Can I replace a card with a card

[airtime]

Hello to anyone who might be able to help me...

Just wondering can I replace this...

pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out

with this...

PCIe GeForce GTS250 512Mb DDR3 DVI/HDMI, VGA, TV-Out

It's so I'm ready for Trainz 2010...

Below is my computer information...

Windows XP professional with service pack 3
pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out
asus p5b skt-775 core 2 duo ready ddr2/6blan
320gb maxtor sata hard drive 7200rpm 8mb cache oem
Pentium intel core 2 duo e6600 2.4ghz skt775 fsb1066 4mb cache
2gb 240pin ddr2-667 9pc2-5300) dimm - cl4

I will be upgrading to Windows 7 next month...

Many thanks

Joe Airtime

 

[clam1952]

Hello to anyone who might be able to help me...

Just wondering can I replace this...

pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out

with this...

PCIe GeForce GTS250 512Mb DDR3 DVI/HDMI, VGA, TV-Out

It's so I'm ready for Trainz 2010...

Below is my computer information...

Windows XP professional with service pack 3
pci-e gforce 7300gt 256mb vga, dvi, tv-out
asus p5b skt-775 core 2 duo ready ddr2/6blan
320gb maxtor sata hard drive 7200rpm 8mb cache oem
Pentium intel core 2 duo e6600 2.4ghz skt775 fsb1066 4mb cache
2gb 240pin ddr2-667 9pc2-5300) dimm - cl4

I will be upgrading to Windows 7 next month...

Many thanks

Joe Airtime

Can't think of any reason why not, you may have to reinstall the drivers, sometimes when swapping Nvidia cards it will fire up on the existing drivers other times it won't, gave up trying to work out why, best to update them anyway though.

 

[airtime]

Thank you Malc for the quick response,

As long as it works, then I'm a happy chappy, I'll remember to update the drivers, just to make sure everything works fine...

Thank you once again Clam1952 for your valuable time and help...

Joe Airtime

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi

It should be a straight swop but the new card is likely to consume more power. Have a look at the Nvidea website and see what power supply they recomend and then check that your current supply can cope.

Regards

Brian

 

[airtime]

Thanks Brian,

Do you know I was just thinking about that, I have just had a new and more powerful power box installed, because the last one sometimes overheated and then failed to work...

I will check this out just to be on the safe side...

Many thanks Brian for alerting me to this...

Joe Airtime

 

[airtime]

I've just been on the nVidia website and it say's the card I've got, the Geforce 7300GT, it's memory interface is 128-bit.

So this should be more than enough to run Trainz 2010. The new power box I've got, is not even breaking a sweat running the computer, my computer is Vista compatible, even though I have heard horror storys about it, but from what I've been told on here, Windows 7 seems to be the best O/S to go for...

If I get a silver land issue in Trainz 2010, then I will upgrade my graphics card to a PCIe GeForce GTS250 512Mb DDR3 DVI/HDMI, VGA, TV-Out, as this has a memory interface of 256-bit, and it's HD compatible - ooh yes, rubs his hands with glee, so more for your money...

Many thanks guys for all your help...

Joe Airtime

 

[johnwhelan]

I've just been on the nVidia website and it say's the card I've got, the Geforce 7300GT, it's memory interface is 128-bit.

So this should be more than enough to run Trainz 2010. The new power box I've got, is not even breaking a sweat running the computer, my computer is Vista compatible, even though I have heard horror storys about it, but from what I've been told on here, Windows 7 seems to be the best O/S to go for...

If I get a silver land issue in Trainz 2010, then I will upgrade my graphics card to a PCIe GeForce GTS250 512Mb DDR3 DVI/HDMI, VGA, TV-Out, as this has a memory interface of 256-bit, and it's HD compatible - ooh yes, rubs his hands with glee, so more for your money...

Many thanks guys for all your help...

Joe Airtime

The 128 bit refers to the memory connection and you can safely ignore it as in more expensive cards tend to run faster cheaper ones slower and don't worry too much about why. The latest fad in memory for graphics cards is DDR5 its faster cheaper etc etc. but if you stay in the nVidia camp just think in terms of more expensive, faster cheaper slower.

Background reading here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2464.html

Also http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gt-240,2475.html

Note nVidia does not have a DirectX 11 card at the moment so whatever you buy in nVidia will probably need to be replaced next year.

Cheerio John

 

[john259]

You might also need to check the case ventilation fans can cope. The more powerful the card the more heat it gives out.

I think there have been at least two versions of PCI-E. I don't know if cards are compatible across versions. You might need to check this or it might be a total red herring, perhaps someone with more knowledge could comment.

John

 

[airtime]

Thank you John Whelan, your advice is always extremely helpful and very welcoming on here...

I've taken note on what you have said and I'll watch out for the new cards with Direct X 11 included, it saves wasting money now, only to be spent again next year...

Also thank you to John259 who also helped me, I have two fans running in the machine at the minute, I may just add a third just to be on the safe side, I don't want to blow my CPU or any other part of the computer...

Thank you to the two Johns, your advice and help is always appreciated...

Joe Airtime

 

[RRSignal]

There are actually several versions of PCI Express. PCIe 1.x, the older version, is fully compatible with PCIe 2.0, which is the higher-speed version being incorporated into motherboards and cards now. But understand if your motherboard or card conforms to PCIe 1.x, you won't get the extra performance advantage 2.0 gives. PCIe 3.0, the next generation, has not been finalized and it will likely be quite a while after that before it makes it into consumer equipment.