My nVidia 8800GT 512mb has a problem. The cooling fan sometimes decides to work & sometimes doesn't. My very temporary answer is to remove the side case & blow a large domestic fan straight at the graphics card which seems to be working.The question is simple. Do I spend money replacing the fan with a custom cooler - plus cooling paste etc & it might be a board rather than a fan fault - or do I buy a new graphics card?I am not sure how far I can go without buying a new power supply etc which I do not want to do.Cooling and replacement nVidia & ATi suggestions are all welcome.If I replace the card am I likely to see any difference in FSX performance? Dell XPS420E8400 standard clocking8800GT 512mb with 4 pin square power connectorVista 32 bit375w power supply (Dell are normally very underrated) 3 Gb RamI would consider a HD4870 or GTX260 but I don't think I have the power available.I should add that I currently use a LCD TV 1950x1080 full HD for FSX. Chris

Slap a GTX 260 or 275 in there and be done with it. Your PSU should be able to hold up but just to be sure, check the rating on the +12V rail(s). Should be combined 36A or greater to handle a 260/275. My old 8800 GT has been relegated to my spare computer which only sees light gaming duty.

Slap a GTX 260 or 275 in there and be done with it. Your PSU should be able to hold up but just to be sure, check the rating on the +12V rail(s). Should be combined 36A or greater to handle a 260/275. My old 8800 GT has been relegated to my spare computer which only sees light gaming duty.

I think you should buy a new PSU if you are thinking of getting a new graphics card, or else you can destroy your current PSU. If you get one of the current generation graphics cards, your PSU may not have enough power and, and the it might not be able to hold the voltages well under load. Also you will be running your PSU @ the max most of the time, which is not good. It will generate lots of heat, and it may damage your PSU or render it unusable. I recommend getting at least a 450W PSU. 500W+ would be good if you can afford it. PSUs are very cheap today anyway, so if you can upgrade your GPU you can get a new power supply unit. All top end graphics cards today perform very similarly. With only a small difference in performance. So for nVidia I would get a GTX260 (they are expensive though) and for AMD/ATi I would go with the 4870 or 4850. If you can afford it, I would get the 4890. It has GDDR5 and some have factory overclocked 1GHz cores. The 4870 also has GDDR5 and if you are lucky you could probably OC to 1 GHz on the core. The 4870s GDDR5 runs at 4 times its main frequency unlike DDR2 and 3 that runs 2 times over its main frequency. So the 4870s memory clock is 900*4 = 3600 MHz on the memory clocks, which is an insane amount of bandwidth. I would consider the 4770 if you want a great card that is about 100-120 bucks. The amazing part is it has a 128-bit memory bus, but it has GDDR5 like its older brother the 4870, so it still gets amazing bandwidth, and the only difference between the 4770 is it has less shaders than the 4800 series but get this. Even though it has a smaller bus and less shaders than the 4850 and 4870, it BEATS the 4830 and the 4850 in real world gaming many times, and it is so good for a 100 dollar card, that ATi doesn't want the 4770 overclocked at the factory, or else the 4850 might not sell well! It is that good! Overclock the 4770 and you will have one beast that beats the 4850 which beats the GTX260 and it will come very close or beat the 4870!! The 4770 is a sweat deal and it is almost literally a steal! :(+Review: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3553This card may appeal to you if the other cards do not fit in your budget.Almost forgot, you will need a PCI-E 6 pin connector to run most of todays gfxs cards.

gman - wattage is irrelevant. Amps on the +12V rail(s) are all that matter for high-powered equipment. I have two "550W" PSUs in my house, one is Corsair, the other is BFG. The BFG model has dual 18A +12V rails which equals 36A. The Corsair has a single 41A rail.

