video card question ...

Hello,
I am running Windows XP Home Edition version and have all up-to-dates on it. My model is D845PESV with an Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 and CPU 2.66 GHz with 1.25 GB RAM.

The graphics card I "did" have was
Chip Type = NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
DAC type = Integrated RAMDAC
Memory size = 512 MB
Adapter string = GeForce 7300 GT
Bios Information was version 5.73.22.57.01 > 6.14.10.9424 "updated"

Last year I downloaded Nvidias latest "driver" update "GeForce Rel3ease 178 version 178.24 WHQL" for our "NVIDIA 7300 GT".

"Latest" Computer memory was:
total physical memory = 1,280.00 MB
Available physical memory = 759.59 MB
Total virtual memory = 2.00 GB
Available virtual memory = 1.96 GB
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This pc started freezing sporadically and we took it into repair man we trust. He showed us the video card (with a fan on bottom we had not known was there and, thus, had not been air blowing it out as we had rest of pc) & said it needed replaced. He put in a "512 MB DDR2 Nvidia GeForce 6200 AGP 8X graphics card". (We cannot find a fan on this one and it does not connect where the other one did and the repair man was not around when we picked it up.)

Can anyone tell me anything about this video card? (I did a Google search and found many that only confused me; so am hoping for a little clarity.) It cost us $89 + repair and I would like to know how it compared to our old one that had a fan. (I am concerned about this card's getting too hot & am wondering if a fan prolongs life of the card. This new card does not have a fan.)

Any information would be helpful.
Thank you

 

not all video cards require a fan, otherwise it would have one. A fan will do a better job at cooling the GPU but, the 6200 doesn't get too hot to require one.

it should go into the slot labeled H in the picture i've attached. you'll notice that it's slightly offset from the others, and should have some sort of locking mechanism for the card (sometimes it's a button or lever) and should snap in when you put it in.

If you're concerned about the temps this card might get, you can run a program to monitor the temperatures while doing something graphics intensive, like playing games or watching dvd's.
http://majorgeeks.com/HWMonitor_d5842.html

i would say anything under 80 degrees is nothing to worry about.

 

Thank you for the information. I will worry much less knowing the 6200 do not get as hot as some could.

The image you show does not look like my pc at all. My video card is not standing on it's end; it is horizontal.

This forum is always helpful and I am grateful.

 

Umm, the image is not a video card, it is a motherboard. If you have a tower computer, the motherboard is, indeed, positioned vertically inside the computer case. Add-on cards attached to the motherboard, in the slots shown on the diagram, are then in a horizontal position.

By the way, I gather your "trusted" repair man said nothing about replacing the fan on the other video card, right? And, do you know that the NVIDIA 6200 is not as powerful a video card as the GeForce 7300 GT?

Did the repair guy say anything the computer needing cleaning inside? They do accumulate dust which can interfere with air circulation and they need to be cleaned periodically. Dust accumulation can contribute to higher temperatures due to air flow restriction. High temperatures can be the cause of freeze-ups.

 

"Umm, the image is not a video card, it is a motherboard. If you have a tower computer, the motherboard is, indeed, positioned vertically inside the computer case. Add-on cards attached to the motherboard, in the slots shown on the diagram, are then in a horizontal position."

Ok, I now understand.

"By the way, I gather your "trusted" repair man said nothing about replacing the fan on the other video card, right? And, do you know that the NVIDIA 6200 is not as powerful a video card as the GeForce 7300 GT?"

No, he didn't. In fact, before he even saw the pc, he was talking about my probably needing a new computer, which did bother me.

No, I am computer ignorant. I guess he kept the GeForce 7300 GT, replaced the fan and will sell it to someone else .. or me later on .. because he did not return it to us. :cry

"Did the repair guy say anything the computer needing cleaning inside? They do accumulate dust which can interfere with air circulation and they need to be cleaned periodically. Dust accumulation can contribute to higher temperatures due to air flow restriction. High temperatures can be the cause of freeze-ups."

We have known this for some time; and we periodically blow it out with a can of air spray; however, we had no idea there was another fan under the video card and had not been cleaning it. (It was, thus, full of dust & cat hair.)

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I am so very tired of being taken advantage of. It has happened all my life when I have needed to trust some professional with things I know nothing about.

 

I just discovered the xx (whatever it was called) on the card itself were bubbling (or something .. ruined); that the older card was not as readily obtained anymore; that the new card put in would give us what we needed without extra expense. (This pc is over 6 yrs old and all we can get out here is "dial-up".)

Maybe I'm dense; but I truly think this repairman can be trusted.

 

Well, I did not mean to imply the 512 MB DDR2 Nvidia GeForce 6200 AGP 8X graphics card is an inferior card, even though it's a few notches below the GeForce 7300 GT on the video card spectrum. Actually, you do not need a GeForce 7300 GT; it was more than you needed. The GeForce 6200 will serve you quite well.

Since the fan on the old card may have been inoperable for a duration of time that could have caused overheating of the card, I would agree it may have been damaged. If a card with a fan has not been damaged by an inoperable fan, the fan can be replaced. I've never done this myself but I know they can be replaced. Here's an article: http://www.technibble.com/replacing-a-video-card-gpu-fan/

Sorry if I caused undue concern about the integrity of the repairman. The price for the card sounds rather high. He may have been pricing it based on prices in retail computer supply stores. Do-it-yourself users who often tend to buy from online sources can get better prices. Here's what I would have got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130452

 

Maybe keep this as a reference somewhere, page 28 shows the VideoCard slot and location:

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15333/eng/D845PESV_ProductGuide_English02.pdf

 

Usafveteran, I was concerned and that is why I called my repairman. I am still grateful for the information you gave me. I can handle being concerned.

Bold Eagle thank you for the link.