Chet said:
I just got a new hp Pavilion A6200N computer, I like the computer, but I
was wondering If I can help out the graphics end a bit by adding a video
card. looking for some suggestions, something reasonable, I am not into
gaming at all. just looking to perk up the graphics end.
thanks
Chet
You appear to have a PCI Express x16 slot in there.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...1591&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
Video card fits in the black slot.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...76&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3548643&lang=en
There are plenty of cards with that interface on them. Hundreds of
entries listed on Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...80048+1069609641&Configurator=&Subcategory=48
On the HP partsurfer site, this is what is listed for your power supply.
Power Supply 5188-2622 250-watt (max) power supply (Zinfandel),
Bestec ATX-250-12V - 100-120VAC and 200-240VAC input (switch selectable), 50/60Hz
Usually, there will be a label on the side of the supply, with
ratings information. I cannot find a spec, but it could be
similar looking to this.
DC Input: +5v/25A, +12v/14A, +3.3v/18A, -12v/0.8A, +5vsb/2A
The 5000+ processor is available in 65W and 89W versions. I'll assume 65W.
65W/12V * (1/0.90) = 6.02 amps of 12V power.
CD/DVD drives draw current when media is present. There are
two on your machine. The hard drive draws current all the
time. Cooling fans, if present draw a bit of current as well.
My estimate: 1.5 + 1.5 + 0.6 + 0.5 = 4.1 amps
(Pessimistic, as you don't normally have two CDs loaded.
CD motor doesn't draw current, when media is not loaded.)
That is 10.1 amps of 14 amps available. That leaves 4 amps
or 48 watts of remaining 12V power. Considering the CD
thing, probably a bit more is available.
Basically, I think that any PCI Express video card, that
does not have an auxiliary power connector on the end of the
card, is a candidate for you. If the card has a power
connector on the end of the card, then that means the power
is probably over the 4 amp number from the 12V rail.
In terms of cards:
1) Some of the low end cards are "turbocache" or "hypermemory".
These cards would have a smaller amount of memory on the
video card, and still use some system memory. I'm not
really a big fan of that technique, and because the
adverts for the cards don't say which ones have it, it
is hard to pick out the "bad apples". Suspect the $50 cards
of using this technique.
2) Older cards support DX9. Newer cards are DX10. Vista Aero
can use DX9 (as long as a certain level of shader is
available, and 128MB of onboard RAM). The DX10 cards would
have the advantage that if you were to play a game that
used DX10, you'd have compatible hardware. But the
thing is, any card that doesn't have an auxiliary power
connector on the end, is probably not good enough for
DX10 gaming. So I don't know what to tell you there.
Anyway, I expect price will be your guide, so have fun
picking something out. You can get some idea of their
performance level, by looking at the charts here:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html
Paul
