Graphics Card - Dell Other Vista Discussions Discuss Graphics Card - Dell in the Windows Vista forums; In the end, there is no particular reason. But how many people who read this board over buy when they purchase a computer. Or even an automobile. At least a ...

[rustydog]

In the end, there is no particular reason. But how many people who read this board over buy when they purchase a computer. Or even an automobile. At least a few. How many desktops out there have wi-fi built in and they only use cable broadband.

I guess, I just want a graphics card. Dedicated. So far, only the GeForce 7300 meets the 305 watt power supply. But everything I read states that the fans on these cards are noisey. So now I am seeking a 7300 with passive cooling. Or a real quiet 7300 with a quiet fan.

Reason sometimes has no correlation to actions.


Windows Vista Home Premium (build 6000)


958 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_4' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_3' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 512 MB (serial number 81A72817xxx)
Slot 'DIMM_1' has 512 MB

Board: Dell Inc 0CT103 A03
Serial Number: ..CN708216XXXX.
Bus Clock: 1000 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc 1.1.4 12/09/2006

2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

159.96 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
117.69 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H31N SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615S SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]

[Snuffy]

a real quiet 7300 with a quiet fan.

If you take the FAN off it will be quiet. j/k The 7300 only has one fan.. anyway my spare hardly used NVidia 7300 GS only has one fan ... and it is quiet... but it is PCIe.
and uses about 65 watts ... Is that way your looking for or do you need AGP version.

PCI-Express Video cards : GeForce 7300GS 256Mb PCI EXpress 16X dual head, tv out

[rustydog]

Windows Vista Home Premium (build 6000)


958 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_4' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_3' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 512 MB (serial number 81A72817xxx)
Slot 'DIMM_1' has 512 MB

Board: Dell Inc 0CT103 A03
Serial Number: ..CN708216XXXX.
Bus Clock: 1000 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc 1.1.4 12/09/2006

2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

159.96 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
117.69 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H31N SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615S SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]

[crabby]

You could always buy the 7300 and get a silent heat sink for it.

Also, your power calculation uses peak settings for all hardware? If so, you can go for something larger as you will never be using all the CPU, motherboard, DVD drives, hard drive and graphics card fully at any one time.

crabby

[felix8406]

Originally Posted by rustydog

In the end, there is no particular reason. But how many people who read this board over buy when they purchase a computer. Or even an automobile. At least a few. How many desktops out there have wi-fi built in and they only use cable broadband.

Reason sometimes has no correlation to actions.

It was just a suggestion. Please keep in mind that although you're the thread's author, others could benefit from the the advice we provide. It's your system and you have the right to add whatever component you want to add, whether for good reasons or not.

However, your PC has 1GB of RAM and if I were to recommend a friend on whether to get a new graphics card or another 1GB of RAM, I'd recommend the RAM. With the extra RAM, the user will experience better results than if adding a new graphics card. Of course, adding both would be the ideal thing to do, but some users just can't afford it.

[rustydog]

Originally Posted by felix8406

Is there any specific reasons you want to add another video card? The reason I ask is that there's always the possibility that you won't gain much by adding another card. You didn't mention how much RAM your PC has, but you might gain more by adding memory instead. The integrated card shares memory with the rest of the PC, adding RAM will make your card more efficient, and will speed up the PC as well.

2x512 RAM.

305 watt power supply. No particular reason for a dedicated card. Nothing is running poorly. Yes, I can leave well enough alone. Maybe I will do that.

I have been reading up on GeForce 7300 cards by various manufacturers. And I read that fan noise is a problem.

Then I read about passive (no fan) cards. I found one from EVGA but that 7300 passive card is no longer available.

Others have stated a 7600 card but the power supply states 350 watts. Yes, I tried to understand the formula above and it is just a little beyond my scope of comprehension.

I thought, initially, that this would be a very simple and basic question/answer. The last thing I want is some fan buzzing along all the time.

So, maybe, I will just wait awhile and see what comes down the pike.

[felix8406]

Whether you buy a passive (no fan) or a graphics card with a built-in fan, noise and heat will still be an issue. A passive card will be dependent on your PC ‘s cooling fan(s). This may or not be an issue depending on your computer’s current fan arrangements. With new PCs, fan RPM is controlled according to the temp inside the system. When the temperature is at or below a set parameter, the fan RPM is lower (less noise). However, at temperature increases beyond this set parameter, the fan speed increases, thus becoming noisier. A passive card may increase the temperature of your system high enough to maintain the fan speed a higher RPM at all times. You can add another fan to your system, but of course that will add to the noise factor.

On the other hand, a card with a built-in cooling fan may cause more noise and heat problems than a passive graphics card. First there’s the issue with the built-in cooling fan. Most cards use smaller diameter cooling fans so they can be easily fitted inside a computer. These smaller fans must turn at a higher RPM in order to provide effective heat dissipation, which translate into noise. There’s also the fact that though the cooling fan helps dissipate the heat away from the card, it doesn’t ventilate this heat away from the system. Although the system’s cooling fan should be able to draw this heat out of the system, if the PC design is poor, or the fans are not efficient enough or PC management (layout, cables, etc.) is poor, it could again be an issue.

But then again, adding a card may not be as bad as I just described. I’m sure many people, especially gamers, have done it without experiencing any noise or heat problems. There are many factors involved and sometimes trial and error might be the only way to go. I’m sure one day, the issue of heat and noise will not be an issue at all.