My nVidia 8800GT 512mb has a problem. The cooling fan sometimes decides to work & sometimes doesn't. My very temporary answer is to remove the side case & blow a large domestic fan straight at the graphics card which seems to be working.The question is simple. Do I spend money replacing the fan with a custom cooler - plus cooling paste etc & it might be a board rather than a fan fault - or do I buy a new graphics card?I am not sure how far I can go without buying a new power supply etc which I do not want to do.Cooling and replacement nVidia & ATi suggestions are all welcome.If I replace the card am I likely to see any difference in FSX performance? Dell XPS420E8400 standard clocking8800GT 512mb with 4 pin square power connectorVista 32 bit375w power supply (Dell are normally very underrated) 3 Gb RamI would consider a HD4870 or GTX260 but I don't think I have the power available.I should add that I currently use a LCD TV 1950x1080 full HD for FSX. Chris

Chris; With a 3 GHz dual-core E8400 pushing the card, I honestly think you'd be wasting your money sinking it into a new GPU (and power supply). The 8800 is a good FS video card, and your dual-core CPU isn't likely to be able to leverage a whole lot more than that. Personally, I'd fix the 8800 and bank the money for my next PC build. RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Chris; Personally, I'd fix the 8800 and bank the money for my next PC build. RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Thank you everyone.I am going to do this as if I upgrade the better cooler will still be useful. Thanks for the advise. I am going to get one of these Akasa Coolers:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Akasa-Vortexx-Neo-...1782&sr=8-1

gman - wattage is irrelevant. Amps on the +12V rail(s) are all that matter for high-powered equipment. I have two "550W" PSUs in my house, one is Corsair, the other is BFG. The BFG model has dual 18A +12V rails which equals 36A. The Corsair has a single 41A rail.

Ya, if wattage is irrelevant, then how do you expect to run a new card on a 375W PSU. Or what if the PSU was 250W? [sarcasm]Ya, wattage really is so irrelevant.[/sarcasm]. Yes he must look at the 12V rails for enough amps. I would say 26A on the 12V rails combined at the LEAST, or if it has a single rail 26A on it at least. Best thing to do though, is to get a new PSU that has good amps on all rails and is at least 500W.Also check this website to see how much power your PC would consume with possible future cards. If the required watts is above the current or higher than 320, you should buy a new PSU, or else you will have problems and I garuntee they won't hold the voltages on the rails find, or at least within ATX requirements. You do not want to run the PSU close to its max at all times, or else it is guaranteed to fail on you.http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/Don't forget your current PSU must have a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, or else you won't be able to use the card. PCI-E only supplies 75W max through the slot, and most cards won't allow you to boot without the 6-pin connector inserted.

The bigger problem is the number 0f 6pin pci-e slots. I only have one & the better cards need two. I have searched for a converter that will match my spare power plugs & they don't seem to exist.I have one spare HD lead, one spare DVD lead and a plug that I don't recognise that is a 4 in line plug with much larger sockets than any of the others & which is connected +12vDC, Com, Com, +5vDC.The psu allows 30A through the two 12v lines. I gather that Dell used this power supply with 8800GTX cards & just put a Y splitter into the single 6pin plug to work both the 6pin PCI-e plugs required by the 8800GTX. Judging by this article my psu should be adequate as I gather Dell psu'2 are very conservatively rated:http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=635I do however note the advise above which suggests that if I buy a better graphics card I may well gain little. I had hoped that with the relatively high resolution that I am using spmething like a GTX260 with all that video memory might improve things. Chris

Ya, if wattage is irrelevant, then how do you expect to run a new card on a 375W PSU. Or what if the PSU was 250W? [sarcasm]Ya, wattage really is so irrelevant.[/sarcasm]. Yes he must look at the 12V rails for enough amps. I would say 26A on the 12V rails combined at the LEAST, or if it has a single rail 26A on it at least. Best thing to do though, is to get a new PSU that has good amps on all rails and is at least 500W.

For the love of...Total wattage rating of individual PSUs is irrelevant because there is no industry standard for this rating. Each manufacturer rates their PSUs as they see fit. This is why you can find "600W" PSUs that deliver no more amperage on their +12V rail(s) than a quality 400W+ unity from a manufacturer that only makes high-end products.

For the love of...Total wattage rating of individual PSUs is irrelevant because there is no industry standard for this rating. Each manufacturer rates their PSUs as they see fit. This is why you can find "600W" PSUs that deliver no more amperage on their +12V rail(s) than a quality 400W+ unity from a manufacturer that only makes high-end products.

