Graphic Card

[Joachim]

Graphic Card:
Much has been discussed on this subject but still questions come up.

Can anyone give me some direction, info, if buying the PNY GeForce 9800 BT EE 1024 MB
Card for improving FSX is OK?

[Skycat]

Will it fit your graphics card slot? When I was shopping cards last year, I came to the conclusion that GeForce 9000 series cards were too thick because of the design of the cooling fan so I got a 8600 GT card instead. This was for a computer that was only a few months old at that time.

[GlennC]

Something else to consider is power. If I remember right, the 9800 requires a second power supply beyond what it gets from the bus. If you have another plug from the power supply and the room, then it's a good card. I have a GTX260 now - its even bigger and needs two extra power connections.

Glenn

[albertsch]

Something else to consider is power. If I remember right, the 9800 requires a second power supply beyond what it gets from the bus. If you have another plug from the power supply and the room, then it's a good card. I have a GTX260 now - its even bigger and needs two extra power connections.

Glenn

A good point to also consider is the size of the power supply in your computer. It avails little how many unused connectors one has if the output of the supply cannot provide sufficient current. Most off-the-shelf desktops have very little "surplus." One can violate traffic laws, tax laws, marriage laws and even in-laws, but you can't get away with violating Ohm's Law.

[Joachim]

albertsch,
Yes Pwr supply was my first check.
This card needs 400-450 Watt supply.
I may want to swich with the new supply I had put into the old game cmptr.

[JJB17463rdBombGroup]

I always choose a higher tier (trusted brand) power supply over the minimum requirements with power to spare.So for a single beefy graphics card I usually choose one of around 600 to 650 watts (even if 400 watts or 450 watts are the minimum requirements) and usually 850 watts or more for 2 beefy graphics cards.
It can't hurt and puts less strain on the power supply.I usually want at least 100 watts (minimum) to 250 watts (about the maximum) capacity left to spare after calculating the wattage.
My last years system had a 880 watt power supply and this years 850 watt.
I chose this in case I decide to use 2 beefy graphics cards (maybe?) on those 2 systems.
So far my choice was perhaps overkill but at least I have a lot of spare power left over.

If the requirement was for a minimum 400 watt power supply I'd probably pick a 550 watt at the least higher tier name brand power supply.You never know as you might put in an add in card like a Digital TV Tuner card or something else.It's better to have spare power and less strain on the power supply than to be right in the middle of heavy gaming having your system unexpectantly shut down due to excessive power usage.Also using a insufficient or old power supply can cause component failure taking out not only the power supply but possibly the motherboard and CPU as well.

You can always use an online power supply calculator to make certain that you have correctly chosen the right wattage capacity.
The more optical drives you have or more hard drives you will also need extra power for these too.
Also power supplies have efficiency ratings the higher the better.