Half height graphics card

[zuluking]

I bought a HP Slim line 3.2 with built in graphics card. This is an Intel thing that is useless for Trainz.
The agents and computer shops tell me that there is no add in card.
This does not seem right as half height cards are available, The only draw back could be the 240 watt power supply.

 

[saintjimmy]

I'm pretty sure that the fastest half-height graphics card that doesn't require a separate power connector is the ATI Radeon HD 5570 with 1 GB of DDR3 video RAM. There is also the ATI 4650, but it's slightly slower with 512 MB of GDDR2 video RAM.

 

[zuluking]

The 240 watt power supply is a problem.
The spec say 450 watt needed.

 

[SuperFudd]

Check out the NVidea GT220 cards. I am very happy with mine. It came with my PC and I have not opened it up yet but I doubt it has an "external" power connector as it requires little power. (see below). I suspect mine does not even have a fan. Still, Only a 240 W supply would be a problem.

 

[saintjimmy]

Yeah, the 450 watts is just recommended for those who overload their computers with say, 4 hard drives and have high-powered motherboards and processors so their energy consumption would be higher. 240 watts will work fine with any cards that don't need external power. The nVidia GT220 & ATI 4650 would work for lower resolutions (say, 1600 x 900/1440 x 900/1280 x 1024 and below), while the ATI 5570 would work better for 1920 x 1200 and below. The ATI 5570 is more equivalent in performance to an nVidia GT240, and the GT220 is closer to an ATI 5550/4650 in performance.

 

[SuperFudd]

I forgot to mention the GT220, particularly the 1/2 Gig version, is rather small.

 

[zuluking]

Thanks for replies will investigate them.

 

[whitepass]

Check that your computer has a open slot for a graphics card, it may not have one!

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

And if you really are worried about the budget, I got a GeForce G210 graphics card for my PC. If you get a half height card, check if it requires a half height bracket as well. Mine came with a full height bracket (with VGA, HDMI and DVI-D connector) and a half height one (with HDMI and DVI-D).
Aparently, the card requires 300w, but my Dell Optiflex GX280 only has a 160W PSU, with one HD, slimline optical drive, a floppy drive and a half height wireless card. Yet, I have no problems. Better, it draws power from the PCI-E slot.

If you want to look at something that includes Physics-X, I'd look at the 9600GT (by Galaxy if I recall correctly), which is a 57W card of the 9600GT, so is clocked slightly slower.

 

[zuluking]

HP claim that no add on graphic card can be fitted.
I am trying to source something suitable as the dealers appear to give the impression that if we don't have it , then it's not made.

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

HP claim that no add on graphic card can be fitted.
I am trying to source something suitable as the dealers appear to give the impression that if we don't have it , then it's not made.

Not always. What slots do you have? Or what does it look like?

(from http://www.naplestech.com/shopcart/bus_speeds.asp )

Or if you take a photo, that would also help.

 

[zuluking]

The motherboard has the undermentioned slots:
1 PCI Express x1
1 PCI EXPRESS X16
2 PCI

The Geforce G210 card seems to be able to fit , although more expensive that other graphic cards and has 512 meg memory.

 

[tomurban]

The motherboard has the undermentioned slots:
1 PCI Express x1
1 PCI EXPRESS X16
2 PCI

The Geforce G210 card seems to be able to fit , although more expensive that other graphic cards and has 512 meg memory.

Check out the nvidia NVS series 290 or 295. These are fanless cards that run on approximately 20 watts. I am using the 295 in an IBM SFF ThinkCentre with a 230 watt PS and it runs TR2009 just fine. I purchased mine for $40 on ebay. It was a brand new pull from an upgrade. You have many options.

tomurban

 

[SuperFudd]

Compare the wattage of the 210 to the 220. I would not be surprised if the 220 uses less.