Need video card w/low pwr requirements

I'm trying to select a video card for my HP 753n (with WinXP.) The onboard video is integrated. I have an AGP slot and a couple of PCI slots. NO pci-express. The AGP is 4x. The specs for the PC say video "up to 48MB" - is that a limit for a new video card? Or what's integrated there now?

Also, I found that the power supply is only 200 watts! I do not want to have to upgrade the power supply. Really, I'm not trying to do anything fancy, but the video chip(s) are out on the PC (according to GeekSquad, who said the comp would boot when they added a PCI video card.) Without a new card, my comp won't boot. GeekSquad tried to tell me to just buy a new comp, because "If the integrated video is going out, then your motherboard is going to go out, too, and it's not worth the expense to replace your motherboard." They didn't even check the price on that. Later, while reading on the Net, I found out that HP puts "tattoos" on their mobos which prevents the rest of us from replacing them without the tattoo. Supposedly, that's the expensive part - finding an "authorized dealer" who can tattoo a new motherboard to suit the processor... Well, I'd like to access my hard drive with all my files on it, thank you, and save the comp. if I can. I did buy a new machine, but it's an HP (I didn't want another, but that's mostly what they had) and it has Vista on it, which I don't care for. I was doing fine with the machine I had - I thought, till I started looking at video card specs.

The problem (unable to boot, Start Windows Normally/Safe Mode? selection screen coming up with scrambled letters) occurred after I'd played The Sims 1 for a few hours. Did I burn out the video chip(s)?

But the main question at the moment is, how do I find a video card that only requires 200 watt power supply? I know AGP is better, but will PCI more easily meet this limitation? Some AGP cards don't say what their min. requirement is; those that do, want more than that. I'm really tired of looking at cards and trying to figure out if they'll work. I just want to get my comp. going, and would LIKE to play Sims 1 on it if possible. If not, or if the mobo will go out, I'd like to at least recover my HD and maybe use it as a slave in a new machine (I found some at Overstock.com that have Windows XP on them - in particular, an IBM that a geek upgraded a bit and is happy with...)

Thank you, in advance, for all you guys do - it's a testament to human kindness!

 

That is referring to the on-board video, and it has no bearing on an AGP video card. Unfortunately, AGP cards are few and far between unless you go with a used one. Any NVidia card from the 6200 series or lower should run fine with your power supply. Any ATI Radeon card from the 1600 series or lower should be OK too, but some of them have their own power connectors (primarily 1600 and 1650) so these should be avoided.

While this is most likely true, I have personally used a PC where the onboard video had failed, but the system ran just fine with an AGP video card installed (this was 3 years ago and the system is still going strong with the same video card!). Having the on-board video fail doesn't necessarily mean the entire board has failed; it usually does, but not always. Generally speaking, when the on-board video fails, replacing the entire system board is a really good idea, even if it does work with a video card. When one on-board component fails, others usually follow.

Tattoo's for HP mobos can usually be found with some creative Googling. However, the tattoos are only so the factory restore discs will work with a particular board in the event that it needs to be replaced. Tattoos mean nothing if you have a regular Windows XP disc; you can format your hard drive using it, and install Windows as usual. It is the tattoos that prevent someone from using an HP recovery disc on a non HP system, or using it on the wrong HP system. The tattoos are basically just a bootable floppy or CD that flashes the BIOS to tell it to accept a certain recovery disc. That's all.

This is probably NOT just a video problem. It is likely a video memory problem, or a system memory problem, or (as suggested by the GeekSquad) the entire mobo requires replacement.
At this point, I really don't think that investing any more money in this PC is a good idea. You should run a memory diagnostic to see if a bad RAM stick is causing the video problem. If it is, then buying more RAM is cheap enough to keep the system running. If you can buy a cheap used PCI or AGP video card somewhere (many used PC stores have old ones for about $10) then you can see if the video is normal when using the card before investing in a higher end one for gaming.

Good luck!

 

This has been very helpful!

I have found AGP and even PCI cards online (newegg.com, buy.com) I just wanted to be sure about the power req. issue.

You said that tattoos can be found with "creative googling." Not sure how creative I'll have to get... I do have recovery discs I wanted to be able to use.

You said (sorry, I don't know how to use the "Quote" without quoting the whole message) that I should run diagnostics on the memory. That is interesting because the blue screen I got at times said to check for memory problems. However, I cannot run anything until I can get WinXP to boot and de-scrambled letters appear everywhere. If I can just get a video card in there that will work (since it's been done b4) I can, if you'll tell me how, run diagnostics on memory. Is there a DOS command(s)?

I will buy a very inexpensive card along the lines that you suggested, and go from there. I want to at least save some files. Geek Squad saved some of them in case the HD was the problem, but failed to make a copy for me. That's okay; I didn't want to pay $99 for that when I know they'd overlook some, anyway.

Thanks so much; you've made my day (my week, my month...)

- Lisa