Hi guys,

My first thread in this forum. I need some useful advices on my case. I have recently bought this card mentioned in the subject and expected to be an extreme gamer. However, the result made me so disappointed. The card did not run very well on Fear expansion, Overlord and Flight Simulator X... Whatever games i tried, they seem not to be at their best resolution. Even i tried using 1024 x 768 resolution, still very laggy. Overall, the result is not what it is supposed to be for this high end card. So i need some advices on how to solve this case, what should i change to increase performance in my system? Specs given in attachments.

This is a brief specs:

Microsoft Windows XP SP2
Intel Pentium D 2.8GHZ
Gigabyte Geforce 320MB 8800 GTS
1Gb Kingmax RAM single channel
P5LD2 - TVM Asus Motherboard (PCI-E), intel 945G chipset
160GB hard drive
Power Logic 500W (250W pure power) power supply

I read the manual instruction of the card and it said to have minimum 2GB of RAM for better performance. Could this be the problem since i only have 1GB RAM single channel? Also the requirements also said to have a power supply of 400W to be able to run this card. 400W here is pure power or just standard?

I have attached the details of my specs in the attachment for anyone who wanna have a clear look at my case.

Thank you all and i am hoping to get back some replies ASAP.

Intel Pentium D 2.8GHZ with this processer u are not going to be an extreme gamer and 2 gig of mem. would be better for most any thing.

I use an EVGA Nvidia 8800 GTS SC 320mb and have had only the best response so far. I wish you luck.

Ok then can you tell me your system specs? I need to make a comparison. Thanks.

The 8800 series cards (G80 chipset) were really meant to run on fast machines AND at much higher resolutions than 1024X768. I've got an XFX 8800 GTX card running on an AMD 64 Athlon X2 5200+ with my monitor set at 1440X900 (widescreen) and it looks great. I'm about to purchase another monitor running higher resolutions. This is where the card really shines and the specs make a considerable jump.

Wow, I am surprised that the video card will even run with a 250 watt psu. You may want to consider an upgrade to at least a 450w good brand psu. FSP make very good ones that are relatively inexpensive (here).

Also, your cpu is probably bottlenecking the card and your memory is definitely a bottleneck. I'm assuming you have just one 1GB memory module. If this is the case, get another 1GB module of the same type, this should help.

definitly get a better PSU at least 400 if not 600w but get 12v dual rail and definitly get 2 gigs of good quality ram, not that value ram stuff. Also remember just because you have a high power card dosn't mean it will nessesarily make your system run faster, its only as good as your lowest system part....

So definitely it is the problem with power supply and the RAM. Could it be the processor too? So far i know that this specs is fine with the card and the power supply is 500W but true power is 250W, still comp still can be run.

Sigh, i just wanna know specifically the problem so i can fix once and for all. My budget is low now after the purchase of the card.

face it u spent too much on a card if this is the case, u really needed a better computer for that card. check my speks. in my profile and I am really running at the bottom for this card.

This is true of all the 8800 series cards except the 8800GTS 320. It's 320MB memory doesn't allow it to run at higher resolutions very well.

Rickhoang, you should get a new CPU, preferably a Core 2, as they are the fastest, and they will fit in your current motherboard. Also, you should get another GB of RAM. 1GB doesn't cut it anymore for a high end machine. But before you get those, you need a new PSU.

Many people skimp on their power supplies, but that is a huge mistake. The power supply is the most important part of the computer, because it powers everything, and thus, is the only part of the computer that can affect every single component in the computer. Therefore, if it is of low quality and provides too much voltage to a certain area, it could fry the components that use that particular rail of the PSU. Or it could fail, and low quality PSUs have a tenancy to take most of the rest of the computer out with them when they fail. So before you spend money on upgrades, you should get a new, high quality PSU. It's kind of like insurance for your PC.

Thanks all for helping. Appreciate that. A lesson for me then. Sigh

hallo rickoang,i have a question to u though it may sound silly.i'm currently using a geforce 6200 card and planning to buy a new 8600gt.so far with 6200,i didn't have to think about any power connector or good power supply unit,i simply used to put the card in the motherboard socket,but now i'm seeing that the card 8600gt comes with a 6 pin pci-e power connector. now my question is whether the card itself requires to be connected to an externel power supply with the above mentioned 6 pin pci-e connector or any other power connector provided.please reply...

Hhmm, well i think with all new generation card, you need to connect it with the power supply, the 6200 definitely does not need that much power to be functional but the new 8600gt definitely will. I guess you should prepare a spare pin for your new card. If not then the card will not work at all.

i'm using an 8800gts and have been floored by its abilities. It runs all games i've thrown at it at 1440x900 4x AA and everything else high. You likely need more power, and that pentium D is really not good.

No, the 8600GT does not require it. The 8600GTS does.

Larry, what's your RAM?

For someone who sunk so much money into an 8800gts, you don't really have good specs....

Like mentioned over and over again, you need a few new components to really see the *shine* from your 8800 card.

CPU, RAM, PSU, those are the most important bits to change at the moment.

I'd personally change the motherboard out too, but that would give a minimal improvement, but a huge one when you take overclocking the new Core2Duo into account.

The best thing you probably can do is to sell that computer (but keep the 8800gts), and buy whole new parts.

Yeah that Pentium D is definitely bottlenecking the card. A cheap Core 2 Duo would do the trick (of course you still need another PSU, and faster RAM).
I have this CPU, and if you overclock it to at least 2.4Ghz, believe me, it's very fast
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115013

With that CPU, more and faster RAM (dual channel preferably), another PSU (I recommend FSP Group), and that 8800GTS, you'll have a killer system

Even with 320MB of RAM, that 8800GTS easily outclasses any 7900GTX or X1950XTX