rail of at least 40 amps! By the time you add the price of that serious a power supply to the price of the agp video card I wonder if its not time to switch to pci-ex?