Why do companies modify video cards?

[StorkNest]

Something I am trying to grasp.
Recently got a video card but have to a it, did not check the power supply requirements. New computer has a 300 watt supply, card wanted 400.
Was recommended to get a GT630 shown on NVidia's site as needing 300 watts except the place where I will do the exchange at, the GT630s available must have been modified because they want 350 and 400 watt power.

 

[clam1952]

Does warn on the Nvidia site that the Nvidia Reference specs may differ to the card manufacturer's, probably where the extra 100 watts has crept in.

Watch the GT630 as a lot of them are actually re-badged 440's, need the fermi chipset version to get the actual correct one! That by the way has been re-badged as a 730................. ATI / AMD play the same game by the way. I dread to think what some of the cheaper card manufactures pass off as newer models!

Edit:
Of course the extra 100 watts may be the card manufacturer playing safe as a lot of cheaper PSU's are not actually capable of running at their rated value

 

[johnwhelan]

Something I am trying to grasp.
Recently got a video card but have to a it, did not check the power supply requirements. New computer has a 300 watt supply, card wanted 400.
Was recommended to get a GT630 shown on NVidia's site as needing 300 watts except the place where I will do the exchange at, the GT630s available must have been modified because they want 350 and 400 watt power.

Probably the question to ask is what brand is your power supply? 300 watts is very low for a separate video card never mind one that works well with Trainz.

Cheerio John

 

[StorkNest]

I guess it is the same as the computer maker, Dell.
These modern cards are complicated, I also see they require, "X amps on the +12V rail." Things is, the label on the supply claims odd information like +12VA and +12VB each having different amp values.
I did call the company who said they recommended a GT630 but the ones I find still require more watts so I may look lower than that.

 

[cascaderailroad]

I bought a PC with a 300W PS, and the store I bought it from, I requested they put in gaming video card ... they put in a 450w video card ... It ran for well over 2 years.

If you have a 300w PS you need a video card rated at, or below that ... the other choice is to put in a higher wattage PS, then you can add any video card.

 

[StorkNest]

The crazy just continues.
I also looked up my default graphics, Intel HD 4600.
According to Dell among the driver downloads I can get, I can download both a Intel Video Driver and a nVidia GT700 driver.
Searching Tom's Hardware site on Intel HD 4600, there are many Forum topics that seem to state the nVidia driver is a GT740M and default graphics uses whichever one applies, nVidia for gaming, Intel for all else.
What the heck is my default video and this M in GT740M?

 

[clam1952]

M means mobile graphics as found in a laptop, odd thing to find in a desktop? whatever it's DX11 and OpenGL 4.4, so should be ok T:ANE still fairly low end though

It seems to be better than the GT630 http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2461&cmp[]=1431

 

[StorkNest]

Gets even odder.
I went to download and install those 2 video driver updates plus others.
Intel one succeeded, nVidia one FAILED.
So much for that.

 

[NeonTheGriffon]

There are many Forum topics that seem to state the nVidia driver is a GT740M and default graphics uses whichever one applies, nVidia for gaming, Intel for all else.
What the heck is my default video and this M in GT740M?

Correct, as an E6530 owner and daily user, I can put my two cents in about this.
According to my UEFI Setup (BIOS setup, whatever you want to call it), it's called NVidia Optimus Technology. If I disable it, it strictly uses my discreet card. If I leave it enabled, like a macbook pro, it will automatically switch based on usage demand from software.
If you're lucky enough to have it, right click the desktop and click on NVidia Control Panel with Optimus Enabled;

[Windows X Developer Preview]
You can choose the default card per application, at least on my machine.
This was designed to save battery life where possible.

If you do not have discreet graphics on your system, you're most likely seeing the NVidia driver due to the fact that you did not enter your Dell Service Tag and instead opted for the general all-around drivers page.
Don't download it if you don't have it, magical unicorns won't deliver the extra GPU.