If I don't play games...

[tgbyhn10111]

I have an ATI Sapphire x1950 pro PCIe which I'm just not using for games. I want to downgrade to something really basic for games but keep the good 2D stuff? I want the replacement card to be quiet so a small fan or no fan.

Can anyone recommend a cheap card?

If I'm not interested in games would any card do or is there a reason why i should go for a card from a particular series / range?

If I never played games would I notice any real difference between the x1950 and something like a PNY 7300 LE 128MB?

Thanks

 

[Scrutinize]

I would say go for http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-156-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939 One of the ATI 2400 Silent @ £28

Gives you a few more features than the 7300 inc HD content support.

I have one and its a decent card for the money. Otherwise the 7300 would be fine for non gaming.

 

[rubberduck]

I would say go for http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-156-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=939 One of the ATI 2400 Silent @ £28

Gives you a few more features than the 7300 inc HD content support.

I have one and its a decent card for the money. Otherwise the 7300 would be fine for non gaming.

Agreed the ATI 2400 sounds perfect for the OP

 

[tgbyhn10111]

Thanks. Does the ATI 2400 have all the non 3D functions that the higher spec cards, in the same range, have?

Any idea how this would compare to a x1650 in 3D speed?

 

[HarryPainful]

To be fair you probably woouldnt get much for the x1950pro now if you sold it (not sure if thats your plan)

I would just keep it.

 

[krooton]

Thanks. Does the ATI 2400 have all the non 3D functions that the higher spec cards, in the same range, have?

Any idea how this would compare to a x1650 in 3D speed?

The 2400 Pro is comparable to a X1550, so about 2 levels slower than the x1650 as per Tom's Hardware.

 

[eyetrip]

I agree you may as well just keep the card. Once you have solt it and bought a new one, you would hardly have saved anything, and will have a slower card, should you ever want to play a game (even though you say you don't really)

 

[rubberduck]

I agree you may as well just keep the card. Once you have solt it and bought a new one, you would hardly have saved anything, and will have a slower card, should you ever want to play a game (even though you say you don't really)

The x1950 is only noisy when you are playing games.... If you don't play games why do you want to change it as it should be nice and quiet for 2d stuff?

 

[tgbyhn10111]

The x1950 is only noisy when you are playing games.... If you don't play games why do you want to change it as it should be nice and quiet for 2d stuff?

It's noisey in my case doing 2D (hundreds of small holes in the side.) If I use atitool to turn the fan down to 27% when below 55 degrees it's quiet but every time I resume from standby it goes loud again and I have to re-load the profile in ATITool which is annoying.

I'm also thinking that if I get a lesser graphics card it will produce less heat which will help reduce case temps so my overclocked cpu (e4300 at 3GHZ) may be a little cooler.

I was trying to get a few quid back it's true but it also seems like such a waste. How much would a second hard sapphire x1950pro be worth? It's only 6 months old.

 

[rubberduck]

You may get £60 for it...

Someone may be able to post a solution so that your fan runs quietly all the time. How hot is your cpu running at the moment? If it is 'in the danger zone' changing the graphics card would probably make little difference.

 

[tgbyhn10111]

I was wondering if avivo would be any help in transcoding or encoding DVDs -that might persuade me to keep it?

Also, I'm having install problems with the x1950 at the moment which is another reason to get rid of it.

I tried to uninstall all ATI software using the ATI CATALIST Install Manager and got this error:

c:\program files\ati\cim\bin\installmanagerapp.exe
The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more details.

I think it's something to do with .net and being able to install multiple versions of the same app but don't know how to fix it - anyone help?

Thanks

 

[tgbyhn10111]

You may get £60 for it...

Someone may be able to post a solution so that your fan runs quietly all the time. How hot is your cpu running at the moment? If it is 'in the danger zone' changing the graphics card would probably make little difference.

Thanks. The cores get up to 61-62 degrees running one copy of orthos cpu stress test. 67+ running the tests in Intel thermal analysis tool. I was hoping to enable loadline calibration and reduce the voltage with the F8 Bios for the GA_P35_DS3P but the system wouldn't resume from standby under Vista with loadline calibration enabled but it ran fine for hours until I shutdown / resumed.