At my wits end with PC's!!!! power supplies..graphics cards!!! aargh

G

garjobo

New Member
What gives with pcs!!!!

I'm really fedup with my pc...I buy extra ram (now having 6gb ), a 2nd harddrive, and a bluray player...and find my pc is running slower than before!!!

I (think) my problem is power supply..only around 230w...my graphics card is a geforce 240..which...makes a heck of a noise and i think should be running on 300w..blame pcworld when i first bought the pc and they installed the graphics card for not checking!!!....

My problem though is....connections....Does it matter where I connect my 2nd harddrive?..is there a sequence...i mean..i connected it and it shows up and i saved to it etc..but a few days later...it disappears?..i reconnect..and it shows up again....but computer is slower...would it be not enough power??

My LG blurray player...the power leads..are too short..and Ive nothing to connect it too....other then..perhaps....a lead coming out of the back of my installed DVD drive....basically..Does it matter where you connect it up too...theres a bunch of wires ( about 5 of them differnet colours )...if i connect it to the only space I can..the wires dont head to the power supply but continue on to one of the HD....is that ok??? Or is my crud PC only capable of one device so i have to make a choice?

I dont mind getting a new power supply...PLEASE ADVICE...I have been told before..but NOW so weary...I mean the one I want needs to fit...and I dont want it to have a fan up at the top etc etc...and a new graphics card??? WILL ANY MOTHERBOARD BE ABLE TO TAKE A NEW POWER SUPPLY..AND CAN I INSTALL ANY GRAPHICS CARD??

If so...PLEASE ADVICE...at my wits end here...buget would be about £40 for power and £80 for graphics card. Although ideally want to do HD editing..the Geforce 240 works for my graphics..but clearly i need to upgrade..what is the next one up??

Advice PLEASE!! PLEASE PLEASE!!!

PACKARD BELL IXTREME M3720
6.OO GB RAM
640-BIT OP SYSMTE
PROCESSOR CORES 4
TOTAL SIZE OF HD - 932 GB
NVIDIA GEFORCE GT240
GRAPHICS MEMORY 3839MB
DECICATED GRAPHICS MEMORY 1024MBgarjobo
 
Thought I'd post to my thread - get the ball rolling so to speak...

Would THIS graphics card WORK in my crud PC? so...all i need to get is a new power supply ( which I'm assuming..is EASY enough to install myself!! )

I want to insert a bluray player ( LG BH10 ). Will my MOTHERBOARD take it? Or will that be my next expensive! hiccup??
Any advise on a powersuplly suitable please let me know...again...it will sit at the usual top end of my unit..

ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GT 640 PCI-E Graphics Card - 2 GB

- PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
- Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://uk.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli for a list of Certified products
- Installation software requires CD-ROM drive, a keyboard, a mouse, and a display
- DVD playback requires DVD drive and a DVD
- Blu-ray™ playback requires Blu-ray drive and a Blu-ray disc
 
Please do the following:

  1. Tell us your budget in US dollars
  2. What you do with the computer (gaming? - which ones?)
  3. Then download and install PC Wizard from my sig and install it. Run it and go to FILE, SAVE AS and click OK. Copy the text out of that file into this thread.
 
Thanks Bigfella for the reply...and hopefully the help.

I did ask you suggested, please see info below...

As for dollers...Im talking literally only a few quid here..I mean the Geforce 240 GRAPHICS card..is due an update..so happy to purchase the next one up kinda thing....Nothing too much at all..literally 120 bucks...£80 or so.

I would LIKE to use it for editing HD footage..I have edited camcorder footage in the past...all ok..just...HD as you know takes up more space on your PC...Im using Corel Videostudio x5...Yet to properly edit anything...i can play my HD ( AVCHD ) on the programme..but clearly its struggling.


ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GT 640 PCI-E Graphics Card - 2 GB - can my PC take it...and if so...WHAT POWERSUPPLY DO I NEED?

Just want to know, (A) How to connect my LG blurray player up to the power..when theres not really a place to connect it? Can I connect it to ( the mass of coloured wires which seem to go into the Harddrive ).

Report as requested below..

> Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300

>> General Information
Type : Intel Core 2 Quad
Internal Specification : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
Model Number : Q8300
Revision : R0
Technology : 0.045µ
Number of Physical Processors : 1

>> Instructions
IA-64 Technology : No
Intel64 (EM64T) : Yes
AVX : No
FPU128 : No
SSE5 : No
SSE4a : No
SSE4.2 : No
SSE4.1 : Yes
S-SSE3 : Yes
SSE3 : Yes
SSE2 : Yes
SSE : Yes
AES : No
Extended 3DNow! Technology : No
3DNow! Technology : No
3DNOW Prefetch : No
3DNow! Pro Technology : Yes
AMD MMX Technology : No
MMX Technology : Yes
Cyrix MMX Technology : No
FMA : No
FMA4 : No
OSXSAVE : Yes
XSAVE : Yes
XOP : No
F16C : No
RDRAND : No
FXSR-FXSAVE/FXRSTOR : Yes
MOVBE : No
CLF - Cache Line Flush : Yes
CX8 - CMPXCHG8B : Yes
CX16 - CMPXCHG16B : Yes
CMOV - Conditionnal Move Inst. : Yes
MON - Monitor/Mwait : Yes
POPCNT : No
RDTSCP : No
SEP - Fast System Call : Yes
TBM : No
BMI : No
TSC DeadLine : No

>> Virtualization
VT-x : Yes - Enabled

>> Power Status
Turbo Boost : No
Digital Thermometer : Yes
Operating Point Protection : No
Dynamic FSB : Yes
Dynamic Acceleration : No
Performance Energy Bias : No
APERF_MERF : Yes

>> Addressing Information
Physical Addressing max. : 36-bit
Linear Addressing max. : 48-bit

>> Advanced Settings
In Order Queue Depth : 8
Low Power Mode : No

>> Mainboard Upgradeability
Socket/Slot : CPU 1
Upgrade interface : Socket LGA775
Supported Speed : 2500MHz(or more)
Supported Voltage : 1.3V

> Frequency : 2500MHz

>> General Information
Real Frequency : 1999.95MHz
Multiplier : 6x
Low/High Multiplier : 6x / 7.5x
Multiplier Locked : Yes
Marketing Frequency : 2500.05MHz

>> Front Side Bus Information
Bus Speed : 333.3MHz
FSB Frequency : 1333.3MHz (QDR)
Turbo Mode : No

>> Initial Frequencies
Frequency : 2500MHz
Bus Speed : 333.34MHz (QDR)
Multiplier : 7.5x

>> Frequency Control
Core #1 : 1999.95MHz
Core #2 : 1999.98MHz
Core #3 : 1999.91MHz
Core #4 : 2000.07MHz

>> Control Clock Frequency
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) : Yes - Enabled
C1E - Enhanced Halt Mode : No
Dynamic FSB : Yes - Disabled
Dynamic Acceleration (IDA) : No
Turbo Mode : No

> Number of Core : 4

>> General Information
Number of Threads : 4 (max.4)
Number of Core : 4 (max. 4)
Number of Thread per Core : 1 (max. 1)

>> Topology

> Support : Socket 775 LGA

> Cache L1 : 4 x 64KB

>> General Information
Write Mode
Place : On Chip

>> Cache Information

Number of processor cores : 4
Number of Sets : 64

>> Cache Prefetcher Optimization
Adjacent Cache Line : Yes (128-bit)
DPL L2 Cache : Yes
DCU L1 Cache : Yes
IP L1 Cache : Yes

> Cache L2 : 2 x 2048KB

>> General Information
Write Mode
Place : On Chip

>> Cache Parameters
Type : Unified Cache
Ways of associativity : 8
Fully Associative : No
Self Intializing : Yes
System Coherency Line Size : 64
Physical Line partitions : 1
Number of threads sharing : 2
Number of processor cores : 4
Number of Sets : 4096

>> Cache Prefetcher Optimization
Adjacent Cache Line : Yes (128-bit)
DPL L2 Cache : Yes
DCU L1 Cache : Yes
IP L1 Cache : Yes

> Voltage VID : 1.300 V

>> General Information CPU
MaxVID : 1.288 V
MinVID : 1.100 V

> FPU Coprocessor : Present

>> General Information
Integrated : Yes
Model : Compatible Intel

> Core 1 Activity : 5%

> Core 2 Activity : 18%

> Core 3 Activity : 13%

> Core 4 Activity : 6%
 
You need to try again with the PC Wizard report. Do this exactly. Go to FILE, SAVE AS and click OK. Copy the text contents out of that file into this thread. I want the hardware summary (default) so don't change any settings.
 
Ok hopefully this is what your after...

Ive basically made up my mind, to buy a power supply ( about 44w £40ish ) and a new graphics card..again nothing special could you tell me please whether my motherboard can take a new power supply? currently 240w aroundabout...and whether it will make a heapful of difference to the performance..

