cascaderailroad
New member
So having a computer tech diagnose, and test the video card, on his machine would be a waste of time ?
Recomended Video Card and processor.
- Thread starter jrdizzy
- Start date
Gandalf0444
FVRR member
Depends on where you bring it. Where I work we wouldn't charge you anything for that, takes 2 seconds of our time. I wouldn't bother with bringing it to anyone. Unless you have a buddy with a computer who is willing to stick it in there as a favor.
William0d0
Active member
I really like my new Nvidia GTS 450.
I upgraded from a cheesy 9400 card so you gotta take that into consideration.:hehe:
Even with my somewhat dated 2.3ghz dual core processor and aging motherboard the game runs great on big routes such as Summer UMR 2010 and this video card really kicks in some great performance with other games such as FSX.
I upgraded from a cheesy 9400 card so you gotta take that into consideration.:hehe:
Even with my somewhat dated 2.3ghz dual core processor and aging motherboard the game runs great on big routes such as Summer UMR 2010 and this video card really kicks in some great performance with other games such as FSX.
A couple of years ago my old PC crashed and I took it to the only local computer shop.They told me the hard drive was cooked and replaced with a new one, charging me £60. I asked them for the old one back and chucked it in my junk box at home.Having built my new PC I tried wiring the 2 old HDDs from my old PC to it then out of curiosity tried the "cooked" one. Whaddya know, in device manager it said "This device is working properly". I tried moving files to and and from it, and it WAS working normally.
You stated that you had a 300W power supply. Be aware that modern video cards, with the power you require, will need nearly that for themselves. When I upgraded to my NVIDIA GT220 I also had to beef up my power supply to a 475W unit.
If your power supply isn't up to snuff you'll start to get puzzling power-downs with no warning OR the video will just go nuts.
@Lewisner: Most techs will mark a HD as 'bad' if the OS won't boot up any more due to some damaged areas on the disk. That won't stop you from doing exactly what you did - mounting it as a spare drive. I do that all the time when I upgrade to a larger drive.
Bill
If your power supply isn't up to snuff you'll start to get puzzling power-downs with no warning OR the video will just go nuts.
@Lewisner: Most techs will mark a HD as 'bad' if the OS won't boot up any more due to some damaged areas on the disk. That won't stop you from doing exactly what you did - mounting it as a spare drive. I do that all the time when I upgrade to a larger drive.
Bill
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@Lewisner: Most techs will mark a HD as 'bad' if the OS won't boot up any more due to some damaged areas on the disk. That won't stop you from doing exactly what you did - mounting it as a spare drive. I do that all the time when I upgrade to a larger drive"
Oh, OK. I used Killdisk to erase it and was going to try selling it on Ebay, obviously saying what the original problem was. Do you think it would be good to sell it?
Got to say I also thought Cascades PSU was unusually small for a modern PC - my first PC bought in 2003 had a 400W one.
My new PC has a CoolerMaster 700W and even that is possibly a bit low.
Oh, OK. I used Killdisk to erase it and was going to try selling it on Ebay, obviously saying what the original problem was. Do you think it would be good to sell it?
Got to say I also thought Cascades PSU was unusually small for a modern PC - my first PC bought in 2003 had a 400W one.
My new PC has a CoolerMaster 700W and even that is possibly a bit low.
Here's what I did with five of my old HD's (ranging from 10G to 150G):
I used an old gutted tower and mounted all five drives in it, then I bought five of these which work wonderfully well. When I added a six-port USB hub and hooked all the power supplies to a strip I mounted inside the case I then had an expansion HD tower for practically pennies. It hooks to my one working computer through a single 2.0 USB port and I can keep my projects on separate drives (M:-Q: )
EDIT: There are adapters like these for cheaper than NewEgg, but when I bought them they were only $15 each.
Bill
I used an old gutted tower and mounted all five drives in it, then I bought five of these which work wonderfully well. When I added a six-port USB hub and hooked all the power supplies to a strip I mounted inside the case I then had an expansion HD tower for practically pennies. It hooks to my one working computer through a single 2.0 USB port and I can keep my projects on separate drives (M:-Q: )
EDIT: There are adapters like these for cheaper than NewEgg, but when I bought them they were only $15 each.
