US cards work in a UK system?

[marshahu]

I am hoping to place a bid for a Radeon 9600XT on ebay from US with the intention to put it in my UK system. As my understanding is, USA has a lower voltage than the UK, therefore any devices bought from the US will not work in the UK because of the voltage difference. However the ATI graphics has a power connector which looks exactly the same as the one on the UK Radeon 9600XT. Would it be safe to use an american Radeon 9600XT with my UK computer, or would some modifications be required before it works?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows XP

 

[dunklegend]

The output voltage in the PSU is what counts.
If you connect the power supply to 110, 220 or whatever voltage they have in Europe, shouldn't affect the output voltage.
Just make sure that your current PSU has the output voltage required for the video card.

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[marshahu]

My Power supply is a 400W UK power supply - surely enough power for a Radeon 9600XT? Can I use a US card with this UK system?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows XP

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Yes the cards are international (and there is no FDD/Molex connector to worry about anyways).

The only issue is TV out, and there you'd have to change the NTSC to PAL (which is either a Dip switch or Driver change depending on the MFR of the particular board).


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[dunklegend]

This link is for the video card requirements:
<A HREF="http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9600/radeon9600pro/specs.html" target="_new">http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9600/radeon9600pro/specs.html</A>
It will tell you the voltages required.
I guess it should be compatible because the AGP slot was built using a standard. (If it uses 1.5V in the US it will use 1.5V in the UK)
If your power supply is a good quality one it should be enough. What brand is your PSU?

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Voltages don't matter, everything is handled by the Mobo, all the conversion happens at the PSU, if power regulation were an issue it would be there, not at the AGP slot (unless a faulty MoBo), and that would be an issue of build quality not local.


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[dunklegend]

Yeah I know but he thought that because Europe has different voltage that it wouldn't work and what I tried to point out is that if it's AGP it should work because there's a standard. At first I didn't know if it had an extra connector like some of the PCIe cards so that's where some of the confusion came from. And I think that you'll agree that a decent brand 400W PSU should be enough for that system.

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[marshahu]

Ok thats good, it means I can safely purchase internal components from the US and ensure they will work. My PSU is a brand called EZCOOL - probably an unbranded PSU i don't know but it certainly isn't an recognisable brand like Enermax or Coolermaster! Nevertheless it seems to do the job albeit slightly noisily.

Since my TV automatically supports NTSC colour system, despite it being PAL,can I still use the S-Video output system? I may prefer the NTSC system anyway since the refresh rate is higher although the detail isn't as great as PAL with fewer horizontal lines. I am used to using my monitor at 85hz so dropping as low as 50hz using PAL maybe a big stepdown whereas the 60hz offered by NTSC isn't far off from the monitor's default refresh rate.

Will ATi's catalyst drivers let me choose the colour system of the S-Video output?

PC Spec: AMD Athlon XP 2000+, ECS K7S5A Motherboard, 768MB SDRAM PC133, Sparkle nVidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB AGP Graphics Card, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 6.1, Windows XP

 

[dunklegend]

I've never even heard about EZCOOL but if it's doing the job I guess it's OK. If you feel the PSU is not good enough after you put the video card in you can ask for good PSUs in the UK if you post in that forum. I have a Fortron 500W which was $90 at newegg but I don't know if it's available in your country.

I haven't used ATI so I'll let someone that has answer your last question.

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[Crashman]

Computer components run off 12v, 5v, and 3.3v lines anywhere in the world, the conversion is done by the power supply and most power supplies have a 110/220v switch (or 115/230, or 120/240, it's all the same).

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