..im not playing games on the machine, it is more about HD editing and making dvd covers with photos etc...just want to maximise the performance out of the processor i have.

thanks
<<< System Summary >>>

> Mainboard : Packard Bell MCP73PVT-PM

> Chipset : nVidia GeForce 7100

> Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500MHz

> Physical Memory : 6144MBDDR2-SDRAM

> Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GT 240

> Hard Disk : Western Digital WD10 EZRX-00A8LB0 SCSI Disk Device (1000GB)

> DVD-Rom Drive : ATAPI DVD A DH16AASH

> Monitor Type : Sony SDM-E96D - 19 inches

> Network Card : Atheros Communications AR5006X 802.11a/b/g Wireless Network Adapter

> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8101 PCIe Fast Ethernet Adapter

> Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Home Edition Media Center 6.01.7600 (64-bit)

> DirectX : Version 11.00

> Windows Performance Index : 5.9 on 7.9 ( processor is 7.2 ..most is 6.6.....what brings it down to 5.9 is writing to harddrive. I have just put in a new 7200 - HD..assumed performance would be better..but remains 5.9 on the scorecard )
 
Thought Id breath life back into the thread seeing as bigfella turned out to be not so helpful..i provided all the info her required but never came back.

Any chance anyone else can tell me, all im after is a powersupply for my computer and a graphics card...geforce 630 or something. Just some extra umpf for my PC seeing as ill be videoediting with it shortly.

Cheers.
 
SPIRIT -thanks v much for replying, appreciated. Not knowing much about PC's always weary ...whether or not i buy the thing and turns out my motherboard wont handle it etc etc

Now, the two you recommended there...price wise is excellent..and yes im from good ole' blighty. BUT, could you tell me, before I purchase...is that geforce 630 a decent step up from my current geforce 430. My powersupply is only around 230watts i think..hence any graphics card needs more.

AND, that powersupply...the fan isnt on the top is it? just cause current power supply is ..the common place in PC's...thetop left corner..so no use a fan at the top.

So - if you could recommended a better graphics card? for HD editing video ideally.


Whilst im replying...i had two harddrives attached..but i dunno...pc seems slower etc...i took out the leads to the second harddrive..any thoughts? Once i stick in new powersupply/graphics card etc...better PC you think? Is there a correct way of wiring up your main harddrive and 2nd harddrive..or doesnt it matter.

THANKS AGAIN for any replies.
 
Checked a review of that Geforce 630...only 2 stars!!

Anyone recommended a decent graphics card and power supply for me..to fit my PC please?
 
garjobo said:
BUT, could you tell me, before I purchase...is that geforce 630 a decent step up from my current geforce 430. My powersupply is only around 230watts i think..hence any graphics card needs more.
Click to expand...
The 630 probably won't be a massive upgrade. I thought you had something like a 210 before? If you have a 210 then yeah a 630 would be a nice upgrade most probably. Oddly, I can't find any benchmarks right now (probably because the card is so new).

AND, that powersupply...the fan isnt on the top is it? just cause current power supply is ..the common place in PC's...thetop left corner..so no use a fan at the top.
Click to expand...
The fan is on the top but you can mount the PSU in upside down so the fan is facing the bottom of the case. It will work function perfectly - in fact, they're meant to be positioned that way - fan facing down.

So - if you could recommended a better graphics card? for HD editing video ideally.
Click to expand...
I used to have this exact card http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...s/nvidiagts450fermiseries/01g-p3-1351-kr.html I used it for HD editing and a bitof gaming and it was good. For the price you can't really do better unless perhaps you stumble upon a good deal on a second hand higher-end card. That card should still work fine on the CX 430 PSU, otherwise, a CX 500 should be more than enough http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/cmpsu-500cxv2uk.html

The card isn't that long so should fit into your case. IIRC, it's about 8 or 9" long. Can you open your case up and using a ruler or tape measure, measure how much room you have for a graphics card in inches please?

Whilst im replying...i had two harddrives attached..but i dunno...pc seems slower etc...i took out the leads to the second harddrive..any thoughts? Once i stick in new powersupply/graphics card etc...better PC you think? Is there a correct way of wiring up your main harddrive and 2nd harddrive..or doesnt it matter.
Click to expand...
One of the hard drives may be on the way out. Check it with SeaTools for any errors.

As for connecting the HDDs, depends if they're IDE or SATA. IDE is older and requires jumpers and setting drives as master or slave. SATA doesn't require any of that, you just plug 'em in and you're done.
 
Use this calculator to see what your power supply need is.....

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

Whatever it comes up with add atleast 25% or so to it because you don't want your power supply running at 100%. 230 watts is really pushing the lower limits of what a very very basic computer needs. I think around 400+ watts is adequate for a basic pc and 600+ is adequate for a performance pc.
 
Last edited:
400W is enough for the cards which have been recommended here. A CX 430 will power a GT 630 or a GTS 450 with absolutely no problems.
 
thank you for the replies and info - appreciated. Did the calculator as suggested and came up with 34w..so not sure what that refers too or means?

