Power efficient Videocard

A

Agashka

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 31, 2006
Messages
492
Hi. For Almost a year, I've been the owner of a powerful 8800GTS. I merly used it at his total power due to the fact that I don't do gaming much. But I've recently built a projector and I feel for gaming on it. I'm not looking to play crysis, tho I wouldn't turn it down. I've bought recently a shuttle G31 with a 250w power supply. No way i can put a 8800GTS in it because of it's size (need to be single slot) and hudge power consumption.
So I'm looking for another card (geforce plz) that could score anything near 20 000 on 3D mark 03, my current integrated Gfx does 2000!
NEED to be power efficient. Looking to spend around $100-150CAD on online Canadian or USA retailers.
Witch card should i get?
Or should i wait and get a 9x?
 
Yes 3dmark03, I play it old... probably because i can compare almost ANY systems, like my friends laptop scores 320, It wouldnt run the 2006, with the 2003 i can estimate X score give me X performance ;) getting Really used to it :)
 
"Power consumption: up to 95 W"

hmm, i wonder if 155 watts left for the rest of my pc:
2.2gb ram, single 250gb hd and a Wolfdale 3ghz cpu
is enough? 100W seems alot.
 
Agashka said:
"Power consumption: up to 95 W"

hmm, i wonder if 155 watts left for the rest of my pc:
2.2gb ram, single 250gb hd and a Wolfdale 3ghz cpu
is enough? 100W seems alot.
Click to expand...

Is this in the XPC in your sig?

Those Shuttle PSU's are like the little engine that could, they're very underrated it seems, my 250W took an overclocked E6400, 7800GTX (way less power efficient than the 9600GT or 8800GT for SURE), 2GB Ram, and 2x750GB hdd's, dvd-burner, and an X-fi and still had room for more.

I loved my SD32G2B, sadly though I upgraded to a dual-slot GPU and couldn't bring myself to cut the case, so I sold it off.

I'd like to get a shuttle again though.. I think I have the parts for one...
 
Get the 9600 GT

Typical power consumption is between 60-70w, even under load, which is about 20w less than most 8800 GTs are under load. The Wikipedia page for the 9600 GT lies.

You can easily power a Core2 (60w load) plus drives (20-30w) plus motherboard/ram (30w), leaving you 120w for a video card. You might even have the power for an 8800 GT, although I'm not sure the jump in power consumption is worth the small performance gain.
 
Well, looking at the prices, ($200 shipped) seems a bit out of budget. I currently have no idea how money I have (somewhere between 100 and 500 I think) But I'll see what I can do.
 
Agashka said:
Well, looking at the prices, ($200 shipped) seems a bit out of budget. I currently have no idea how money I have (somewhere between 100 and 500 I think) But I'll see what I can do.
Click to expand...

This eVGA 9600GT card is only $180 CAD + shipping:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28509&vpn=512-P3-N862-AR&manufacture=eVGA

This Galaxy model has a MIR bringing the cost down to $160 CAD + shipping:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=28428&vpn=96GFF6HUCEXV&manufacture=Galaxy Technology

You might try pricing an ATI 3850. It uses 60-70w, just like the 9600 GT, and you may find it cheaper. Unfortunately, NCIX has no good prices oon it, so you will have to shop around.
 
Hmm.... the 8800GT seems more powerful then the GTS, yet, more power efficient, but $200, witch is bit over the 9600GT. The Galaxy model is dual slot,
 
One thing you're forgetting is how many amps combined do you have on the 12v rails? That's gonna be a bigger issue.
 
9600GT is basically /thread. Anything less isn't worth it anymore. 8600s are terrible, being slower than the ATi HD3850 256MB.

Also, the 8800GT is only faster than the older 8800GTS 320/640. The new 8800GTS 512 is faster.
 
I'm not looking for top notch performance, I just want to get away from my onboard video, have a little videocard that won't generate too much heat, and wont eat too much power, while letting me play my old games.
 
Agashka said:
I'm not looking for top notch performance, I just want to get away from my onboard video, have a little videocard that won't generate too much heat, and wont eat too much power, while letting me play my old games.
Click to expand...

Then what are you waiting for?

It sounds like you had your mind made up before you even created this thread. I get the distinct impression that you never really intended to spend anywhere near $150 CND on a graphics card, and that you're just getting up the courage to buy a card in the price range you already picked out.

Have fun, I'm done with this thread.
 
Agashka said:
a 8600GTS would looks okay with a power consumption of 70watts, but will it score :/
Click to expand...

Just to let you know, my dad only got 9500 in 3dmark06 with two 8600GTS 512MB cards, AMD 6000+, 4GB DDR2 800 RAM all watercooled.
And IMO, 8600 series is worthless.
You won't be able to get a single slot card that scores 20k+ for under $200.
And besides the only single slot cards are the 8600's and 8800gt's.

Just me two cents :)
 
9500 in 3dmark06, Is not equal to 9500 under 3Dmark TWO THOUSAND THREE!!!
@defaultluser: Ts'oka with me, but, no i'm not decided yet. After i created this thread i've learn many things that might influence my decision. though, the thread provided me all informations I needed to make my decision now.
 
OP, why don't you just get a more powerful PSU. 250 watts sux by today's standards, even for a non-gaming rig.

