My video card is acting weird...or my pc is...

[jordanecmusic]

Ok first off...I'm new here and I am in dire need of assistance.

To settle things first, specs.
I took a Dell Inspiron 530 and put a GPU in it...soooo

PSU: 300Watt
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.54ghz
GPU: EVGA Geforce 240 DDR5 512MB
RAM: 2 Gigs of ram (note i had to take 1 gig out cause it kept bsod'ing on me cause of that for some odd reason idk why. It wasn't bad ram mind you)


Whats wrong? Quake 4 runs smooth like butter, then frame drops, then runs smooth again! Left 4 dead 2 does this also, but not part 1. Can anyone help me resolve this issue?

 

[viivo]

Pretty sure it's the power supply. Can you replace it or does Dell use some proprietary size?

 

[jordanecmusic]

its replaceable.

 

[Nik]

Welcome to Anandtech. You'll see a giant list of forums available. One of them is Computer Help. This is not the Computer Help forum.

 

[zebrax2]

The BSOD caused when inserting both ram could be because of the PSU. As for the stutter that may be due lack of ram

 

[viivo]

It could also be background programs. Do you have antivirus, security, etc. things running while you play?

 

[Arkaign]

Yeah running with 1GB is gonna cause issues. Even WinXP + 1GB Ram + current patches/AV will run boggy with that just sitting at the desktop, let alone trying to run Q4.

I heavily recommend comboing this :

a 4GB ram kit (get it while you can, prices will probably continue to float up as DDR2 slowly fades away)

and

a ~500w or so decent PSU. Antec has always been good to me, but there are a number of good choices.

 

[toyota]

even at that wall his pc would use well under 150 watts.

 

[frozentundra123456]

yea, that PSU should be more than enough. It could still be defective though. I am running an E4500 and a low power 9800GT on a 300 watt PSU.

 

[wuliheron]

Its a disposable multimedia computer that was never designed for gaming and power supplies are still one of the biggest scams in computers. Just because it says 300w doesn't mean it can produce anywhere near 300w. As far as Dell is concerned, if the power supply last longer then the warranty its good to go.

 

[Arkaign]

Its a disposable multimedia computer that was never designed for gaming and power supplies are still one of the biggest scams in computers. Just because it says 300w doesn't mean it can produce anywhere near 300w. As far as Dell is concerned, if the power supply last longer then the warranty its good to go.

Yeah this is true. A few years back when Dell was using the Delta power supplies pretty commonly, I found them to be somewhat underrated. But yeah for the most part OEM power supplies are junk like Bestec/etc, and the rated watts/amps on the side is pretty optimistic to put it mildly. Power supplies deteriorate over time as well, and the uneven current that many of us get at the wall can also be an issue that accelerates this factor.

A decent brand 500w or better should be a no-brainer for almost anyone wanting to keep their cheapie Dell/Hp/etc for an extended period of time. Not only will it certainly last longer, but it will be cooler and more efficient.

 

[Markbnj]

its replaceable.

It may not be easily replaceable. Dell used to use proprietary form factors for power supplies, and a lot of other components. Haven't bought a Dell for awhile so I am not sure if they ended that practice. One of the outfits that had Dell-compatible supplies was PC Power and Cooling.

Your performance issues could simply be periodic paging activity on the disk caused by inadequate ram. When the frame rate drops does the hard drive activity LED light up?

 

[Arkaign]

It's replaceable :

 

[wuliheron]

It's replaceable :

What a waste of a beautiful cooler in a tin box.

 

[jordanecmusic]

Sorry, I meant to say my pc had 3 gigs of ram
(1 gig- 512meg- 1 gig- 512meg), and I had to remove the 2 512mb sticks to get it to work. I know what I have to do now thanks to you guys! Thank you!