Should I buy this Video card? Winfast PX6600~?

saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
edited September 2007 in Hardware
I found a Winfast PX6600 TD 256Mb PCI-E video card for $30. I currently have integrated video which is Intel G965 Express chipset family. It's a HP Pavilion Media Center a1640n Desktop PC.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00815926&dlc=en&product=3245028&lang=en&

I'm only looking at this because it seems inexpensive and should be a good intermediate upgrade. TO BUY or NOT TO BUY? That is the question.

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Well I mean certainly a discreet 6600 is going to far outperform the abysmal g965 integrated video, and for $30 you have to ask "what is there to lose?"

    My question is: Does that PC have a PCI-express 16x slot available?
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Well I would definitely go for it, the 6600 is way faster than integrated graphics. Though the 6600 isn't really much of a modern card, I guess if you don't wanna spend much it's your best bet.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    yes, it has a PCI-e slot. Feel free to buy the card. My guess is that soon you will be upgrading again, but for $30 you can afford to.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    THANK U ALL VM. Yes it does have a PCI-e 16x slot, and thank you again edcentric.If it's still available I'll BUY $$$$$.I know it's not much but upgrading my computer has to be low on my list for now. I'll let you know if I get it and what I think. I'll ask how to boost it and then you can tell me whats wrong with it and my system, LOL.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Trust me, that's a significant upgrade if you play games or want to use Vista's Aero interface. Even 2D performance is better, simple things like screen redraws and dragging windows around. The computer will "feel" faster. It's a smart buy :thumbsup:
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    WUFF
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    NEWS!!! Video card is still available.Seller said I could test it.Other than installing and seeing that my video is working are there tests, benchmarks I should run? If so what do I look for?
    Thanks
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    The only work will be getting the drivers installed.
    Download the driver, but don't install it.
    Turn the machine off and disconnect it from the power.
    Open it up and install the video card.
    Connect your monitor to the new video card.
    Close it up and plug it in and boot.

    I don't know about yours, but will the integrated video need to be turned off in BIOS, or will it know that there is a video card?
    If it does you can go into BIOS at boot and disable the on-board video.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Run 3Dmark to really push the card to the limit. If it completes without any artifacting or crashing, I would buy it :)
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    Thanks again. 3DMark®06 (Build 1.1.0) indicates that my cpu has to be 2.5g or higher.I'm running a 1.8 core duo will that run it? I'm currently downloading 3DMark®03 (Build 3.6.0) that only requires 1.0g the version in the middle calls for 2.0g.

    May the worst day in the rest of your life be equall to the best in your past.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    it'll definitely run.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    Thanks, I'll download 3DMark®06 (Build 1.1.0) then.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    :confused: I picked up the card, it works but not very well.I'm running Vista (more the fool me).Winfast doesn't have a Vista driver for this model.Unless otherwise advised I guess I'll go back to XP. Correct move?
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Forget the winfast driver - just get the nvidia driver straight from nvidia.com

    http://www.nvidia.com/object/158.24_vista_driver_x86_installation_instructions.html
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    Thanks prime. Downloaded driver and changed from onboard to pci-e in the settup.Isn't testing any better than the onboard did,sometimes worse. Short of going back to XP any suggestions?
    Thanks again folks you have been great.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    The 6600 isn't massively better than what you had, I hate to say. Nvidia's drivers for Vista aren't great, either. It's good enough to run aero smoothly, unlike the G945, but it's not a huge, write-home-to-mom boost.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited July 2007
    saltydog806 wrote:
    Thanks prime. Downloaded driver and changed from onboard to pci-e in the settup.Isn't testing any better than the onboard did,sometimes worse. Short of going back to XP any suggestions?
    Thanks again folks you have been great.

    Go back to windows XP.
  • WingaWinga Mr South Africa Icrontian
    edited July 2007
    Vista's very resource hungry. Unless you got loads of RAM (2Gigs) and a fairly decent CPU you not going to get the most out of that card anyway. The drivers are also as buggy as hell.

    XP sounds like a good idea for your current setup
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited July 2007
    Once again, thanks all. I went back to XP and the card is running fine and much better than my onboard was.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited August 2007
    Well maybe you were just a few weeks too early....

    Intel just released drivers that enable hardware T&L on the G965 :p
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited August 2007
    Thats a change usually I'm a day late.Thanks for the info Prime I'll download the driver and benchmark both.I have 3Dmark do you recomend any other benchmark programs?
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited August 2007
    I am pretty sure the 6600 will run better :)
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    edited September 2007
    I have one of those cards I believe, Winfast PX 6600 TD. I have it and it runs most newer games on decent settings. I can run Oblivion in 1024x768 and get some decent detail. I got mine on the cheap as well and I'm not totally unhappy with it. But as prime has mentioned, just use the nVidia drivers.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited September 2007
    Thanks MiracleManS
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