The PSU in my sig is running everything in it plus a lot of other crap I don't even have listed, not to mention when I decide to game, I just swap out my 6200 with my BFG 7800GS. All of this on only a 350 watt with 16 amps on the 12v rail. I really am waiting for this thing to go *BOOM*, it will give me a good excuse to go and buy another!

But your system will be running an even more powerful (and power consuming) gfx card on only a 250 watt PSU.

Honestly, if you can get it to work without overloading, I would be very impressed. :D

But the 8800GT and GTS (all versions) require quite a bit from the 12v rail. I think your best option before any new card would be to get a better PSU. Hell, I would feel uncomfortable running everything in my system on only a 250 watt PSU (not counting my 7800GS).

The best non-power consuming gaming card would probably be either an 8600GT or GTS, or one of the new ATI 3XXX cards (in the mid-range).


If I were you, I would get at LEAST a 450 to 500 watt PSU with the combined 12v rail(s) equal to or greater than 30 amps (preferably 34+).

What is the 12v rail on your 250 watt PSU?
 
I'm running on a Shuttle computer. Upgrade isn't an option.

And can someone tell me WTF is going on with the power supply market PLEASE!!!
I see people buying some... 400-600watts power supply, and in reviews, the system tested merely exceed 300watts, if not 200..
 
Agashka said:
I'm running on a Shuttle computer. Upgrade isn't an option.

And can someone tell me WTF is going on with the power supply market PLEASE!!!
I see people buying some... 400-600watts power supply, and in reviews, the system tested merely exceed 300watts, if not 200..
Click to expand...

I don't get it either, my 520W is overkill for my system even at load I probably only use 350-400 (mostly because of 4 hdd's); of course, the higher rated a PSU is, and the less of it is being used, the cooler it'll run. A 85% load 520W PSU would be a lot hotter than a 70% load 620W PSU, etc..

Either way, an 8800GTS (G80, old cards) ran fine on Shuttle 250W PSU's; there is even a small form factor FORUM here with a thread about what you're running and what fits!

You should check it out!

Your machine will for SURE take an 8800GT or a 9600GT, and if you had room for dual slot, it'd handle a new 8800GTS G92 just fine too!
 
Optional87 said:
Your machine will for SURE take an 8800GT or a 9600GT, and if you had room for dual slot, it'd handle a new 8800GTS G92 just fine too!
Click to expand...

I need to know what his 12volt rail(s) is/are running at. If it is a single rail at 13 amps, his PSU is going to blow and probably take something with it.

Even with two 12v rails running at 13 amps each (which I doubt), that little PSU is going to have trouble running a 9600GT/8800GT/GTS. As for the 8800GTS G92 on that thing, I think that's not quite the best idea.

I highly doubt a 250 watt PSU is going to be able to handle any of those cards without getting super hot or having a very short life-span.
 
Red Falcon said:
I need to know what his 12volt rail(s) is/are running at. If it is a single rail at 13 amps, his PSU is going to blow and probably take something with it.

Even with two 12v rails running at 13 amps each (which I doubt), that little PSU is going to have trouble running a 9600GT/8800GT/GTS. As for the 8800GTS G92 on that thing, I think that's not quite the best idea.

I highly doubt a 250 watt PSU is going to be able to handle any of those cards without getting super hot or having a very short life-span.
Click to expand...

Elanpower RP-2005-00

DC OUTPUT
VDC +5V +12V +3.3V -12V +5VSB
MIN 0.5A 1A 0.2A 0A 0A
MAX 13A 16A 8A 0.3A 2.0A

Lots of posts around sudhian and newegg with no issues with quads and 8800gt's on these things.

if you're really worried there is the shuttle pc-50 300W psu which has quieter fans as well.
 
Wow, that thing has the same 12v rail as my PSU. lol

If you can get a 9600GT or an 8800GT/GTS (G92) to work on that thing, let me know.
 
Agashka said:
Hi. For Almost a year, I've been the owner of a powerful 8800GTS. I merly used it at his total power due to the fact that I don't do gaming much. But I've recently built a projector and I feel for gaming on it. I'm not looking to play crysis, tho I wouldn't turn it down. I've bought recently a shuttle G31 with a 250w power supply. No way i can put a 8800GTS in it because of it's size (need to be single slot) and hudge power consumption.
So I'm looking for another card (geforce plz) that could score anything near 20 000 on 3D mark 03, my current integrated Gfx does 2000!
NEED to be power efficient. Looking to spend around $100-150CAD on online Canadian or USA retailers.
Witch card should i get?
Or should i wait and get a 9x?
Click to expand...

The 8800GT/GTS, and even the 9600GT are all built on the same PCB, and they are pretty big. I barely got an Asus EN9600GT into an Ultra X-Blaster Midtower, had to remove it twice, because on the first try I had the HD Cage out, so when I went to put the HD Cage in I couldn't get to the Power Plug on the 9600GT.
It will be a snug fit, but so far the Performance is Really S W E E E T ! ! ! ! !
 
I previoulsy had all the following components in a shuttle t-series case:
AM2 Opteron [email protected]
4GB DDR2
Asus 8800GT
250GB Samsung 2.5" Hard Drive

I measured at the wall using a P3 and under full system load (cpu,gpu,hard drive) and the max number I saw was 204w. I was running at stock vcore so I assume it can go lower. The power supply in your shuttle should be able to handle it fine. Its going to be a few watts higher but not a whole lot.

Im going to be transplanting all of the components in a SN68PTG5 Shuttle on Monday. I can let you know how it goes.
 
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