Video Cards With Low Power Consumption

[GHoosdum]

I'm looking to upgrade my wife's PC pretty soon. I am going to enter the world of PCI express for the first time here.

What I'm looking for is some video card recommendations that get good performance, but don't require an external power connector, and an overall pretty low power consumption. I don't know if there is such a beast, but I'd like for it to be able to beat out the 9800 Pro she's got in the rig right now. Low heat output is a nice bonus.

If there's nothing that fits the bill that performs better than a 9800 Pro, I'll accept recommendations for cards that have an additional power connector, as long as they have relatively low power consumption (i.e. no 7950GTX2).

Relatively low price is another nice bonus. ;)

Thanks in advance. :rockon:

[Sledgehammer70]

Hey GHoosdum,

The 6600TD is one of the last PCI-Express card I have seen with no Power connector's I don't know if you can even find those anymore... But If I were you I would go with a card that supports all the new graphic tech, so stay away from ATI's x00 series any of those cards will not support SM 3.0.

I am a big Nvidia fan but to stay away with a No Bias opinion the following card should be cheap run at lower power and run great.

ATI X1600 series
ATI X1800 series - little higher power

Nvidia 6600 GT or TD
Nvidia 7600GT
Nvidia 7800 or 7900GT- little higher power

[GHoosdum]

Thanks, Sledge!

Would the X1600's and the 6600s and 7600s easily better the 9800 Pro?

I think I forgot to mention, my wife plays Oblivion, so I can't get away without a really good graphics solution. :grumble:

[Sledgehammer70]

Yes. the 6600GT will out perform it... the TD might be on par but it is on par with all the new tech also. HDR & SM 3.0 :). The X1600 should run just slighlty slower than the 7600GT most people compare the 7600GT to a X1800

[Sledgehammer70]

You need to read this if your wife plays Oblivion...

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/10/can_your_rig_run_oblivion/

[Sledgehammer70]

TBH I would jump to a 7800GT or a 7900GT, Oblivion runs great on those cards. They migh cost a bit more and use 15% more power... but it is so worth it. I think you can find some 7800GT's in the $189 - $200 range, 7900GT's sell a bit more but if you go that way, I would stick with XFX as they seem to making the only non problimatic 7900GT's "I run a few of them"

Someone at SM is selling a 7900GT :) here (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44328)

To note a 7900GT uses less power than a 7800GTX and runs about 15%faster.

[GHoosdum]

Thanks for the article link. I'll have to mull over exactly how much performance I want to, and can afford to, buy for her here. I've been eyeing your 7900 GT, but to be honest, I'm trying to stay within the confines of a a mobo+CPU+vid card upgrade alone, and something like that would definitely require me to fork over the extra bucks for a PSU upgrade. That kind of moolah might have to wait until Christmas. ;)

[Sledgehammer70]

I just noted it :) I am not trying to twist arms...

[GHoosdum]

You're giving lots of good advice, so thank you. ;)

[jradmin]

How big is your PSU? You only need around 18-20w on the +12 rail for 1 7900GT.

[GHoosdum]

It's an Antec True430, first revision (so no PCIe or SATA or 24-pin power connections).

It's her PSU - My PSU is a 90W/19V power brick that plugs into my laptop. ;)

[Sledgehammer70]

well you can bridge the HD and CD drive connections to a PCI-E connection! 430W is more than enough unless you have like 5 Hard drives and 20 Case fans :)

[GHoosdum]

That's actually rather reassuring. I'm just hoping people buy my stuff! ;)

[mirage]

I'm looking to upgrade my wife's PC pretty soon. I am going to enter the world of PCI express for the first time here.

What I'm looking for is some video card recommendations that get good performance, but don't require an external power connector, and an overall pretty low power consumption. I don't know if there is such a beast, but I'd like for it to be able to beat out the 9800 Pro she's got in the rig right now. Low heat output is a nice bonus.

If there's nothing that fits the bill that performs better than a 9800 Pro, I'll accept recommendations for cards that have an additional power connector, as long as they have relatively low power consumption (i.e. no 7950GTX2).

Relatively low price is another nice bonus. ;)

Thanks in advance. :rockon:

This is a late reply but I just saw your post. I would search for an ATI X800XL PCIE card. ATI's original card is without the external power connection, so it does not draw more power than PCIE can supply (~70W). Most of the manufacturers (HIS, MSI, etc.) did not include the power connector as well, but Sapphire has power connection. I just checked Newegg and Pricegrabber, they are still available starting from ~$140. Regarding performance, these cards are in the same category as GF6800GT, i.e. well above R9800Pro . The drawback is that they support only SM2.0, no SM3.0 like the latest X1K series. But, IMHO, this is not such a big deal for today's games. I have the AGP version of this card made by ATI with the power connector since AGP interface can not supply as much power as PCIE. It is not good for tweaking and overclocking but it performs very well since it has 16 pipes and 256bit memory interface. And, I hope my feedback is not too late for you.

[GHoosdum]

It's not too late - she's still running the 9800 Pro, running Oblivion at 800x600. My concern with the X800 series is that I don't think they have HDR support, and if I do go into the around $150 price range, I'd probably pick a 7600GT, to be honest, because it's a pretty unbeatable card in that price range.

[primesuspect]

I have an X850XT and it does not support the HDR stuff in oblivion, although I am able to play at 1280x1024 at medium-high and the game looks damned good. I'd still go with the 7600GT though.

[mirage]

Good choice, a little more expensive, but you are getting the latest technology. I think its higher core/memory clocks easily compensate 128-bit memory and 12 pipes. Let us know how do you like it when you start using.

[GHoosdum]

I settled on saving some bucks and I've purchased a 7600GS card for her upgrade. I've seen it outperform an X1600XT when overclocked, and come near the performance of the $50 higher 7600GT. I'm willing to wager that it will outperform the 9800 Pro she's used to.

Furthermore, I got her an SLI-capable motherboard, so we'll see where the future leads. :vimp:

[primesuspect]

it will outperform a 9800 pro, yes... But more importantly it will allow ps3.0 and hdr lighting effects, so it will look better. :)

[GHoosdum]

Sweet!

Any way you look at it, my wife is completely spoiled.

I mean, her Oblivion experience is definitely going to beat the hell out of mine... She's going from an AXP Barton to an X2 3800+ with the 7600GS... while I'm gaming on my Mobility Radeon 9600.

Then again, I almost have to spoil her - I had to find some way to get her into playing Oblivion, because I used to play Morrowind so much that she called it "the other woman" - now she plays Oblivion a lot more than I do!

I can't wait to build this upgraded system for her. And for my folding score!

[edcentric]

These days it is hard to beat a 7600 for low power usage and good bang for the buck. I like the X800GTO2 that I am running, but it isn't really anything special.
Let us know how she likes the GS.

[edcentric]

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=11

Show this to your wife and you will be buying a core2 duo machine. Of course they were running twin X1900s in crossfire, but that is beside the point.

[GHoosdum]

Jeez! I had no idea it was that big of a spread.

Although, really, she'll let me buy her any kind of PC I want to buy her - it's all about the budgetary constraints! ;)