Bill
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I have 8 sata hard drives in my computer ranging from 500 gig to to 2 TB per disk
2 nvidia GTX 580 video cards
12 gig of DDR3 dominator C8
Motherboard Gigabyte UD7 BIOS F7
CPU Intel 930 overclocked to 3.6 MHZ
1200 WATT power supply silverstone
case coolermaster full tower
can't wait for the new CPU Ivy bridge to come out ,
bigger is better to run Trainz however it will only run as good as your hardware allows it to .
steve
2 nvidia GTX 580 video cards
12 gig of DDR3 dominator C8
Motherboard Gigabyte UD7 BIOS F7
CPU Intel 930 overclocked to 3.6 MHZ
1200 WATT power supply silverstone
case coolermaster full tower
can't wait for the new CPU Ivy bridge to come out ,
bigger is better to run Trainz however it will only run as good as your hardware allows it to .
steve
cascaderailroad
New member
I bought my PC in 2007 (HP n8100m-Vista-3Gb Ram-500Gb Hard Drive, Circuit City (now bankrupt) They swapped out the factory video card with a e-GT GeForce 8500 GT (which specs say: Reqirements 400 Watt Power supply or greater) Note: My factory power supply is only 300 Watts. However this video card worked well for any years, since 2007.
I got a blue screen in 2010, and a Tech took me to the bank laughing all the way. I could have bought a brand new Windows 7 HP Desktop with a upgraded video card for the repair price $600 he charged me. He said the Hard Drive was no longer being read ( I still have it). He installed Windows 7 on my Vista machine, and a 1Tb Hard Drive (an additional $ 400 in hardware).
Now in 2011: "Video Display has stopped ... and has sucessfully recovered".
The when startingTrainz either the screen goes distorted wavy colors, or the error Blue Screen-"A problem has been detected and Windows has shut down to prevent damage to your PC ... Attempt to reset the display driver and recover timeout failed".
At Staples there is a
PNY GeForce 8400 GS PCI Low Profile 512 MB Verto Graphics Card (which some gave bad reviews)
for $ 79 USD ... that is for 300 Watt Power supply.
Also there is a:
PNY GeForce 210 1GB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® 210 Graphics Card solution
High Definition 1080p Display Support
For $ 99 USD ... that is for 300 Watt Power supply.
PNY GeForce GT 240 1GB PCI-Express Graphics Card for $ 139
I was tempted to buy it today, just to get things back to running again.
But I am wondering what other high quality Video Cards will run on my 300 Watt power supply ?
Or should I upgade to a 500 or 750 Watt (or greater) Power supply ? Which might not be compatable with my PC ? ? ?
Note: I'm only half a PC Dummie ... But a sucker is born every minute. (Me)
They have some nice (factory) Desktops from $ 500- $ 900 that seem great, but would need a video card upgrade.
As well as some (factory) 17" laptops that would also require a video card upgrade.
One of their 17" HP laptops has 1 Gb Dedicated Graphic for under $ 1000
I am under the understanding that the processor speed is the most important thing when selecting a PC, as well as the video card.
Also that an AMD Phenom, Athelon, or Intel, or Pentium, or Core Duo, or, I-3, I-5, I-7 Processor is all the difference ... so very confusing
If I weren't so addicted to computers ... I would give it all up and go back to Analog-DC "HO" Model Railroading
I got a blue screen in 2010, and a Tech took me to the bank laughing all the way. I could have bought a brand new Windows 7 HP Desktop with a upgraded video card for the repair price $600 he charged me. He said the Hard Drive was no longer being read ( I still have it). He installed Windows 7 on my Vista machine, and a 1Tb Hard Drive (an additional $ 400 in hardware).
Now in 2011: "Video Display has stopped ... and has sucessfully recovered".
The when startingTrainz either the screen goes distorted wavy colors, or the error Blue Screen-"A problem has been detected and Windows has shut down to prevent damage to your PC ... Attempt to reset the display driver and recover timeout failed".
At Staples there is a
PNY GeForce 8400 GS PCI Low Profile 512 MB Verto Graphics Card (which some gave bad reviews)
for $ 79 USD ... that is for 300 Watt Power supply.
