Question: Internal Power

[Dog--]

Ok, so I finally received my new graphics card today (FINALLY done with that god awful 5600FX! Had it for like 6 years!), and I can run all my favorite games at max, and then some, but I'm still wondering about a message windows gave me, plus I didn't find in the manual..

In the manual it said I need to connect my card (it's a 7600GT btw) to an internal power source, and then when it was all installing the software and everything it said my cards performance will be lowered because there is no internal power..

Thing is, I don't know if I have internal power (my computer was built top of the line somewhere around 2002-2003, and I mean top of the line, cost me like $3000 or more) - Will a card without internal power run alot slow then normal?

Also - There is a cord that could fit the internal power cable, thing is it looks like it's connected to my drives, is that the internal power cable? Plus, on the cable that came with the card, it goes from 1 input thing (you push into the card), then splits out into 2 output things, do I need to use both? Because if the thing attached to my drives is the power thing, there is only 1 thing to plug it into.

To put it simply.

- Will my card run ALOT slower without internal power?
- Is the cable connected to my drives the internal power in question?
- Do I need to use both connecting things on the cable that came with my card?

Obviously it'll junk down the cards top performance, but will it be alot?

I'm not sure if I have internal power because yes, there is that one cord, but thing is - my old card didn't use it, but then again, it was an old card.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Probably the pci-e power connector. It comes from your power supply to the graphics card (the top right corner, 6 holes).

 

[Dog--]

AGP.. (I hate it, if it wasn't for AGP/PCI I'd have a 8800gt by now)

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Your card will run slower if not connected to the power supply, as the AGP slot doesn't provide enough power by itself. The question is what power supply do you have? Is it powerful enough to handle that card.

 

[Dog--]

ok, I made a mistake.

In this picture you see the two end that go out from the one end? Well one of those 2 will fit into my graphics card (I guess there are 2 for people who have 2 graphics cards? My graphics card only has 1 slot to fit ONE of those TWO), and I find there are 2 connectors that will fit the other end (the end with where the other 2 split from), but they are still attached to my drives.

How would I find out my power supply? Like I said this computer was built by some strangers in a computer shop like 5-6 years ago, I know very little about this computer.

 

[Asus]

Performance will be a lot slower. GPUs need full power or they run in a low power mode. Maybe 2d clock speeds.

Older cards used floppy power connectors and molex ones like in your picture. The 7600 may use that kind but most any more use a 6pin or 8 pin. They all use the same type of power (12v) but just a different pin setup.

You can get a cable that converts the 4 pin power (in your picture) to a 6pin PCI-Express power connector for today's GPUs. All GPUs in the last few years I have got come with one of those adapters in the box.

 

[Dog--]

Well, like I said, my computer is AGP, and older then dirt, so if it does have internal power thing, chances are it's the 4-pin anyways, I wouldn't need a converter.

IS there any way to find out if I have internal power, and what kind?

Would it hurt if I tried to hook it up using all the fitting cables that I see? I can tell because every time my computer boots up it gives me a message saying 'power to video card blah blah'. But I don't want to try if it's not safe cause I don't want to blow my computer up.

 

[Asus]

It wouldn't matter if it's AGP or PCI-Express slot. The power connector on the end would be one of the 4 standards (floppy, 4pin molex, 6pin gpu or 8pin gpu) and they are not tied to what kind of slot you have. The 6 and 8 pin are just 'labeled' PCI-E but it doesn't mean it only works with PCI-Express cards. Here is an AGP video card that requires an 8pin "PCI-E" power plug.

It's weird because I didn't remember the 7600gt having any plug on the end of the card. Are you sure it isn't a 7900? Or is it just a factory OCed 7600GT?
Would probably look like this (black thing on the bottom right).

That's a 6pin.

 

[Dog--]

Yes, it is a 7600GT, but it's Superclocked (says on the box). Also - Why does it say e-geforce? Whats the difference between that and Geforce??

And again - would it hurt anything if I tried using the plugs that fit it? Or will random plugs screw things up?

 

[PimpinPenguin]

The thing i would watch out the most is your power supply. Store bought PCs tend to come with the minimum PSUs possible, so they can just about power the components in it. Anything more and they blow. If i were you i would check this. The only way to find this is to look on the sticker on the side of it. The PSU shouldn't be hard to find as it's quite big and you plug goes into it. Your PSU should be at least 350 Watts for that Graphics card.

 

[Dog--]

Ok, so I hooked the graphics card up to my power supply thing (when I followed the wires into that box, and realized that's where the power plug goes into the computer, I finally realized that's where the power is from, yea I'm stupid), and then turned it back on and I got no 'power supply gfx card blah blah' message, I figured it was all good. Then I came here and read PiminPenguin's post, so I took it apart (for the hundredth time today), and checked - it said 300W.

Hopefully that won't explode? 300 is close enough to 350, right? RIGHT?! I'll be pissed if I have to spend this weeks paycheck on more shit.. I was hoping I could jsut buy another gig of RAM and be done with upgrading my computer until they make a DX10 ard available for AGP.


And off-topic: Could anyone tell me WHY I can't run World in Conflict, I'm looking at the box right now and it says:

2.4 GHZ
7600GT
1GB RAM

I have all EXACTLY that, except I've got 2.6 GHz! I can only run the game on medium, wtf is going on here?

 

[Dog--]

I can run STALKER pretty much full everything, resolution at 1024x768, I turned Anti-Aliasing off (I haven't tried the game with it, so who knows I may be able to run even with that), so wtf World in Conflict!

I also noticed the heat on this thing, behind my PC (where all the hot air gets blown out) is fairly warm, I only played STALKER for like 20 minutes, luckily the vents where the air gets sucked in (beside and in the front of the PC) are where all the really cold air is (central aired house, it's atleast 69 near the computer at all times).

 

[Asus]

Even though the 7600gt didn't need a lot of juice compared to other cards of it's time...300watts is pushing it. Especially since your card needs a extra power plug while the normal 7600gt didn't (yours probably performs a bit better but also draws more power). And the label '300 watts' doesn't say a lot. You would have to check the sticker on the power supply for how many Amps (18A, 20A?) is on the +12V on the chart on the sticker. That is what the GPU would use out of the different specs the PSU supplies.

The amps in this example would be 35A.

Although the fact that it is running is a good sign. Just don't count on that to be always the case if it turns out you are stressing your power supply with the extra use.

 

[Dog--]

Well, would it just fry the card or would it damage any other part of my PC? Because the card frying I can handle, I got an extra, but if it screws up my PC..

 

[Saturos]

Dog-- is that a picture you snapped yourself? LOL I noticed the logitech speaker in the corner. Looks like the same model as the ones I use for my 2.1 setup.

 

[Dog--]

I got them so long ago, and they still work like new, Logitech got the speaker down, that's for sure.