New Graphic Card problem

Boosh

Hi all,

I'll apologise in advance if this thread is slightly moronic. My tech skills are limited to pushing the toaster button down tbf.

My Dad recently gave me his Packard Bell IMEDIA 1702 http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/?sn=040077020051&g=1400 as he decided to get a new one. I only really use the pc for non graphic intensive things like poker clients so it was handier than forking out for a new pc. The thing is i would like a dual monitor set up so a graphics card upgrade was necessary.

He had bought this one http://www1.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=177&grp=3 but had never gotten around to installing it.

I set it up yesterday, uninstalled the previous drivers in safe mode, then changed the cards taking care to earth myself etc.

It seemed to work fine until i began to run some programs, e.g. TuneUp Utilities. At first the mouse will only move left or right, then the whole screen will freeze and eventually the monitor will go blank and give me a no input signal message. The pc remains on but unresponsive so i have to kill the power to restart.

I know i'm probably better off just dumping it as it's a few years old but just wondering is there some solution to this problem.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.

daywalker

according to both pages that you provided the imedia was using an agp card and the sapphire is pci-express, two incompatible interfaces, just want to check does it say agp or pci-express slot on the requirements of the sapphire box?

Boosh

Thanks for taking the time to look through and reply daywalker.

I had a feeling it would be something ridiculously simple i was unaware of, unfortunately i don't have the original box that came with it. Just the anti-static wrapping.

I just presumed they were compatible as the original cards contacts were the same shape and length and there was no problem putting the new one in.


I have been looking on Komplett for a a compatible card and have come across this one http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=421933

Do you think this one would do the job?

daywalker

Boosh wrote: »

I have been looking on Komplett for a a compatible card and have come across this one http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=421933

Do you think this one would do the job?

Pretty much any card should do the job even the ones for less than €50 especially considering the pc is only for online poker.

This one for example.

Also with branded pcs you generally have to also take into account the power supplies that they use may not support cards which require high power, companies generally tailor the specs to whats needed then with little leeway to upgrading in the future (they would rather you buy a new pc )

The 6800gt requires a minimum 350W psu and the FX5500 a minimum 250W PSU. To check yours look for a sticker on the side of the PSU inside the case, it should say its rated power.

TerrorFirmer

First of all, AGP and PCI-E are different, so if the card physically fit in fine, then yes, you bought the right card. A machine like what you have there would have a very low rated power supply, as low as 150w-180w possibly, which might be causing problems, though it would be unlikely in desktop mode...also remember that cards of that class generally require a molex connector, did you connect that to the card? Not doing so would also cause instability.

The minimum required by video cards is often stated to cover hardware in general. A good, high quality 200-250w PSU would run a card advertised as requiring 300/400w in a lot of cases, wattage is next to irrelevant when you're talking about low quality PSUs anyway, so you can see why they state fairly generous requirements to cover as many potential hardware setups as possible. I've seen cheapo '600w' PSUs crap out in flames once after 200w load in tests, for example!

I haven't owned many PB machines but the last one I did had an FSP PSU, which is a solid and reliable PSU. Just opening up the side of your case will enable you to read the ratings and wattage on the PSU, you don't have to go messing with anything. Don't worry too much about the wattage, it'll most likely be perfectly fine for something like an FX5200/5500 card. A friend of mine has an FX5200 on a 150w PSU for years now, for example, despite the box probably stating 250-300w as a requisite.

Komplett would work out at almost 45 euro for that FX5500 when you factor in postage, which is a joke really for such an old card. Try ebay.ie or Adverts.ie, you would easily pick up an old FX5200 or 5500 (the 5500 is only an overclocked 5200 anyway) for about 15-17 euro including postage.

And at the end of it all, the Radeon 9200 supports dual monitors anyway, unless you got a version with only one video out...The 9200 would get you a tenner anyway, so really you should only be spending a net of about 10 euro max on a new dual vga/dvi agp card for dual monitor.