NVIDIA GeForce GT 230, any good?

[rah66jr]

OK awesome you guys have been very helpful... thank you so much! I have one more question tho! Can I put a PCIE 2.0 compatible card in a regular PCIEx16 slot? I am not sure if my PCIE slot is 2.0 or not... I think it's just regular.

Here are the listed specs on what I have-

Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9300 Memory (RAM) 8GB Type of Memory DDR3 Memory Expandable to 8GB Hard Drive Size 1TB Hard Drive Type SATA Optical Drive Blu-ray player Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition Network Card Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT230 graphics card Display None Other ports Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader # of USB slots 5 TV Tuner None Dimensions 7.05"(W) x 16.85" (L/D) x 15.79" (H) approx. Warranty 1 year Space Saving Design No Extra Features Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader, Blu-ray player

[computernerd]

Are ya sure you need DDR3 RAM?

[Zamamee]

There's no real reason not to get DDR3, although I think 8GB is a little overkill, considering the price of 4GB DIMMs.

[rah66jr]

DDR3 is just what came with the system.... I figure if you overkill then it will be longer before you have to spend precious money to upgrade! Also why I got the 1TB harddrive haha.

[computernerd]

Oh ok, I thought you were building it yourself.

[kow_ciller]

Yes, that board has a 2.0 slot. But even if it wasn't it would be more than fine in a 1.0 slot as long as its 16x. The one thing to make sure you have on your rig is a big enough power supply. Take the side panel off and check the wattage and the amperage ratings on the 12v rail.
If you have a pre-built system I would suggest getting a 4870 1gb card. You wont have the ability to overclock your processor and relieve the bottleneck you have so the extra overclocking headroom the 4890 has would be all but wasted.

[rah66jr]

I am looking at this one - Newegg.com - MSI R4890 Cyclone OC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - It's more than I wanna pay but I figure I can make up the difference by selling the x1950 and 230 that I am currently holding. I like it because according to the reviews it has a quiet fan and great performance.... anyone know anything about msi? Never heard anything about that brand. Do you think I'll have overheating problems? I have liked HIS because it doesn't have heat issues for me but LOUD fan and my PC is in my bedroom haha... not good for sleeping.

[kow_ciller]

Dont do it. You see those vregs on the card that have no heatsinks on them? Say bye to your card in time. MSI apparently missed the fact that they get amazingly hot. I have mine completely covered in heatsinks and even have a fan just to blow on them and they still get to 100*C. BTW, what resolution monitor are you running? If its anything under 1080p I would stick with a 4870 1gb.

[Mr. Pedantic]

DDR3 is just what came with the system.... I figure if you overkill then it will be longer before you have to spend precious money to upgrade! Also why I got the 1TB harddrive haha.

In terms of memory, you figure wrong. DDR3 is completely wasted on Core 2, it offers no real improvement over DDR2 at all.

[computernerd]

^ Exactly my point, DDR3 is not worth the higher cost.

Originally Posted by kow_ciller

I have mine completely covered in heatsinks and even have a fan just to blow on them and they still get to 100*C. BTW, what resolution monitor are you running? If its anything under 1080p I would stick with a 4870 1gb.

100oC, what the hell? I'm surprised it hasn't melted by now.