help decide on graphic CARD for vista and XP and linux

[greg parker]

this one ASUS N7600GS SILENT/HTD 256MB AGP RETAIL
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=7&l3=320
(the first SILENT ONE)

or this one: Gecube X2600 Pro 512MB
http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.php?prod_cat_pid=198&prod_cat_id=200&prod_id=67864

I dont play games that much, hardly ever.. but I do like having aero and
other cool things...

My questions are 3...

1st, will a 300watt PSU be able to handle these cards? I have a single core
2.6Ghz Pentium 4 CPU
If not how big a PSU must I get??

2nd, does that ATI one make a lot of noise with that fan??? I want it to be
silent...

3rd, I may be dual-triple booting with LINUX (but I will be using XP and
Vista mostly)... does anyone know what card plays better with linux??


I can find the second one, that is more powerful at a cheaper price than the
first one.. but I hate noise!!!

thanks!!!

 

[Stephan Rose]

this one ASUS N7600GS SILENT/HTD 256MB AGP RETAIL
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=7&l3=320 (the first SILENT
ONE)

or this one: Gecube X2600 Pro 512MB
http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.php? prod_cat_pid=198&prod_cat_id=200&prod_id=67864

I dont play games that much, hardly ever.. but I do like having aero and
other cool things...

My suggestion, get an nVidia based card. Any nVidia will do, based on
your budget / needs. I know XP and Linux are definitely not a problem
with nVidia. Vista I suspect by now shouldn't be anymore either but I
have no recent experiences there.

For reference, I am using a 8800 GTX perfectly fine under Linux.

300W PSU may / may not be cutting it a little short depending on the
video card. Particularly with a P4 as they are rather power hungry.

I generally go with about 500-600W on my PSU's. Running a Dual Core
2.4GHz, nVidia 8800GTX, 3 SATA hard drives and a DVD burner.

As far as the fan's go, I wouldn't worry so much about the video card
fan. Usually the nosiest fan in my experience is the crappy stock Intel
CPU fan.

My suggestion, go get a Thermaltake Blue Orb II (or whatever variant is
recent these days) and you'll be much much better off than the stock fan
and much quieter too. Zalman also makes some very excellent fans.

Just make sure you have a decent case that can fit the fans too though as
they tend to be significantly larger than the stock intel fans. That
though is what allows them to spin at lower rpms and therefore be quieter.

--
Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6

å›ã®äº‹æ€ã„出ã™æ—¥ãªã‚“ã¦ãªã„ã®ã¯
å›ã®äº‹å¿˜ã‚ŒãŸã¨ããŒãªã„ã‹ã‚‰

 

[DarkSentinel]

this one ASUS N7600GS SILENT/HTD 256MB AGP RETAIL
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=7&l3=320
(the first SILENT ONE)

or this one: Gecube X2600 Pro 512MB
http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.php?prod_cat_pid=198&prod_cat_id=200&prod_id=67864

I dont play games that much, hardly ever.. but I do like having aero and
other cool things...

My questions are 3...

1st, will a 300watt PSU be able to handle these cards? I have a single
core 2.6Ghz Pentium 4 CPU
If not how big a PSU must I get??

2nd, does that ATI one make a lot of noise with that fan??? I want it to
be silent...

3rd, I may be dual-triple booting with LINUX (but I will be using XP and
Vista mostly)... does anyone know what card plays better with linux??


I can find the second one, that is more powerful at a cheaper price than
the first one.. but I hate noise!!!

thanks!!!

Definitely nVidia. Good price, excellent performance. Website even has a
utility to check your drivers, and tell if you are current.