[Rich-M]

The card your friend gave you is a pci card and doesn't go in the pci-x video slot but into any pci slot....

[TexasChuck]

I found another forum where this same problem is exhibited, with a pic showing the screen exactly like mine
click here for Tom's Forum http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25...geforce-6150le

OK. so when I shop for a video card, I need one good for PCI-E x16, is that correct? (that's x16, not 16x correct?)
like this one.....
http://www.eworldsale.com/sapphire-1...869_29586.html
Any suggestions on shopping?
(be patient; this is a whole new area for me....)

[BG-0]

Yeah, you need one good for PCI-E x16, like the one you linked but preferably not that one, rather the Radeon HD 3450. From newegg. Simple as pie.

[TexasChuck]

$32 is not a bad price.

my case has a fan at the back, and one horizontally above the motherboard. Should these comments be a concern? :

Pros: Rather potent specimen of budget-class display adapters. Works in Hybrid CrossfireX mode with Vista and XP, with both HD 3200 and 3300 series IGPs. Oh, it's cheap, too.Cons: Fanless heatsink could become an issue in cases without sufficient ventilation.Other Thoughts: A case fan or two carrying cool air to and from its vicinity more than suffice to assist this card's passive cooling. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Reviewed By: on 2/16/2009 Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 yearThis user purchased this item from Newegg Pros: Solid card, decent built qualityCons: Not very fancy.Other Thoughts: Rebates are awesome sauce. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!

Run's really hot

Reviewed By: someone on 2/16/2009 Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year Pros: It works, definite improvement over the 64mb i was using before.Cons: Run's really hot. Caught it at 80 C thats around 180 F.Other Thoughts: wish i got a 512 that ran cooler

the 512 has a fan and is $53. I hate to invest any more than necessary. But will, if that cooling sounds scary. -Chuck

[BG-0]

Sounds a bit bad yeah.

No need to invest too much more actually: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814140106 There's a tiny-weeny fan for you. It won't run significantly cooler than a passively cooled card, but will suffice somewhat. Let's just hope that it doesn't consume that much more power than the 3450... I'll try to search around.

[TexasChuck]

that card requires 350-watt power supply, it says
the power supply http://www.impactcomputers.com/hp-p3527f3.html
is 300-watt

[TexasChuck]

how does the card mfgr. state, "requires 350-watt supply"?
Doesn't each device require so many watts, and a given machine
can offer so-many watts, dependent on what devices it already has?

[BG-0]

"Requires 350-watt power supply" is just a statement made up from the power draw of a whole machine with that card in it. It somewhat represents the card's power consumption compared to other cards, but doesn't really tell anything about what it actually needs.

[TexasChuck]

soooooooooo................
is this an avenue to pursue?
I'm not convinced a card will solve my problem,
and I'm not sure the Apollo card will not draw too much power for this cptr.

[BG-0]

I would say get the 3450. Your output fan will propably be enough to make it run decently cool.
Or then get more efficiently cooled one, cheapest options with better cooling: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161231 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121302

Of course, it's not 100 % sure that a new card will solve this, it might be just about anything ranging from busted CPU or RAM to a totally messed up motherboard causing the problems, but the graphics card is a pretty good candidate to be the reason.

[TexasChuck]

okay, I got a card to try out
pci e 16x

now, any tricks to install?
just put in and hook up and start up?
or do I have to do something about the onboard video first?

[Rich-M]

The first should be all you have to do.

[TexasChuck]

well, I shouldn't've asked; there's an install manual with the card.
it says if I have onboard video I need to get into Device Manager
click on Display Adapters, and Disable the onboard Video first.

Now what is NOT covered in the manual for this GEForce 8400 GS is the power requirements. My power supply is only 300 watts. How do I know if this card (which HAS a fan on it) needs more power than my power supply can handle?

[Rich-M]

The box or the sales ad should say that somewhere if it matters...

[TexasChuck]

c'mon Rich, you certainly don't believe in what you see in a sales ad.
I can't find anything on the box, which is usually a bit more reliable than a sales ad. Not in the installation manual either.
I need to know how many amps this card draws, and how many amps are available on this computer (all original). If anyone can help on finding these two values, I'd appreciate it.