The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Morning guys,
I've been looking into the possibility of upgrading the graphics card in my PC. My motherboard is an aging Gigabyte 945gcm-s2l and I am currently running an NVDIA GeFORCE 6600 256MB DDR2 graphics card. My board can take a maximum of 4GB DDR2 RAM (already installed and it's OCZ gaming RAM which I believe is as good as my board will take) but only 3GB of it is useable as apparently the 'missing' GB is being used by my current graphics card. It's not a OS issue it's not showing in the BIOS and I use a 64bit OS which can handle this anyway. Would a more powerful graphics card improve my systems performance or would it be a waste of money? I don't play games on my PC but I do use it for HD video editing. My processor is actually not all that bad it's an Intel Core 2 Extreme x6800 (overclocked to 3.5Ghz with cooling modified) and my system is generally pretty fast and stable. It's just with video editing every bit of power counts. I know that I should really build/buy a new PC but apart from the money, I have that much stuff on this one that it would it take me forever to sort it all out again and I really don't have the time at the moment.
I am using a Cooler Master Elite gaming tower which is powered by a 350W PSU BTW.
Be grateful for any suggestions.
I've been looking into the possibility of upgrading the graphics card in my PC. My motherboard is an aging Gigabyte 945gcm-s2l and I am currently running an NVDIA GeFORCE 6600 256MB DDR2 graphics card. My board can take a maximum of 4GB DDR2 RAM (already installed and it's OCZ gaming RAM which I believe is as good as my board will take) but only 3GB of it is useable as apparently the 'missing' GB is being used by my current graphics card. It's not a OS issue it's not showing in the BIOS and I use a 64bit OS which can handle this anyway. Would a more powerful graphics card improve my systems performance or would it be a waste of money? I don't play games on my PC but I do use it for HD video editing. My processor is actually not all that bad it's an Intel Core 2 Extreme x6800 (overclocked to 3.5Ghz with cooling modified) and my system is generally pretty fast and stable. It's just with video editing every bit of power counts. I know that I should really build/buy a new PC but apart from the money, I have that much stuff on this one that it would it take me forever to sort it all out again and I really don't have the time at the moment.
I am using a Cooler Master Elite gaming tower which is powered by a 350W PSU BTW.
Be grateful for any suggestions.
Page:
Morning guys,
I've been looking into the possibility of upgrading the graphics card in my PC. My motherboard is an aging Gigabyte 945gcm-s2l and I am currently running an NVDIA GeFORCE 6600 256MB DDR2 graphics card. My board can take a maximum of 4GB DDR2 RAM (already installed and it's OCZ gaming RAM which I believe is as good as my board will take) but only 3GB of it is useable as apparently the 'missing' GB is being used by my current graphics card. It's not a OS issue it's not showing in the BIOS and I use a 64bit OS which can handle this anyway. Would a more powerful graphics card improve my systems performance or would it be a waste of money? I don't play games on my PC but I do use it for HD video editing. My processor is actually not all that bad it's an Intel Core 2 Extreme x6800 (overclocked to 3.5Ghz with cooling modified) and my system is generally pretty fast and stable. It's just with video editing every bit of power counts. I know that I should really build/buy a new PC but apart from the money, I have that much stuff on this one that it would it take me forever to sort it all out again and I really don't have the time at the moment.
I am using a Cooler Master Elite gaming tower which is powered by a 350W PSU BTW.
Be grateful for any suggestions.
I've been looking into the possibility of upgrading the graphics card in my PC. My motherboard is an aging Gigabyte 945gcm-s2l and I am currently running an NVDIA GeFORCE 6600 256MB DDR2 graphics card. My board can take a maximum of 4GB DDR2 RAM (already installed and it's OCZ gaming RAM which I believe is as good as my board will take) but only 3GB of it is useable as apparently the 'missing' GB is being used by my current graphics card. It's not a OS issue it's not showing in the BIOS and I use a 64bit OS which can handle this anyway. Would a more powerful graphics card improve my systems performance or would it be a waste of money? I don't play games on my PC but I do use it for HD video editing. My processor is actually not all that bad it's an Intel Core 2 Extreme x6800 (overclocked to 3.5Ghz with cooling modified) and my system is generally pretty fast and stable. It's just with video editing every bit of power counts. I know that I should really build/buy a new PC but apart from the money, I have that much stuff on this one that it would it take me forever to sort it all out again and I really don't have the time at the moment.
I am using a Cooler Master Elite gaming tower which is powered by a 350W PSU BTW.
Be grateful for any suggestions.
Morning pete.
Your existing card was very good back in the day, infact I still think I've got one in the garage (don't ask me why!). However, the problem with upgrading your card is that your PSU will need upgrading aswell. For example, an excellent card (still available) a GeForce 9800GTX+ needs a minimum of 450W.
Your existing card was very good back in the day, infact I still think I've got one in the garage (don't ask me why!). However, the problem with upgrading your card is that your PSU will need upgrading aswell. For example, an excellent card (still available) a GeForce 9800GTX+ needs a minimum of 450W.
Thanks for the advice DL, really appreciated. Would it be a worthwhile upgrade in your opinion? and would it free up anymore of my useable RAM? Thought the PSU might be an issue that's why I mentioned it in my original post. Had a quick look at those cards and they look much bigger than my current one, would need to check it would actually fit. Also my PSU seems to be integrated into my case design, surely it must be removable but it doesn't look all that straightforward at first glance.
Thanks again for the help mate.
Thanks again for the help mate.
