new to hardware & video cards

J

jshrimp3

n00b
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Messages
15
Hi, I've been thinking of getting a new video card for some time, and I've finally decided to get it. I've been using a Geforce FX5200 card for about a year, and it just doesn't cut it anymore. I was looking at getting the Geforce 6800nu (from newegg here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125142) for about $200. 1 question before I buy it. Will I have to do anything special to get it to work, such as getting a new PSU? This is a computer from eMachines, I'm not sure what PSU I have now, but it's the standard eMachiens one.

Basically, is there anything I might need to know/do other than replacing the card itself and updating the drivers? Thanks.
 
Who knows, the 6800NU might run fine on your PSU, but seeing as emachines are cheap computers, it's probably a PSU just good enoguh to power the stock computer for 4 or 5 years. You'll want to get a good PSU.
 
My current PSU is the Bestec ATX-300-12E 300w.

EDIT: I just realized, a 6800 wouldn't be overkill, would it? I have an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor and 1GB RAM.
 
jshrimp3 said:
My current PSU is the Bestec ATX-300-12E 300w.

EDIT: I just realized, a 6800 wouldn't be overkill, would it? I have an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor and 1GB RAM.
Click to expand...

Not at all. Granted the XP may be slightly dated, but it is certainly fast enough to feed the 6800. Just look for any instability after the card is installed as this wil be a sign that the power supply will need to be changed for a high quality, higher capacity unit. You may want to swing by the Power Supply forum and start reading the stickies now as you will probably need to call upon the knowledge gained in the near future.
 
jshrimp3 said:
My current PSU is the Bestec ATX-300-12E 300w.

EDIT: I just realized, a 6800 wouldn't be overkill, would it? I have an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor and 1GB RAM.
Click to expand...

Bestec?!
No I don't think so.
If it were me (and it is not) I would not even risk plugging my new video card into that PSU.
 
jshrimp3 said:
Hi, I've been thinking of getting a new video card for some time, and I've finally decided to get it. I've been using a Geforce FX5200 card for about a year, and it just doesn't cut it anymore. I was looking at getting the Geforce 6800nu (from newegg here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125142) for about $200. 1 question before I buy it. Will I have to do anything special to get it to work, such as getting a new PSU? This is a computer from eMachines, I'm not sure what PSU I have now, but it's the standard eMachiens one.

Basically, is there anything I might need to know/do other than replacing the card itself and updating the drivers? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Good pick for a video card, and odds are it will work fine with your PSU. If not, PSUs are cheap anyway.

Before you yank out your old cards, remove the drivers from Add/Remove Programs.

Then upon installing the new one, use the 77.77 drivers off Nvidia's site.
 
jshrimp3 said:
My current PSU is the Bestec ATX-300-12E 300w.

EDIT: I just realized, a 6800 wouldn't be overkill, would it? I have an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ processor and 1GB RAM.
Click to expand...

Actually the XFX card from Newegg for $164 would be a near perfect match for your system \ price range.
 
Yeah, I've decided to get the XFX card for $164 rather than the Gigabyte one.

Thanks for all your input. So what it looks like, is that I should get the card, and if it doesn't seem to be working great than I should get a new PSU, right?

Thanks again.:)
 
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