Upgrade video on EMachines Computer *Update!

[Parafly9]

I have a mid-line eMachines computer (2.8ghz, 512mb ram, pretty stripped-down otherwise) that I use for work. I have been playing Doom 3 and Halo and COD on it recently, but I have to play at low-resolution and even then it is choppy, especially in Doom. I ordered a EVG 6600GT card this afternoon (AGP 8x) from newegg and had a couple of quick ?'s

Will I see an enormous differnece in the games? I have a really nice Dell 1905FP DVI monitor, so I think that will work well together.

I am concerned, however, about ventilation and fit. I haven't ever taken the case of of this particular computer, although I have an older Sony 1.7ghz that i have changed the video card on before, as well as changed the hard drive and added RAM, so I am not completely noobish. It seems this particular card gets pretty hot and the case from the emiachines looks liek it lacks ventiatlion, to say the least. I haven't been able to determine how much space I have available. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance! (1st post, BTW)

 

[Parafly9]

Oh, also, I almost forgot - what can I expect from power issues? How do I know what i need to do so that the vid card has sufficient power?

 

[peleejosh]

welcome to the forums! did you make sure the emachine has an agp slot?

 

[v8envy]

Welcome to the forums. Even before you install your video card, crack the case and take a peek at the power supply. Read what it says the rating is on the 12v rail. You're going to need about 14 amps @ 12 volts at a minimum for a 6600GT, and that only if the manufacturer of the PS did not overrate it.

Get a few 80mm fans to stick in the case. It should have places to mount at least two, one front and one rear, and you should be fine.

edit: I presume the box has asstastic onboard intel extreme video. A 6600GT will make a difference you won't believe. You'll not only be able to crank the resolution to 1280x1024 from 800x600, but also use directx9 renderers and higher quality textures/models.

 

[Parafly9]

Thanks!

Yes, it does have an AGP slot

As far as power supply, what can you do if there is not enough power? Are you SOL?

 

[peleejosh]

You can get a better power supply. The 6600gt will probably be fine as far as temps go, though I wouldnt go overclocking the poop out of it.

 

[v8envy]

A power supply is upgradeable, just like any other component.

You might be able to score one used from someone upgrading their rig for SLI. A quality 300 watt unit (Sparkle, FSP, Delta, etc) should be enough to feed a 2.8 P4 and a 6600GT. 350 watt to be truly worry free.

If you are buying a new PS, do a bit of research. There are plenty of companies (mostly with names ending in 'max') who rate their power supplies at 0 or 20C, so their '500 watt' isn't going to output anywhere near the juice of a 300 watt PS from a reputable manufacturer.

This is a good starting point to do a bit of PSU research: http://www.jonnyguru.com/ratethebrands.html

 

[Parafly9]

OK, well, I took the advice, and yesterday I ordered my EVGA 6600GT from Newegg. Believe it or not, it already arrived today! I have to go to UPS to pick it up in Rhode Island when I get out of work tonight.

I was reading on some other forums, and here is my question: the computer I have is the emachines T3256, and from what I read it has a 300W power supply. Does this seem ample enough? Other people have reported problems with it, but others have said it was fine. I would like to steer clear from spending more money if at all possible.

Secondly, what about BIOS? I read that on one person who installed this on their eMachines they had a lot of problems initially untill the BIOS was updated. I have never updated a BIOS before and want to make sure I do it properly and not destroy my computer. Is it important to update the BIOS regularly? Someone else had suggested that the Emachines works better with ATI cards, but I don't know if that makes any sense to me, besides, I already ordered the NVidia.

Thirdly, do I need additional cooling? It seems I would, but are there enough plug outlets on the power source to hook it up? Is it easy to install a new power source? The most complicated thing I have done on a computer to date is replace a fried HDD and add more memory.

Oh, also, nearly forgot - is the upgrade to 1gb RAM worthwhile, it currently has 512mb DIMM. The computer has a max RAM capacity of 2gb.

BTW, for reference, this is the thread I was reading: it isn't the same PC but I believe similar:
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/46889/?o=120