[Solved] Will HD 4350 work in low-power slimline (Gateway SX2800-01)

I just bought a Gateway SX2800-01 slimline. It has a half-height top slot (PCI-E 16). The power supply is rated for 220W. Questions:

1. Can I safely run an HD 4350?
2. If so, does it need to be a fan model or passive-cooled? (I'm guessing fan because of the cramped airflow.
3. Are there other models that would work? (considering size, power and heat)

Thanks!

Thanks for the quick answer! I ordered the fan version. I'm just a little worried about the heat since there's very little space in there.

I'll post my experience here. I'm sure there are others interested since this is a popular model.

One day in, so far so good. It's running smoothly and the performance seems to be very solid, especially for such an inexpensive card. It handled the GPU (OpenGL) acceleration tasks in Photoshop CS4 nicely. I haven't tried any games yet, but I expect it to work much better than the integrated video.

I will hook up a second monitor today and see how that works.

Gigabyte 4350 card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125251

I just installed the Gigabyte 4350 card into my SX2800. I noticed the 400w PSU requirement on the video card. Should I be concerned seeing as the Gateway PSU is 220W? Also I noticed my Windows Experience Index (Performance score) went from a 4.1 to a 3.7. Any concern there? I just want to play 1080p h264/.mov videos shot with my Canon Powershot SX1 IS. Is this the card for me? Heck, is this the system for me?

I have been running this computer with the Gigabyte 4350 card for a couple weeks now. It's running two monitors (VGA and DVI) with no problems. I tried using the HDMI port to drive a monitor using an HDMI to DVI cable. It recognized that a monitor was connected but didn't display a signal. I switched to a regular DVI cable and all was well.

It does generate some heat, but runs very quiet. I've run a couple 3D games and it runs great. I don't have the latest games, so it may well be disappointing for hard-core gamers, but Photoshop and Premiere Pro are zippy and I can run multiple memory-hungry apps without a problem.

For less than $550 total investment (computer, video card and 20" monitor), I'm really happy with the performance. It's the cheapest computer I've ever bought and it's the most powerful.

You'll need to change the BIOS config. When the computer boots up, go into the BIOS. Disable the onboard video and enable the add-on PCI-X slot video. I can't remember exactly what I changed, but I think it was in 2 different spots.

You definitely don't need to change any jumpers.

If anyone can shed some light on this problem, it will be greatly appreciated. I have now stopped trying to get it to work as I can't figure out what else need I do.

Update to my earlier post on the system my son and I built in an Apex low-profile case. We did use the XFX fanless (heat sink only) low-profile card based on the ATI 4350 chip, an Athlon II X2 240 CPU, 2 x 1 GB RAM, and a pair of WD Green 1.5 TB drives. Mobo is a Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H. We used two Noctua fans for case vent and CPU cooling. Although the video card recommends a 300 W PSU, we stuck with the 275 W unit included in the Apex case. We're using a small adapter to convert the video card's S-video output to Composite Video, feeding that and stereo audio (on-board) into some VCR connectors and hence to the regular (not HD) TV. Using a wireless keyboard / remote control 2-unit set whose manufacturer I can't remember - they each use trackballs. To improve its reliability, we used a short USB extension cord to place the RF transceiver for these on the shelf near the front of the machine, rather than have it stuck out the back.

The system has been in use 24/7 for several weeks downloading TV episodes for viewing when we like - with NO commercials! It is VERY quiet - can only hear minimally if everything in the room is off, certainly cannot hear it when watching TV. Our cable connection is being shut off this weekend, and I'm installing a broadband VHF / UHF antenna in our attic for local OTA signals.

My son has installed a suite of three shareware software tools for this. T.E.D. is programmable to find and download TV shows (individual specials or all the episodes of a series), Microtorrent does the actual downloading, and Boxee is the playback software. No problem watching any stored file while continuing to download more, but we're not trying HDTV or blue-ray playback. To make sure our DSL connection is easily available for other users on our home network, he has configured our first-level router to limit the bandwidth available to the new TV machine when other users are active.

So you have a PCIe video card and, when you set the BIOS to use this type, you get nothing on the monitor. I'm assuming you have the monitor plugged into the DVI connector on that video card, not elsewhere.

Just MAYBE there is a problem of video drivers, etc. You could try clearing things out and re-starting. Remove the video card, connect the monitor back to the on-board video out (VGA?), boot and go directly to the BIOS. Make sure it is set to use that on-board video system, then Save and Exit to complete the boot into Windows. Assuming you have a display to work with now, we'll try to uninstall the on-board system and replace it with the card.

Go into Control Panel ... System and choose the Hardware tab, then the Device Manager, and scroll down to Display Adapter to Remove this device. When you shut down and re-start, it will be gone and something else will be needed. If you don't provide it, the onboard system will be re-installed. So, shut down and install the video card in its PCIe slot. When you boot, go directly into BIOS and set the video to use that PCIe card, Save and Exit. When Windows boots it will start with a default VGA kind of driver, but also will find a new Device and go looking for its drivers to install. If you are happy to let it use the ones it already has, OK. But if you have drivers on a disk that came with the card, install them instead. Later, go to the card manufacturer's website and look for more recent driver files you can download so that the drivers can be updated in Windows.

One other thing you might need - a Windows driver for your monitor. If it's not there already, load it after you have the video card installed and working. Then when you go to set up the Display Properties it will know exactly what combination of display options (card and monitor) actually can be chosen.

Did you get it working properly?

I have gotten the screen back using the video card /DVI, but I can only get as far as the bios menu or the boot men. It won't boot completely even in safe mode.

I think you are right about, "you got into the earlier part of Windows to the point where it tries to set the video card to a new mode for use and that attempt fails"

That's why the new card was working (in a very basic mode) until I tried to install the drivers, and they failed to completely install. Could be a 32/64 bit issue with the drivers (I will always go online 1st next time for drivers).

I have tried many times to use the onboard video, but can't get it to work again. At this point, I'm shipping it back to gateway to get back to square 1 with the onboard video working again. Sucks, cuz I just got the computer 5 days ago. I just want to make sure to avoid this next time. I have seen forums of people using this combination (the Gateway SX2800 and the SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express) so, I don't think it could be a compatibility issue.

Im using the sapphire 4650 with an sx2800 so yes its not a compatibility issue

I didnt disable anything. I downloaded the newest drivers from ati website. Placed the video card into the pcie slot. started the computer with hdmi from the video card to the end of my tv. It recognized right away afterwards i installed the newest drivers and was done.

I have the sx2800-03 and I bought the ATI HD4350 from NEWEGG. Installation was a breeze and they included the smaller bracket for my slimline Gateway. Ive been doing some Half Life gaming and so far it is as smooth as can be. For only $35 from NEWEGG you just cant beat it. They even shipped it right away.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125251

Wow! Glad you got it working, and thanks for telling us all how. So the problem appears to have been a poor driver that came with the card.

This reminds me that some people have a general practice when installing new hardware. They do NOT allow the automatic installation of the drivers that come with. Instead they force the system to look for the latest driver from the hardware device manufacturer's website and install that as the very FIRST driver installed for it. That guards against jcinlaca's kind of problem, wherein a driver as supplied not only was sub-optimum, it actually prevented any use of the system!