Also there is a:
PNY GeForce 210 1GB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® 210 Graphics Card solution
High Definition 1080p Display Support
For $ 99 USD ... that is for 300 Watt Power supply.
PNY GeForce GT 240 1GB PCI-Express Graphics Card for $ 139
I was tempted to buy it today, just to get things back to running again.
But I am wondering what other high quality Video Cards will run on my 300 Watt power supply ?
Or should I upgade to a 500 or 750 Watt (or greater) Power supply ? Which might not be compatable with my PC ? ? ?
Note: I'm only half a PC Dummie ... But a sucker is born every minute. (Me)
They have some nice (factory) Desktops from $ 500- $ 900 that seem great, but would need a video card upgrade.
As well as some (factory) 17" laptops that would also require a video card upgrade.
One of their 17" HP laptops has 1 Gb Dedicated Graphic for under $ 1000
I am under the understanding that the processor speed is the most important thing when selecting a PC, as well as the video card.
Also that an AMD Phenom, Athelon, or Intel, or Pentium, or Core Duo, or, I-3, I-5, I-7 Processor is all the difference ... so very confusing
If I weren't so addicted to computers ... I would give it all up and go back to Analog-DC "HO" Model Railroading
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Any new PCI-e card should also include an upgrade for your stock Power Supply. You can find great buys online, or at computer stores that will beef up your current configuration by 100 to 200W. You have to make sure of the 'footprint' of the PS though. For example: fan on top, fan out back, fan inside case (rare) and the like. You also need to know how strong the PCI-e plug is (the one that plugs into the video card). The specs for the video card should tell you how much drain on the PCI-e cable will be.
Bill
Bill
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Well I have an 8400GS you can have if you cover the shipping I think it still works. But you still may need an upgrade on the PSU.
Here's a good online power calculator:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
With that said, I like to use a minimum 700-750W PSU, for comfort as well as leaving lots of room for drives. I tend to retask machines over time so it's good to have a safety margin even though I usually don't overclock. Here are some:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=106&name=Power-Supplies
Here's a good online power calculator:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
With that said, I like to use a minimum 700-750W PSU, for comfort as well as leaving lots of room for drives. I tend to retask machines over time so it's good to have a safety margin even though I usually don't overclock. Here are some:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=106&name=Power-Supplies
The video cards around and gtx9800 to and after for a number of models are fine if you are running small to average routes , reguardless some people say small cards are ok,,,,,,but do you want a video card to last you a few months or 2 or 3 years
that is what you must think about ,if money is a problem yes go the lesser card ,if not plain for the future,
i have 2 gtx 9800 1gig nvidia cards and both in SLI mode will not run the route i am building now if they do it is very slow,
and some people say that SLI or Crossfire will not make any difference in Trainz ,well it does so these may be people who don't have SLI or Crossfire
its not a super amount but it does help,
video cards are only 1 part of your computer
motherboard
ram
cpu
pws
videocard
hard drive
all of these make your computer work well or fail go cheap on one and it will effect it all .
there is the truth
so buy for the future if you can .
NEVER go over your budget dont go into owing money for a computer game to run well ,,,there are far more important things in life
steve
that is what you must think about ,if money is a problem yes go the lesser card ,if not plain for the future,
i have 2 gtx 9800 1gig nvidia cards and both in SLI mode will not run the route i am building now if they do it is very slow,
and some people say that SLI or Crossfire will not make any difference in Trainz ,well it does so these may be people who don't have SLI or Crossfire
its not a super amount but it does help,
video cards are only 1 part of your computer
motherboard
ram
cpu
pws
videocard
hard drive
all of these make your computer work well or fail go cheap on one and it will effect it all .
there is the truth
so buy for the future if you can .
NEVER go over your budget dont go into owing money for a computer game to run well ,,,there are far more important things in life
steve
cascaderailroad
New member
HP say's that any power supply installed over 300 Watts would damage my PC.
Is that really true.
If so ... I will need a Video Card that will have specs of 300 Watt max.
There are a couple 512 Mb, as well as several 1Gb video cards that work with a 300 Watt Power Supply ... but I do not think any of the super duper, high end, 1-2 Gb, video cards will be compatable.
