Galaxy GeForce 9600GT Low Profile Low Power issue

[animal]

Hi all! I bought the video card to install in my Dell Inspiron 531s, but it would not work right (would start out fine, but if I ran a graphics-intensive game, my monitor would give me a "loss of signal" error and go to black screen. I assumed that the card was shutting down due to lack of power because my 531s only had a 275 watt PSU. That issue allowed me to talk the wife into my building a new computer. It is only a modest beginning composed of the following:

Asus M4N72-E motherboard

Western Digital 1 TB SATA Hard Drive

Sony DVD/CD-ROM Optical Drive

AMD Phenom II X2 550BE 3100 GHz processor

Corsair Dominator DDR2 2 X 2048 1066 memory modules

CM 690 (nVidia edition) case w/ 6 120 mm fans

Ultra X4 600W PSU

I installed the video card and it does the same thing. When i ran the nVidia Monitor software, it would show my video card GPU running at 60 degrees C idling and quickly exceed 100 degrees C under load. I am assuming that this is not good temps for the cards GPU?

I have RMA'd the card back to Galaxy today, so I'm working off my Dell 531s again since my new motherboard has no onboard graphics. My question is "was that a normal temperature readout for the 9600GT LPLP card?"

Also, my motherboard is SLI ready (Dual) and the packaging on the card said it was SLI ready but I didn't notice a connection for the bridge on the card. Is this card actually capable of running in SLI mode if I get a duplicate card to install in my second PCI-e slot? Does this card not need the bridge?

I bought the card from tigerdirect, but if this really isn't Dual SLI capable, what would be your impression of my getting two GTS250 cards (looking at an Asus or EVGA model) and picking up a Thermaltake Toughpower Power Express - 650 Watt Supplementary Graphic Power Supply unit?

I appreciate any and all suggestions/critiques. Thanks in advance!

 

[deadlockedworld]

Its possible that the low profile card just had inadequate cooling. The 9600GT is one of the more powerful GPUs anyone tries to squeeze on a LP card. Did the software allow you to control its fan speed and etc?

If you are considering a new card, you are probably better off with one very good card, rather than getting two cheaper cards to SLI. The SLI process has some inefficiencies --so it wont give you twice the performance of a single card. SLI is best for users that either want extreme performance--or its a good way to upgrade an existing card you want to keep.

Also-- if you upgrade to a single power efficient card like a 5770 you would be more than fine with your current PSU.

If you get a PSU I would recommend Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, or OCZ over anything made by thermaltake. A quality units like the corsair 550 could handle 2 cards just fine.

 

[sabot00]

275W isn't powering a 9600GT.
For temps 80C load & 60C idle would probably be limit.

On Newegg the 550 BE is $90.
This quad core is only $95.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706&cm_re=athlon_ii_x4-_-19-103-706-_-Product

 

[animal]

Well, I got my new card from Galaxy after having to RMA my old one. It appears to be working better than the last. I ran OCCT and it appears that when my system is more or less idle then new card runs at ~ 40 degrees C and during the GPU stress test of OCCT only goes up to ~ 75 degrees C. So I guess my original card was defective.

I appreciate the recommendation(s), but I really want to try out SLI mode, since that is why I went with the M4N72-E mobo. After further reading here and there, my 9600GT LPLP is SLI ready but does NOT use the SLI bridge (the bridging is done onboard) so if I buy a duplicate card it really won't take full advantage of SLI mode. Thus, I will probably transfer the 9600GT LPLP to one of my old computers (and maybe my 600W supply as well). I just found the BFG GTX260 Maxcore OC for $150 at Micro Center, which is $50 less than anywhere else I've seen and am thinking of getting a pair of them and upgrading my PSU to an 850W or 1000W version. Although I may still keep my 600W and add the Thermaltake ToughPower 650W VGA Supplemental PSU (W0158RU).

As to upgrading my CPU, well that was my reason for starting with the 550BE, I plan on upgrading to better down the line.

Thanks for everyones advice and suggestions. I'll let you know which route I decide to go.

 

[animal]

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