So what. You still can't run a GTX280 and a dual core processor with DDR2 RAM and other add-ons like a CD on a 250W PSU, doesn't matter if it has 2 billion amps on the 12v rail, 250w won't cut it and I don't think 375W will be to good either. I just checked the website and it says with a future card the system will consume about 360 watts, and it says that is not the PEAK power, which is how much it will consume at max load. So 375 is inadequate most likely, and is not a good choice for a hefty card like those, unless you want a fried or dead PSU. This is common sense. A 200W+ card won't run very well on a 375 watt PC while gaming, and may damage it, AND under full load on ANY PSU the voltage will start to deteriorate, and when it gets to close, it will go out of the ATX required range.Again, I could care less how many amps it has on the 12V rail, if the wattage isn't enough, it will run poorly, and damage components. With your theory you are basically saying you can run a 200W card on a 100W PSU because of the amps it has on the rail. Nope, not going to work. Also think about the VOLTS the VOLTS, the will definitely deteriorate like I said The 3.3V, 12+, 5VSB, +5, VCORE, NB Voltage, VDIMM, etc.I know I am saying the right thing, and you are not giving good advice. If you won't believe me, then maybe you should look at tomshardware or a number of other technology enthusiast websites. Unless you want endless crashes, or your PC components to starve of power. Take my advice, and upgrade. PSUs are cheap, all you need is at the least 500W. If you can get a new gfx card, you can get a new PSU... Especially if you are interested in the 4770 :(.BTW TechguyMaxC, you recommended a Geforce 260/275http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257591-33-power-supplyhttp://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=123661http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=464208 <---READ THIS!http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-260-review/4 <-- Scroll down to the bottom. Even one of the BEST review sites said what I said, and my advice was just an estimate, I did not even read what the official or what review websites power requirements are!http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?...Series%20Family <--EVGA manufacturer of the card says it too. Anyway, if not now, when?To add-on even the 4770 needs more than 375W... and to ChrisE, he has the same PSU and also has a Dell XPS420 :)http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qi...03101155AAl7oRCIf you are not interested in getting a new PSU, you can look for a GPU only PSU, that goes in an 3.5" bay or a 5.25" drive bay and requires a open PCI slot. I'll post some links. I have a 500W Coollmax PSU as well as a 250W GPU only Thermaltake 250W PSU for my Radeon 3850 . It is SLI certified.http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/P...w0099/w0099.asp <-- The GPU only PSU I have. Works in conjunction with my 500W main PSU. Draws power from the wall through an ingenious PCI slot design.

I'm not going to argue with anyone that references Tom's Hardware forums. Not worth the effort. OP: I have direct experience running high-end graphics cards on Dell OEM PSUs. Also, your PSU likely delivers more than 30A because I ran an 8800 GT in a Dell system with only a "305W" unit which delivered a combined 34A on its dual +12V rails. If a "305W" Dell unit is 2A shy of providing enough power for a GTX 260/275, a "375W" Dell unit will almost certainly be capable of doing exactly that. Do yourself a favor and don't let passion over-rule logic. FSX runs better on NV cards. If FSX performance is all you desire, I suggest you purchase an NV card.

I'm not going to argue with anyone that references Tom's Hardware forums. Not worth the effort. OP: I have direct experience running high-end graphics cards on Dell OEM PSUs. Also, your PSU likely delivers more than 30A because I ran an 8800 GT in a Dell system with only a "305W" unit which delivered a combined 34A on its dual +12V rails. If a "305W" Dell unit is 2A shy of providing enough power for a GTX 260/275, a "375W" Dell unit will almost certainly be capable of doing exactly that. Do yourself a favor and don't let passion over-rule logic. FSX runs better on NV cards. If FSX performance is all you desire, I suggest you purchase an NV card.

You are making a VERY BIG MISTAKE!I put in EVGA, a card manufacturer. Toms Hardware is MORE than reputable, AND I PUT IN GURU3D. I can tell they are already more knowlegable than you are if they can get that his current PSU alone is inadequate.. What if he tries to overclock any compenents in his PC as well?

