Please help me choose!

[CoR87]

Hello everyone!

This is my 1st post so I'm sorry if I've posted this in a wrong section and broke the forum rules.

I have pretty old PC, it's HP Desktop Business Edition with d530 motherboard inside. It's AGP 4x/8x slot and I have nVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 512MB, 256bit but my PC shuts down because that card is out of my PC's league. It's not overheating, system errors, bad drivers or lack of power problem, it just shut down my PC. Too strong I guess. Now I'm looking for nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB 256bit or nVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256MB 256bit. And I can't decide which one to get. 6800 GT is a way better, bandwidth is pretty the same but Shader Operations and Pixel Fill Rate are almost 4 times smaller at 5900 Ultra. Also I'm afraid that 6800 GT could cause me same problems as 7900 GS which is already in my PC. Is is too strong? I'm pretty confused and I could use help, tips, opinions.... I was talking about this at HP support forum too, and they gave me a link to you folks What's the most important when you're buying graphic card? And which one should I take?

Sorry for long post.
Thanks!

 

[Sunius]

Wait. You should not get a new video card. You should resolve your issue with shutting down first. It might not be a video card issue at all! I never heard of computer shutting down due to too powerful card. It's just does not make sense.

Could you list all your PC components including the power supply unit? Also, is your PC standard size?

 

[Rustyy117]

Hi

I can 100% guarantee that your problem regarding your PC shutting down is not because your graphics card is "Too strong"

How do you know the problem isn't caused by overheating? have you checked the temps under load?
Do you have a PSU tester to make sure your PSU isn't the issue?
How do you know the issue isn't related to software/drivers or another component?

Just interested in the troubleshooting you've done so far to determine that the GPU is the issue.

 

[CoR87]

It's not overheating, my g-card is working at 50-60*C. I have removed plastic case from it and switched her 4cm cooler with 8cm. Max temperature is 144.2*C. PSU is 550W, and at HP support site, experts told me that my AGP slot doesn't send enough power because it's not made for cards like 7900GS. It's office PC, HP Desktop Business Edition Mini Tower.

 

[Rustyy117]

Was that a typo? "Max temperature is 144.2C"? If its not a typo then that is your problem for sure.

 

[Sunius]

Those experts need to retire. How it not made for AGP slot when you can ONLY put it into an AGP slot? Of course, AGP slot alone is not enough - but that's why you have one of the 6-pin PCIe connectors from your power supply hooked up directly to your graphics card.

Are you sure it reaches 144.2°C? That's seriously overheating and I hope it was a typo.

 

[CoR87]

The working temperature is 50-60*C and it stays at that temp all the time. i've used 3D Mark to see the max.

 

[Sunius]

So it was a typo, right?

What power supply do you have?

 

[CoR87]

1st tell me what's typo? Thanks.

It's MS PRO-550ATX P4 PSU

 

[Sunius]

Typo - mistake while typing. You first said max it reached at 144.2°C. That's why I assumed it was a mistake.

Did you connect a 6-pin connector directly to your graphics card from your power supply unit?

That's how it looks like:

 

[CoR87]

My card don't have 6 pin port. It's the same port as one you connect to your CD-ROM.

This one:

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/directron/4pin-power-Molex.jpg

 

[Sunius]

But you did connect it directly to the graphics card, right?

 

[CoR87]

Rofl, dude...I'm not an idiot you know xD Of course I did connect it.

 

[sscultima]

ok, what i got out of reading all the posts, looks like it is overheating.

"The working temperature is 50-60*C and it stays at that temp all the time. i've used 3D Mark to see the max. "

right there, i would assume he means 50-60C idle and 3D mark is when it jumps

 

[CoR87]

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/12/06/10/c8t.png

Trust me, it's not overheating.

 

[CoR87]

Normal working temperature for this card is 80*C and higher.

 

[Rustyy117]

Your screenshot of GPU-Z shows 0% GPU load, so I'll assume that's idle. What is the max load temp?

 

[sscultima]

now you had mentioned it was up around 144C, was that a correct statement?

 

[CoR87]

Will this help?

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/7900gs.jpg/

 

[Rustyy117]

In GPU-Z if you click on the temperature box (where it says 57C) twice, so now it should say "Max" in small blue text, then do the same for GPU Load.

Now run a game or benchmark to stress the card, after 10 minutes or so, close down the game/benchmark and look at GPU-Z's temp reading and report back

 

[sscultima]

just run furmark, and see what the temp is while running. if it goes anywhere close to what you said earlier (144C) then you have a problem, no card should run that hot

 

[CoR87]

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/12/06/10/3gx.png

 

[Rustyy117]

Well it reached 89% load, but only for a moment from what I can tell by the graph, try running furmark like sscultima suggested.

 

[sscultima]

that is displaying the MAX load that was put on the card not the current, need that red bar all the way up on the load bar to get the proper temp.

run furmark and that will give you proper temps, the program itself will give you a graph of the temps

 

[CoR87]

Can you please give me the link for furmark you're using?