When a PC Dummie, like me, thinks of: Overclocking ... Is that when you oversleep, and end up late for work ?
Is that really true.
If so ... I will need a Video Card that will have specs of 300 Watt max.
There are a couple 512 Mb, as well as several 1Gb video cards that work with a 300 Watt Power Supply ... but I do not think any of the super duper, high end, 1-2 Gb, video cards will be compatable.
When a PC Dummie, like me, thinks of: Overclocking ... Is that when you oversleep, and end up late for work ?
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cascaderailroad
New member
Not as old as me ... I bought it in 2007 ... back then Vista OS - 3 Gb ram, 500 Hard drive was a top end PC @ $ 1300 with a upgraded video card.
Today a PC like that is @ $ 300 ... Har ! Har !
I saw a factory HP Desktop that had 7 Gb Ram, and a 1 Tb Hard Drive for @ $ 900 ... I think it would also need a video card upgrade though.
As soon as I find a pound of twenties ... I am buying both a $ 1000 desktop and laptop ... and if I win the lottey I am going to buy a whirlybird, and a brand new tractor.
Today a PC like that is @ $ 300 ... Har ! Har !
I saw a factory HP Desktop that had 7 Gb Ram, and a 1 Tb Hard Drive for @ $ 900 ... I think it would also need a video card upgrade though.
As soon as I find a pound of twenties ... I am buying both a $ 1000 desktop and laptop ... and if I win the lottey I am going to buy a whirlybird, and a brand new tractor.
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It does, since when?
I’ve tested Cross Fire and SLI in the past with Trainz as well as a lot of other CPU dependent games. Multiple GPU’s do nothing to help performance with CPU dependent games unless you are running very high resolution with AA cranked way up and even then it’s questionable.
With all testing that i have done on big routes because on small it makes no difference cause the route isant big enough anyway both sli and crossfire do so make a difference ,
i dont know what size route you are testing however i do know that if im on a route of lets say 100 to 500 base boards and i turn of sli or crossfire i will soon turn it back on ,im not talking of 5 or 6 trees at a station im talking hundreds,i am not a tech head however the guys on Anandtech state that the GPUs take some of the work off the CPU.
I do run Trainz at max settings to get the best out of it .
i would like you to do a test to show you that your GPU on your video card does help to run Trainz ,,,,,,ok delete your video card drivers or pull out your video card from your computer ,,,,now how well does Trainz run now without them,,,not that good a ,,,so your gpu does do something after all
Gigabye UD7
CPU INTEL I7 930 overclocked to 3.6MHZ pushing for 4.2MHZ
12 GIG 1600 Dominator C8 DDR3 RAM
2 X Nvidia GTX 580 video cards
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
1200 watt pws silverstone
coolermaster full tower case
regards steve
i dont know what size route you are testing however i do know that if im on a route of lets say 100 to 500 base boards and i turn of sli or crossfire i will soon turn it back on ,im not talking of 5 or 6 trees at a station im talking hundreds,i am not a tech head however the guys on Anandtech state that the GPUs take some of the work off the CPU.
I do run Trainz at max settings to get the best out of it .
i would like you to do a test to show you that your GPU on your video card does help to run Trainz ,,,,,,ok delete your video card drivers or pull out your video card from your computer ,,,,now how well does Trainz run now without them,,,not that good a ,,,so your gpu does do something after all
Gigabye UD7
CPU INTEL I7 930 overclocked to 3.6MHZ pushing for 4.2MHZ
12 GIG 1600 Dominator C8 DDR3 RAM
2 X Nvidia GTX 580 video cards
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
1200 watt pws silverstone
coolermaster full tower case
regards steve
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So are you telling us that when you run a “big” route in Trainz it uses more of the GPU’s resources then when you run a “small” one?
In other words a “big” route according to you will magically turn the Trainz game engine from being primarily CPU dependent to GPU dependent?
The most detailed default routes in TS2010 with all the options at their highest settings, at least 1920x1080 resolution with 8xAA “supersampling”AA/16xAF enabled.
[FONT="]I’ve got a better idea, post some screen shots with Fraps using one of the more detailed default routes at the above mentioned settings with SLI enabled and disabled and let’s see the difference.[/FONT]