The PSU is removeable and usually quite straight forward - about 4 screws to remove the unit, but all of the original connectors go with it so remember what went where when you install the new PSU. All the Elite cases seem to accomodate ATX and micro-ATX mobos, so a 9800GTX+ should fit. (Likewise, all the Elite cases seem to have removeable PSU's.) The 9800GTX+ would need a separate power connection but this would be available on a bigger PSU.
Whether it would noticeably 'free' up more RAM is questionable as is the cost involved just to find out that it only has a negligible effect :¬)
Whether it would noticeably 'free' up more RAM is questionable as is the cost involved just to find out that it only has a negligible effect :¬)
Hmmm...., will have a think about that. It would obviously be something of a gamble but I suppose it would be 2 less components I would need to upgrade when I do finally get round to updating my motherboard, processor, RAM & OS.
Thanks again DL, you've been really helpful mate.
I also use this PC for work so I could always say that I'm struggling to read emails and Word documents so I'm going to need a better graphics card so that I can see them properly! ;)
Thanks again DL, you've been really helpful mate.
I also use this PC for work so I could always say that I'm struggling to read emails and Word documents so I'm going to need a better graphics card so that I can see them properly! ;)
If you do decide to take the plunge and your 'ruse' works :¬) , then get a decent 650W PSU ( Cooler Master GX650 as an example) that's rated well for efficiency - this is the minimum you should try to get away with, then at least if you do upgrade the rest, the PSU will be adequate. The other thing to consider, especially if upgrading, is cooling. But in your initial upgrade there shouldn't be a problem.
How do you know the missing GB is being used by your GFX card?
Dr. Garin wrote:
How do you know the missing GB is being used by your GFX card?
It's a known issue with my board, of course only anyone who owned one would know that. Apparently it takes what many believe to be an excessive amount of system memory to run graphics. There was hope of a BIOS update to fix this but it never happened (I'm already running the last one ever released). Most people who had an issue with this upgraded to later boards but I never got round to it and regret it now. I was just wondering if a better quality dedicated graphics card would steal less of my systems available resources (as in theory it would not need them as most newer cards have ample on board memory). It's just an idea I have recently had that not occurred to me before. I'm aware that it may not make all that much difference (if any at all?). Better graphic cards are known to be a bonus when it comes to HD video editing.
@DL Thanks again for your all of your help mate, really is massively appreciated. I have already upgraded my cooling (2x 140mm intake fans and one 120mm exhaust), did that when the processor was overclocked as the x6800 is known for running hot. I also have Speedfan configured to run automatically on Windows start up, this increases the fan noise slightly but it does seem to work. I was hoping this set up would be adequate for running a more powerful graphics card and (if required) PSU. Did originally look at cards like this but not sure how much better they would be than my current one?
How do you know the missing GB is being used by your GFX card?
It's a known issue with my board, of course only anyone who owned one would know that. Apparently it takes what many believe to be an excessive amount of system memory to run graphics. There was hope of a BIOS update to fix this but it never happened (I'm already running the last one ever released). Most people who had an issue with this upgraded to later boards but I never got round to it and regret it now. I was just wondering if a better quality dedicated graphics card would steal less of my systems available resources (as in theory it would not need them as most newer cards have ample on board memory). It's just an idea I have recently had that not occurred to me before. I'm aware that it may not make all that much difference (if any at all?). Better graphic cards are known to be a bonus when it comes to HD video editing.
@DL Thanks again for your all of your help mate, really is massively appreciated. I have already upgraded my cooling (2x 140mm intake fans and one 120mm exhaust), did that when the processor was overclocked as the x6800 is known for running hot. I also have Speedfan configured to run automatically on Windows start up, this increases the fan noise slightly but it does seem to work. I was hoping this set up would be adequate for running a more powerful graphics card and (if required) PSU. Did originally look at cards like this but not sure how much better they would be than my current one?
Ah, just had a look at your motherboard...it looks like a chipset issue. You're going to have that issue no matter the GFX card installed.
Also keep in mind that you'll only really benefit from upgrading your gfx card if your video editing software supports it. Otherwise the general benefit probably isnt worth the money spent especially as a modern gfx card is going to be bottlenecked by the rest of the system now.
Also keep in mind that you'll only really benefit from upgrading your gfx card if your video editing software supports it. Otherwise the general benefit probably isnt worth the money spent especially as a modern gfx card is going to be bottlenecked by the rest of the system now.
Dr. Garin wrote:
Ah, just had a look at your motherboard...it looks like a chipset issue. You're going to have that issue no matter the GFX card installed.
Also keep in mind that you'll only really benefit from upgrading your gfx card if your video editing software supports it. Otherwise the general benefit probably isnt worth the money spent especially as a modern gfx card is going to be bottlenecked by the rest of the system now.
Did think that might be the case, thanks for looking though. Magix site states dedicated graphics card with 512MB VRAM for HD video editing. I have been using the program in SD mode (view in reduced quality while working on projects) and it seems to work OK. Rendering is pretty time consuming but the end result is fine. Obviously my RAM and processor are not really ideal either but I can't replace those at the moment. Thanks again for your help mate, it is appreciated.
Ah, just had a look at your motherboard...it looks like a chipset issue. You're going to have that issue no matter the GFX card installed.
Also keep in mind that you'll only really benefit from upgrading your gfx card if your video editing software supports it. Otherwise the general benefit probably isnt worth the money spent especially as a modern gfx card is going to be bottlenecked by the rest of the system now.
Did think that might be the case, thanks for looking though. Magix site states dedicated graphics card with 512MB VRAM for HD video editing. I have been using the program in SD mode (view in reduced quality while working on projects) and it seems to work OK. Rendering is pretty time consuming but the end result is fine. Obviously my RAM and processor are not really ideal either but I can't replace those at the moment. Thanks again for your help mate, it is appreciated.
Page: