Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh49
Update -
Pretty much realized that the integrated video card wasn't going to do what I was looking for..
Bought a nvidia 8600 gt video card
Bought a 430 watt power supply
Install of the power supply was a joke. I'm embarassed to have asked about its difficulty. I took one screw off the back to take the side cover off. Marked four cables with blue painters tape as I took them off. Pulled out old power supply. Installed new power supply. Installed four connectors respectively. Done. Maybe took 10 minutes total being slow and careful. And while the old one was out, I installed the video card. Results - incredible. I could not believe it. Night and day difference.
Next day pulled out the video card, and traded up to the nvidia 8800 gts chip.  Holy crap. First off, this thing is a monster. They make laptops the size of this thing. If it was bigger in any direction it wouldn't have fit. It is two cards wide and takes up two slots, the entire top is cooling, and it exhausts in the back. 6 pin connector off the psu as well..
Performance - Unreal. I have no clue how to explain it. Every game I owned I have never seen work or look like this. Every graphics option is maxed out. I see every particle, shadow, detail, in every game now. It runs smooth like water. It's like watching a movie. I was naseous within 2 minutes of playing Halo. This is the performance I was looking for. I am extremely, extremely happy with the results and my new computer now..
Not to mention in windows now instead of adjusting for best performance, I now have it adjusted for best appearance. They run just as fast as each other.
I can't wait to get home from work. I have Flight Simulator 2002 that I want to install, and an old joystick as well. I cannot wait to see how that looks. No more turning down the resolution all the way, turning off the effects, details, etc, and still having choppy results.
Damn. So happy with the results of this system. Upgrading made such a huge difference.. :rocks:
Thank you for all your help in this thread, 533.. |
AHAHAHAHAHA looks like you just found one of the other "speed demons" in you
i actually have the same card as you, its a great card, it covering the other PCI slot is because its top of the line, so they use a much larger heatsink and a larger slower moving fan so noise is reduced to near nothing (theres a folowing of PC builders [like myself] who are aiming for whisper silent systems nowadays)
that cards going to be bottlenecked by your CPU though, and depending on your bios and windows, you may be dedcuting the amount of video ram from your system ram, go into your bios and look for an option like "memmory remapping" but it only works on 64bit vista
anyway heres a few pics of mine
and heres what crazy f-ers like me do to their heatsinks in order to increase cooling effeciency
now return the HP and build your own!:rocks: