I want to upgrade my graphics card from GeForce 6600

[GhostRyder]

Paint will create an insulated barrier between contacts, rendering the armband useless. If you are going to use the armband, you might as well use it correctly.

I personally have never used an armband, but then I don't have a bad static problem either. Even though I do not use an armband, I would never try to talk anyone out of using them. If I was to work in IT, I think I would make it a habit to safe guard myself as much as possible.

Not enough to make a difference, my obsidian case is painted and while wearing mine hooked to it, there's no static charge discharged while I'm attempting to try to make a static charge. Paint would make a difference, but with the paint on these cases, it really won't make a difference.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Me either- on both counts. As long as you take some basic precautions - don't (dis)assemble on carpet, try to avoid wearing that funky nylon shirt which went out of fashion in 1986, and stop the cat from using the system as a scratching post. Other than that it's all generally good.
Even grounding yourself is something you would find hard not to do when preparing a system for a component swap-out. The only real precaution I tend to take is to press the power on button a few times while the system is off at the wall just to discharge any residual charge held in the motherboard capacitors. I have actually seen someone get a small shock by accidentally brushing against an unpowered motherboard whilst trying to extricate an EPS12V cable.

Agreed, I dont think many people do the moonwalk on the carpet with socks before assembling/disassembling a computer xD.

 

[Jonat]

Delivery of the card should be next week - I added 1GB of ram though, pulled plugs out - and attached crocodile clip/anti-static band to the metal (non painted) bit of the case -plus touched radiator pipe +PSU every now and then.

Was a bit dusty inside as well and the ram seems fine (3GB now)

what's the best way to deal with dust and how much of an impact does it have on PC performance?

 

[dividebyzero]

what's the best way to deal with dust

Canned air ( electrical contact cleaner). A relatively high pressure aerosol that will move most dust (might need more than one blast). Since it under pressure the contents are liquid - it soon evaporates (completely)- the jet is powerful enough to lift and blow away most build-up. Of course you'll be doing the cleaning whilst the system is powered down. Most electrical shops should have it in stock ( here's a UK etailer)

and how much of an impact does it have on PC performance?

Depends upon how much dust build up and where. Usually the worst affected is the CPU heatsink.
Dust build up on its own isn't a major problem, it is the fact that the dust being dry is hydroscopic (attracts and absorbs moisture including water, natural oils from pet hair, tobacco tar) can lead to electrical shorting in a worst case scenario - although more often than not the dust build up is just going to defeat the cooling ability of the system before that happens...

 

[Jonat]

Haa, when I opened it up this time, it was nowhere near that dusty - those pictures are quite extreme.

however, when I took my PC in somewhere a while back to have a look at a faulty CD drive, they commented how dusty it was then, so maybe it looked like that I don't know, but I never saw how dusty it was; they just cleaned it for me - that was the first time it had been looked at in some years so maybe it had accumulated a lot then.

 

[dividebyzero]

Most systems don't get that bad, and the ones that do are generally OEM (Dell, HP/Compaq, Acer etc.) boxes that have minimal (if any) fan filtration, high static pressure fans, and have been sitting under a desk on carpet for years- unmoved and uncared for until they start acting up.
To add insult to injury, OEM's generally discourage the cleaning of their systems by placing tamperproof seals over (and using Philips head screws to secure) the side panels, so even if the user was inclined to clean out the chassis they would have second thoughts after viewing the "Warranty void if removed" seals in place.

 

[SNGX1275]

Just to step in on previous comments. I just touch the side of the case, normally not even because of grounding, just as a brace as I'm lowering myself onto the floor to work on it. I do switch the PSU off, but I never unplug it, lazyness or grounding? who knows, I just do it that way. I've also never killed a part by static. I have killed parts by dealing with them when they are running though, so at least shut the system down.

 

[Jad Chaar]

dividebyzero, that is not a PC, that is a vacuum cleaner LOL.

 

[cliffordcooley]

dividebyzero, that is not a PC, that is a vacuum cleaner LOL.

LOL

Have you ever heard the term "Fight fire with fire"? Here we are "Cleaning PC with a PC".

 

[GhostRyder]

Cleaning your computer should be a monthly thing minimum, I clean the filters on my machine every 2 weeks and blow the whole comp out once a month sometimes (Depending on how it looks). Computers build up dust so easily, I tend to make sure the machines I use/work on stay clean. Plus dust build up on fans can cause them to wear out, get noisy, etc.

 

[Jonat]

Cleaning your computer should be a monthly thing minimum, I clean the filters on my machine every 2 weeks and blow the whole comp out once a month sometimes (Depending on how it looks). Computers build up dust so easily, I tend to make sure the machines I use/work on stay clean. Plus dust build up on fans can cause them to wear out, get noisy, etc.

by 'blow' I guess you mean Canned air ( electrical contact cleaner) like dividebyzero said?

 

[Leeky]

That's got nothing on the contents of my case.....

 

[Jad Chaar]

Cleaning your computer should be a monthly thing minimum, I clean the filters on my machine every 2 weeks and blow the whole comp out once a month sometimes (Depending on how it looks). Computers build up dust so easily, I tend to make sure the machines I use/work on stay clean. Plus dust build up on fans can cause them to wear out, get noisy, etc.

What else do you do to clean your PC other than cleaning filters?