I wouldnt like to turn a power supply upsidedown..even though you seem convinced its ok...not something i want to mess about this...surely theres a powersupply with a fan at the back, and underneath?

As for my HD...well both are brand new..not that that means they cant fail..but i doubt it...i though something to do with the power i have..cant handle two harddrives - or ive connected them wrongly. They are SATA...my computer is only 2yrs old.

I will look again at suggested power/graphics cards...if you think 630 geforce will be...slightly better..and theres not one better than that..for an extra £20 or so...?

As for BIgfella - really - you shouldnt of asked me for all that info ( twice! ) and then not bothered your bum replying - seriously - a waste of my effort. None of this your not paid malarky...YOU CHOSE to reply and ask me for info..and yet again you ask about my budget in dollers!!!! Just forget it.
 
garjobo said:
....

As for BIgfella - really - you shouldnt of asked me for all that info ( twice! ) and then not bothered your bum replying - seriously - a waste of my effort. None of this your not paid malarky...YOU CHOSE to reply and ask me for info..and yet again you ask about my budget in dollers!!!! Just forget it.
Click to expand...

Because firstly you didn't follow the instructions and posted information that wasn't required and missed the stuff that was. Secondly your text is incoherent at best. Get over yourself mate, i have a long history here of helping people and if you cannot concisely follow instructions or answer questions, then go ahead.

is it this

garjobo said:
As for dollers...Im talking literally only a few quid here.....Nothing too much at all..literally 120 bucks...£80 or so.
Click to expand...

Total? Including PSU and GPU, or am i missing something? If not, what is your TOTAL BUDGET?

*EDIT*

Just so you know, I asked you to post the hardware report for a reason, that is to ensure you you have no compatiability or bottleneck issues.
 
Last edited:
garjobo said:
thank you for the replies and info - appreciated. Did the calculator as suggested and came up with 34w..so not sure what that refers too or means?
Click to expand...
Don't use those PSU calculators, they're never accurate.

I wouldnt like to turn a power supply upsidedown..even though you seem convinced its ok...not something i want to mess about this...surely theres a powersupply with a fan at the back, and underneath?
Click to expand...
You're meant to run them upside down so that the fan faces the bottom of the case if you are mounting the PSU in the top. It's how you're meant to do it.

As for my HD...well both are brand new..not that that means they cant fail..but i doubt it...i though something to do with the power i have..cant handle two harddrives - or ive connected them wrongly. They are SATA...my computer is only 2yrs old.
Click to expand...
Try removing one of them and see if your problems are resolved.

I will look again at suggested power/graphics cards...if you think 630 geforce will be...slightly better..and theres not one better than that..for an extra £20 or so...?
Click to expand...
Well if you want a GeForce which is better for a bit more there is the GTX 550 Ti, that will work on a Corsair CX 430 PSU http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...nvidiagtx550tifermiseries/01g-p3-1557-kr.html it has been replaced by the GTX 650 but they are a bit more expensive. I'm not sure how much you want to spend on all this stuff.

As for BIgfella - really - you shouldnt of asked me for all that info ( twice! ) and then not bothered your bum replying - seriously - a waste of my effort. None of this your not paid malarky...YOU CHOSE to reply and ask me for info..and yet again you ask about my budget in dollers!!!! Just forget it.
Click to expand...
Please do remember that as well as not being paid, this is a very large forum and new posts/threads come in a lot, so it is easy for us to post a reply and then forget about it unless the thread is bumped by the OP (you) or another poster if new threads keep coming in. People also have a life outside of the forum too.
 
Thanks Spirit for again the useful reply. The 550 it is then...and that powersupply you mentioned. Great. Not sure about harddrive situation..but hopefully will be resolved once i put in new power etc...SO my motherboard wont be a problem then? thats my only concern..well that..and...size of this graphics card...

I took a couple of photos..but i see you need an http address to stick em on here..cant even print screen on this annoyingly. All i can say is...theres about 5 inches from the bottom of the casing till the current geforce 240 card. Obviously theres no room above it..as a few things jutting out of the motherboard.

THANKS again for your helpful advice, appreciate theres plenty of threads on this thing. But dont agree with the littlefella - i did as i was told/instructed etc etc and he didnt bother replying..end of.
 
Yeah try your HDDs with the new PSU and see how it goes.

A GTX 550 Ti should just about fit in your case I reckon, they're not very long cards - certainly no longer than about 9".
 
I thinm hdd problem is linked to ur power sipply and maybe u dont get enough power into ir 2nd hdd... I think until u get new power supply its better to unplug ur 2nd hdd?
Btw ur hdd doesnt suddenly freeze up or makes clicking noise right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top