X1950XT, artefacts and VPU Recovery

[MasterBlaster76]

Yeah AMD / ATI is basically dominating the mid range market scene atm.

Maybe you'll be able to help? I have found several sites giving a step by step on how to install a new card, but all of them are for older cards (AGP) and none of them mention anything about connecting to the PSU. Do you know of any sites that deal with the installation of new cards?

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Installation of a new card is pretty simple nowadays. Just slot it in your PCIE slot where most likely your current X1950XT is seated (Its PCIE isn't it?). Then the PSU part comes up... well first of all check what wattage is your PSU. Tell it here and the card you're wanting to buy so we can do an estimate.

Next up, you generally get the Molex to 6 pin connector with almost every decent mid range card nowadays, so connecting shouldn't be a problem. Just check how many amps your PSU gives and on which voltage rail (Its given on the sticker on your PSU). We're concerned about the amperage of the 12V rail and it is denoted by A.

 

[The_gas]

Maybe you'll be able to help? I have found several sites giving a step by step on how to install a new card, but all of them are for older cards (AGP) and none of them mention anything about connecting to the PSU. Do you know of any sites that deal with the installation of new cards?

Plug the graphics card into a PCI-E slot on your motherboard.

Find a 6pin adapter like this, the card may come with one http://www.cable-trader.co.uk/images/PCI Express 4 pin to 6 pin power adapter.jpg then attach that to your psu.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Plug the graphics card into a PCI-E slot on your motherboard.

Find a 6pin adapter like this, the card may come with one http://www.cable-trader.co.uk/images/PCI Express 4 pin to 6 pin power adapter.jpg then attach that to your psu.

Installation of a new card is pretty simple nowadays. Just slot it in your PCIE slot where most likely your current X1950XT is seated (Its PCIE isn't it?). Then the PSU part comes up... well first of all check what wattage is your PSU. Tell it here and the card you're wanting to buy so we can do an estimate.

Next up, you generally get the Molex to 6 pin connector with almost every decent mid range card nowadays, so connecting shouldn't be a problem. Just check how many amps your PSU gives and on which voltage rail (Its given on the sticker on your PSU). We're concerned about the amperage of the 12V rail and it is denoted by A.

Thanks for your help, guys. So, which mid range ATIs would you recommend? I want to spend around ?100-?120: can I get a Dx10 card for that? I'm pretty sure I can change the card over, as long as I don't need to change the PSU as well, because that's something I wouldn't feel comfortable with right now. We were supposed to have stripped a PC down and put it back together on my course by now, but it hasn't happened as yet. Should be in the next few weeks...

 

[The_gas]

?122 + 4 for delivery (no delivery if you order it online but collect in store = ?122

In store price is ?144, so do the above.

Best bang for buck and then some!

Buy the SapphireATI Radeon HD4850 512MB PCI-E Graphics Card online at PC World

 

[MasterBlaster76]

?122 + 4 for delivery (no delivery if you order it online but collect in store = ?122

In store price is ?144, so do the above.

Best bang for buck and then some!

Buy the SapphireATI Radeon HD4850 512MB PCI-E Graphics Card online at PC World

Wow, that looks good! Thanks for that, Gas!!

 

[The_gas]

Wow, that looks good! Thanks for that, Gas!!

As Arnie once said, No problemo.

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Yeah the 4850 is frigging awesome for its price, trust me.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Yeah the 4850 is frigging awesome for its price, trust me.

Here's a quote from Sapphire's site:


–450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express? power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode) 450w sounds a bit low to me, but as I said, that's from the horse's mouth, so to speak!

I might get a new PSU as well, the one that came with my PC wasn't the best. Any suggestions for a good PSU that will keep the card cool, unlike my old PSU, will be welcome; since I'm thinking of a new PSU anyway, I can choose one that comes with all the necessary power connectors that the card needs (I know a PSU doesn't cool the card directly (!) but if it's a bad one, then the card is more likely to overheat, well that's my understanding anyway). Would the 4850 be ok for GTA IV, Empire: Total War and all the other next generation games as well?

 

[The_gas]

4850 will be ok for any game up to 1680x1050. It really is a good card.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

4850 will be ok for any game up to 1680x1050.

And I usually game at 1440 x 900, so no problemo there! By the way, I've tried turning settings down very low (stupidly low, compared to what I'm used to) and now games are behaving once again, no crashes or artifacts apart from the odd occasion. I suppose I'm stuck with this until I can arrange my new card/PSU, but it's better than nothing.

By the way, the 4850 is ok with my motherboard, isn't it? Just to make sure...

 

[The_gas]

Yeah should be.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Someone told me about this one:

Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI Dual slot cooler HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

Is it a better card than the one you guys have mentioned, or has it just got a better cooler?

And can anyone suggest a decent PSU for my current setup + the new card, with a bit of room for future improvements as well, preferably? I'm not really sure how much you should spend on a PSU, but since the card will cost ?120 or so, I don't want to be spending too much more on PSU.

 

[The_gas]

Someone told me about this one:

Sapphire HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI Dual slot cooler HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer

Is it a better card than the one you guys have mentioned, or has it just got a better cooler?

And can anyone suggest a decent PSU for my current setup + the new card, with a bit of room for future improvements as well, preferably? I'm not really sure how much you should spend on a PSU, but since the card will cost ?120 or so, I don't want to be spending too much more on PSU.

Its just got a different cooler, its the same make and model. Whether that cooler is better or not though, i am not sure. Personally, i prefer the look of the other one, but that's just me, i love a red graphics card.

PSU's are not really my forte sadly. Here are certified PSU's to work with the 4850 and other ati cards though which might be some help.

Power Supplies Certified for Single Card Operation

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Its just got a different cooler, its the same make and model. Whether that cooler is better or not though, i am not sure. Personally, i prefer the look of the other one, but that's just me, i love a red graphics card.

PSU's are not really my forte sadly. Here are certified PSU's to work with the 4850 and other ati cards though which might be some help.

Power Supplies Certified for Single Card Operation

Thanks. Who's the PSU expert here? I'm pretty sure that my current card is acting up so soon because of a poor PSU, so I'm prepared to spend a bit more money this time round. I've heard that Antech, Thermaltake are good makes, but I need to know the exact specs. And if you get an extra HDD or something, does that need to be taken into account, or doesn't an extra HDD make that much difference? I probably won't get the HDD yet, but will do at some point soon.

When I've got my new card, I'm buying myself some decent GPU intensive games to test it out. I'm looking at CoD4 and Left 4 Dead!! I've really got into online gaming now, and I love it! We've got CoD5 on the PS3, the Nazi Zombie mode is amazing! My favourite thing to do online is to sneak around as a sniper...

Edit: When I get my new card, even though it's an ATI, I have to purge the X1950XT's drivers from my system to avoid conflicts, don't I.