 

[GhostRyder]

What else do you do to clean your PC other than cleaning filters?

1: I take out the filters and clean them off
2: I blow out the radiators, cracks, and crevices on the case
3: blow the fans off
4: clean the mainboard and internal components.

The filters don't prevent all dust from getting in my PC, they limit the amount that gets in, but I'm a clean freak with my machine.

 

[Jonat]

I guess the GT630 does not have an auxiliary power connector - so it should just be plug in the slot + screw in and that is it?

also do I like you said earlier, ignore the CD with it completely, and just install the driver I downloaded form their website?

 

[cliffordcooley]

Yes to both counts.

 

[Jonat]

GT630 is now installed.

and here is the old (and dusty) 6600

bit of a scare when the my screen cable wouldn't fit - only to find a few pins had bent out of place - so that's now fine

 

[cliffordcooley]

I take it everything went well. Congrats and good luck with all future upgrades.

Have you had a chance to test the card with any games? I'm curious to know how much of a difference you have noticed.

 

[Jonat]

Hi,

Installation seemed to go fine. The PC very rarely 'whirs' with fan noise etc - is very quiet which is good.

I had attempted fifa 13 with the 6600 and it was very laggy and not comfortable at all to play - was possible but very laggy, and any high settings didn't even show any images, just the player marker on a black screen with the commentary - although the pre-training bit before the actual game ran extremely smooth.

I now tried the game with the GT630 and the whole menu set up and graphics is brilliant-no lagging - there is some lag/repeat of the in-game music when it initially loads for a few seconds and again just before the football game starts.

The main game itself (with the settings on low) seemed a lot smoother with the possibility to play smooth, but, there was some micro lagging still, which meant ultimate smoothness hasn't been achieved.

Whether I have applied the right settings for my PC with the game I don't know, so I have attached a screen shot of the settings and wondered if you know which I should tick etc?

 

[captaincranky]

To add insult to injury, OEM's generally discourage the cleaning of their systems by placing tamperproof seals over (and using Philips head screws to secure) the side panels, so even if the user was inclined to clean out the chassis they would have second thoughts after viewing the "Warranty void if removed" seals in place.

This isn't true of, (believe it or not), eMachines!

I called them, and they told me I wouldn't void the warranty if added memory or.HDDs. And obviously, you'd have to yank the sides for that.

However, what they neglected to tell me, is they omitted the PCI-E socket entirely! (*)

Imagine my embarrassment when I had to retun the PCI-E video card I bought for it to CompUSA..

(*) On an Intel 915 board that was supposed to be so equipped.

 

[GhostRyder]

I had the same issues with Dell awhile back, I bought a Pentium 4 Machine back in the day because it was on sale thinking that I could upgrade and work on it later (This has been about 9 years ago now) and to my shock, the AGP slot was removed/Never put on...Yea they said I could add stuff to the slots...But I was stuck with a PCI-Bus Graphics card lol.

Jonat, at this point its CPU related, your CPU is holding back the game, you could lower the resolution another notch on the screen settings to try and help it, but that's about the limit of what you will achieve.

 

[Jonat]

GhostRyder

would you be able to look at the settings screen shot and suggest the things to tick that would get the optimum form the game considering my PC

o.e does screen res make a difference to lagging?

 

[St1ckM4n]

Hey Jonat. Your settings screen is set as low as it can go, with the exception of your resolution. If you make this lower, the game will run a LOT smoother.

However, it may also look funny on your screen.

Make sure to choose the correct aspect ratio for your monitor: 1920x1080 = 1280x720 = 16:9, etc.

 

[captaincranky]

by 'blow' I guess you mean Canned air ( electrical contact cleaner) like dividebyzero said?

"Canned air", and, "electrical contact cleaner" are two entirely different things ."Electrical contact is a chloroflourocarbon FLUID, and the "air" is well, just that, a can full of air, (albeit compressed).

And yes, that's what they meant by "blow"!

I have a 5 HP air compressor in my living room. Which BTW, I blow the dlckens out of just about everything in sight, tires, spray guns, DA sanders, and last but not least, the insides of computers.. But, by all accounts, I am quite eccentric.

I had the same issues with Dell awhile back, I bought a Pentium 4 Machine back in the day because it was on sale thinking that I could upgrade and work on it later (This has been about 9 years ago now) and to my shock, the AGP slot was removed/Never put on...Yea they said I could add stuff to the slots...But I was stuck with a PCI-Bus Graphics card lol.

Yeah well, it was at least that embarrassing for me. I treid to stuff the PCI-E video card in the PCI slot, and it actually took me a couple of minutes to figure out why the hell the VGA monitor socket was pointing toward the inside the machine.

On a lighter note. Those were the days of Bestec OEM PSUs, (usually no more than 300 watts, (on a good day, if that). And video cards sucked way more volts per FLOP, or whatever you want to call that. "Amps per FLOP", maybe? So, by sacking the add in graphics card socket, manufacturers circumvented an almost certain warranty claim on their crappy PSUs.

 

[dividebyzero]

I have a 5 HP air compressor in my living room. Which BTW, I blow the dlckens out of just about everything in sight, tires, spray guns, DA sanders, and last but not least, the insides of computers.. But, by all accounts, I am quite eccentric.

In China you'd be less eccentric than paramedic