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=123661http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=464208 <---READ THIS!http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-260-review/4 <-- Scroll down to the bottom. Even one of the BEST review sites said what I said, and my advice was just an estimate, I did not even read what the official or what review websites power requirements are!http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?...Series%20Family <--EVGA manufacturer of the card says it too.

gman, my point WRT your THG reference was not that you were referencing anything published by THG, but rather using a forum discussion to backup your assertion. THG forums are not exactly known to be frequented by knowledgeable individuals. I see from your signature that you are 15 years old.I should have read that before ever replying to you.

gman, my point WRT your THG reference was not that you were referencing anything published by THG, but rather using a forum discussion to backup your assertion. THG forums are not exactly known to be frequented by knowledgeable individuals. I see from your signature that you are 15 years old.I should have read that before ever replying to you.

So what. I'm 15. Doesn't mean I know any less than you. I still study technology, because I want a job in the field, and I know it is my area of expertise right now. I build PCs for people, I can make programs with Visual .NET, I can troubleshoot PCs, I am also learning Javascript, HTML, CSS. Mind you, some 15 & 16 year olds go to flight school to get their PPL. Interesting isn't it? Obviously if some people get their glider/ballon PPL at 16 or single engine PPL at 17, that means they passed their tests for it, and read those FAA FARs (which is hard to take in for some because of the amount of rules & regulations), so they can still have as much passion as anyone... and mind you again, that's 15 and 11 months, for me :( There you go, for the 3rd time. Read it for Christ's sake!http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?...Series%20Family <--EVGA manufacturer of the card says it too. Scroll down to the, power requirements section. ... and the people on TomsHardware are not n00bs at all, or do you want me to post xtremesystems.org forum' s post :( . One of the best hardware enthusiast forums around.http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html <--Nvidia even says 500W, look @ the bottom of the specifications page.About that power supply ChrisE, it has above 75% efficiency at full load which is VERY good for a PSU, and has a peak output of 300W. Good luck! :(

The bigger problem is the number 0f 6pin pci-e slots. I only have one & the better cards need two. I have searched for a converter that will match my spare power plugs & they don't seem to exist.I have one spare HD lead, one spare DVD lead and a plug that I don't recognise that is a 4 in line plug with much larger sockets than any of the others & which is connected +12vDC, Com, Com, +5vDC.The psu allows 30A through the two 12v lines. I gather that Dell used this power supply with 8800GTX cards & just put a Y splitter into the single 6pin plug to work both the 6pin PCI-e plugs required by the 8800GTX. Judging by this article my psu should be adequate as I gather Dell psu'2 are very conservatively rated:http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=635I do however note the advise above which suggests that if I buy a better graphics card I may well gain little. I had hoped that with the relatively high resolution that I am using spmething like a GTX260 with all that video memory might improve things. Chris

Chris; Another reason to think twice on upgrading is that it's likely your motherboard does not support PCIe v2.0, so a lot of the increased bandwidth capability of the new cards would never be realized. w/r/t the power supply p*ssing contest here, there's a lot missing from the discussion. There's more to a power supply than the 12v rails, and if it's rated at, say, 375W, one has to know if that's input power (and if so, is it RMS or peak?), combined output power or some other measure. Voltage regulation & droop under load, continuous vs peak loading considerations, airflow, cooling...they all enter in, but suffice it to say that approaching the max rated wattage OR current capacity on any of the 12v rails is a generally bad idea for sustained high power ops, like a 3D app running for hours on end. Personally, if you go with a new video card, I'd strongly recommend a new PS as well...one that'll give you at least 20% headroom between the calculated load and the rated capacity of the PS. And I like good quality single rail power supplies, like the PC Power and Cooling Silencers...they use good quality high-power devices, rather than the cheaper low capacity stuff found in some of the multi-rail supplies. An overcurrent in a PS can lead to catastrophic failure modes that can smoke the mobo and/or CPU and/or video card. It's not worth the risk to push it.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO