Newbie and new computer (nVidia)

[Tefra]

I hope you are ok now Nicky.


Antec, enermax have some very cool products and in most of the cases these products have been proved excellent choices but people with low requirements don't need that. Any brand psu that gives you at least 2 year warranty 350watt ++ will do the job for you. Chieftec, powmax, sparkle, coolmax, Fortron.

You can get a decent psu with less money than £20

Now for the noise level it really depends on the person. For example in my workspace i have 3 computers, 10-15 fans working all the time. I have get used to it but people that pay a visit to my house they leave with headache . PSU that have two fans are usually pretty quite cause the fans spin in low rpm.

[MickY G]

Well, this is the one I finally settled for as it was about all I could afford I'm afraid.

MSI GeForce 7300GT 256MB PCI-E DDR2 128BIT DVI TV-OUT, SLI, HS
(£66 inc. P&P and VAT etc). Is that a reasonable price? I don't really know? This is the URL so you can see all the specs and details.

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=24145

Instead of the GS I got the GT which I was hoping would be slightly better? I will get the new Antec PSU next time I get paid as I couldn't afford the lot in one swipe. I know it isn't anything special but I is a damned site better than the onboard crap that I have on my computer at the moment I think and I don't play any really high spec games anyway. Someone on another forum said I should buy the GeForce 7600GT V but that was well out of my price bracket but at least I have room for expansion so at a later date when I have more dosh, I can always upgrade again. The Antec PSU is going to cost about £40 but I am sure I can get another make that is just as quiet for less money? I shall have to scout around the net and see what I can find, if I only knew what the hell I was looking for? LOL! Cheers once again. Mike.

[MickY G]

Thanks again for all your good help and advice Tefra. I didnt notice your above post until after I had posted my own response. Sorry about that. Well, I will definately not be getting the Antec one now after what you have said. Providing I can get one cheap, the correct wattage and its quiet, then thats the one for me! One big problem though - all those bloody cables are really worrying me but I suppose that if I fit the new PSU in, the same way as the old one is, then there should be no problems? Or i could ask my friend to do it as he builds computers so he should know how its done? Cheers again! Mike.

[Tefra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickY G Thanks again for all your good help and advice Tefra. I didnt notice your above post until after I had posted my own response. Sorry about that. Well, I will definately not be getting the Antec one now after what you have said. Providing I can get one cheap, the correct wattage and its quiet, then thats the one for me! One big problem though - all those bloody cables are really worrying me but I suppose that if I fit the new PSU in, the same way as the old one is, then there should be no problems? Or i could ask my friend to do it as he builds computers so he should know how its done? Cheers again! Mike.

It's always better to have someone experienced to do the upgrade fror you. Or at least ask him for advices on how to do the whole procedure.

[MickY G]

Hi Tefra & very sorry to bother you again. I just spoke to a guy at Acer UK, from the Technical Support Dept. He informs me that the PSU in this Acer Aspire T180 is in actual fact a 300w one, as they all are now (apparently it needs at least 300w PSU for some of the stuff they supply inside the computer, CPU included)! I thought it was, as everyone who has purchased one that I know of has said that theirs is a 300w PSU. The guy at Acer even checked with his manager & one of his collegues & they looked up the serial number of my machine on their database & confirmed that it was 300w. I mentioned that is actually says on the PSU that the power output is 250w but he said that they upgraded the PSU's (and CPU's) after the PSU's had been made for sale & the 250w stickers were left on but he assured me most positively that it was 300w. My new grfx card arrived today & it says it can use a 300w PSU as a minimum requirement. I will be getting a higher PSU soon as I have seen some for around the £15-20 price that say they are super quiet. So long as they are then I will buy one of them, & they have twin fans so they should be quiet? BTW, what do I use to test the benchmark speed etc? I was using MadOnion (Futuremark) 3DMark2001 SE but maybe with this card I would have to use a different one? Sorry for the long one but I thought I would just explain what has been happening. Thanks again and speak soon. Mike

[Tefra]

Hey you don't bother anyone. That's what 3dacc.net is for, to help and support other people who need our help.

At least in my experience psu's with two fans are usually more quiet cause the fans spin in lower rpm. Which model did you get ? Just curiosity.

If you can get (find) 3d mark 06 you should get more clear results to compare with other cards. Aquamark is still very popular. But game benchmarks are better.

In games like half life, doom, unreal etc there are some build in commands to test your card in game environment. For the very popular games there are small tools that can easily do this job for you.

Thanks for the heads up!

Cheers

[MickY G]

Hi yet again!
I didn't get the new PSU yet as I can't afford both grfx card & PSU in one hit. In 2 weeks though definately! I was looking at a few of them to be honest but mainly the twin fan ones. I like some of the cheaper Antec ones & some of the unknown brands as well (mainly for price), as the branded ones are always more expensive as you are paying for the name as well. I just went on another forum & somehow, it reads what is inside your computer & puts it beside your posts so people know what's in your computer. etc. It found out everything correct about my computer, except the PSU. It said it was a 350W!!!!! Now I am getting well bloody confussed! LOL! I will try the new grfx card in my computer later tonight as even if its only a 300w PSU, its still the minimum that it can use so it shouldn't casue problems - should it? Thank you again Tefra!
Mike

[Tefra]

Which forum does that ?

Do you mean they have a special page like ours http://www.3dacc.net/forums/profile.php?do=extra to show member's computer specs on their forum posts ? (Check the link over all my posts "Tefra's PC Specs")

With a 300w the pc will manage to boot for sure, after that you will have to stress your gfx (play a game) to see if your computer is rock stable. If you notice random restarts or artifacts then you will know your current psu can't handle the extra load. But i am pretty sure a 7300 can run perfect on a 300watt psu without any problems.

[MickY G]

I don't know if they had a special page where I could look at other members PC specs but I joined their forum (not as good or as friendly as this one I hasten to add) and immediately I had signed into the site/forum the basic specs of my computer were showing alongside the post that I was typing. I wondered how they did that? One guy even said that on no account should I use my new grfx card with this 350w PSU that I have. I tried to explain that it is a 300 (or 350W) PSU and that the grfx card should be OK and if it isnt, then I will see that its not right. But he wasn't listening. A case of a hard-core gamer I think who doesn't understand that we all have to start somewhere and ask advice? It was this site on their forum.

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php

I will take a look at the page on this site that you mentioned and have a look at what PC specs other members have, though I guarantee I will be very jealous and green with envy! LOL! It's a bit of a shock when you see what specs other people have as they are all gamers and I am not, well, not as much a gamer as lot of the people on this and other forums are anyway. I would like to be able to play some of the faster and higher spec games but they just confuse me even more as they are usually all so very fast and complicated (plus I only play strategy games and do not like shoot em' up's or first person at all)? Thanks again Tefra. Blimey! I just saw your PC specs! Does your computer fly or what? It sounds like exactly what you call it - Beast! I WANT ONE AS WELL. Hehehehe! I also put my computer specs on as well although it's quite boring compared to all of yours. Mike

[Tefra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickY G I would like to be able to play some of the faster and higher spec games but they just confuse me even more as they are usually all so very fast and complicated (plus I only play strategy games and do not like shoot em' up's or first person at all)? Thanks again Tefra. Blimey! I just saw your PC specs! Does your computer fly or what? It sounds like exactly what you call it - Beast! I WANT ONE AS WELL. Hehehehe! I also put my computer specs on as well although it's quite boring compared to all of yours. Mike

I am a big fan of action strategies but lately whatever i try looks shit to me. The last good i played was company of heroes but Relic (the release company) sucks big times. I can assure you my computer is one of the slower among the hardcore game machines. But having a computer is not a competition who has the strongest. People have different needs.

I always called my computer beast don't know why

Actually all my 3 main computers are called "beast"

Main Desktop - Beast
Laptop - Mobeast
File Server - TeraBeast