Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

[kick]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

I must admit , I thought from the first pic that there were 2 plastic "prongs" that snapped over the locking tab once it was pressed down.

Tricky to disengage unless you had 4 hands to do both sides at once.

The design in your self pics looks different , like a single prong with a split down the middle to facilitate bending back for removal. The prong looks longer also.
Change of design perhaps?

Just goes to prove the old saying "Two prongs dont make it right"

Glad you got it removed ok with the suggestions.. sounds a very akward way to have to use

So is the card working ok?

[profJim]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

Just goes to prove the old saying "Two prongs dont make it right"

You'll have to pardon Kick, he's a very punny fellow at times.

[lonrot]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

Hmmm I'm looking at the PCI to Molex adapters in ebay and amazon, I'm not so sure which brand or model will work. There's a single PCI to Molex adapter, and another with two male molex and one male pcie . I don't know much about voltage, maybe the card works with a single molex input. Wazaa do you know how close are the ATI 5770 and the 6850 in voltage? Is the adaptor you linked the same you used? Brand, etc...

[wazza300]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

yes its the same,you only need one molex to 6pin adaptor,my 5770 runs fine with one on a 400w psu,your is 600w so youll be fine,they dont use much power anyway

any molex to 6pin cable will do,just like any make of sata cable ect,there all the same

[kick]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

@ionrot
For your situation the simplest way to put it is this.

Your psu has 3 molex connectors , If the connectors are all on the same lead from the psu,the single pcie 6 pin to molex adapter is all you need to test if it works. ,a double molex connection to pcie aux 6 pin from a single molex lead wont do anything extra.
If the 3 molex connectors are on more than one lead from the psu,say 2 on one lead and one on another lead(which sounds unlikely) then get an adapter with 2 molex to a single 6 pin pcie and connect each molex connector to a different lead frim the psu..

The theory on this, well Pro J or Wazza will probably post if needed and its more a case of wattage (power draw) than voltage.

For information:My 9600gt gx card,(see system 2 in my sig)which has a single 6 pin aux power connector, will work without any aux power connected. Windows pops up a message like "since you have no extra power ,your gx card will work in crap mode".

Whether a 6850 Will work like that ,if you cant wait for the adapter, no idea.

[profJim]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

The voltage is the same, it's how much current (amperage) that varies with different video cards.
Some video cards come with a "Y" cable setup so that you can plug each molex connector into different psu cables so that the current is drawn from different cables. From your power supply photo, there is only one power supply cable with molex connectors, so you might need an adapter that has:

• one male molex connector
• one female molex connector
• one pci-e connector

This way you won't "lose" one molex connector when you use the adapter for your video card.

Your 6850 and my GTX 460 video cards have similar performance and probably draw about the same amount of power from the psu.
My tests show that my single card setup requires about 225 watts to power my complete system when running intensive graphics demos and benchmarks. When my graphics card is overclocked, my system requires about 275 watts of output from the power supply.

If I'm right about your maximum psu output, with stock 6850 settings, your power supply will be putting out close to the maximum power that it can safely deliver for a very short period of time. It's highly recommended that you never exceed using more than 80% of the maximum power that your psu can deliver when doing extended gaming sessions.

The fact that someone has claimed that your psu can deliver 600 watts is meaningless, especially with a cheap psu.
I couldn't find a single web review that tested your psu brand/model to verify how much power it can really deliver!!!

[wazza300]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

i would try it first you can always upgrade psu if needed later,my cable came with the card,did you check your old graphic card box? that might have a cable too

[profJim]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

i would try it first you can always upgrade psu if needed later, .....

I strongly disagree with this advice!!
Have you ever seen a video or pictures of a psu that caught fire or exploded when it didn't have OCP (over current protection) and it exceeded it's actual capacity? It shouldn't be hard to do a web search and find examples of this happening. Motherboards, and attached hardware can be damaged or destroyed when a poorly made psu self-destructs.
Hint, search using: power supply fire OR explode and click on the video option to see many examples.

Read the HardwareSecrets review that I linked to. They performed an in depth review of the Huntkey psu and check out:
Huntkey Green Star 450 W (LW-6450SG) Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets (video near the end of the review)
Huntkey Tries to Bribe Hardware Secrets | Hardware Secrets
In one case, a psu review site damaged their load testing hardware when a poorly designed psu self-destructed.

Lonrot, can you afford to replace all your hardware if your psu fails and destroys your hardware?

[wazza300]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

I strongly disagree with this advice!!
Have you ever seen a video or pictures of a psu that caught fire or exploded when it didn't have OCP (over current protection) and it exceeded it's actual capacity? It shouldn't be hard to do a web search and find examples of this happening. Motherboards, and attached hardware can be damaged or destroyed when a poorly made psu self-destructs.
Hint, search using: power supply fire OR explode and click on the video option to see many examples.

Read the HardwareSecrets review that I linked to. They performed an in depth review of the Huntkey psu and check out:
Huntkey Green Star 450 W (LW-6450SG) Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets (video near the end of the review)
Huntkey Tries to Bribe Hardware Secrets | Hardware Secrets
In one case, a psu review site damaged their load testing hardware when a poorly designed psu self-destructed.

Lonrot, can you afford to replace all your hardware if your psu fails and destroys your hardware?

yes your right,if it was me i would try it but that doesnt mean you have too!!!! if you are worried or value your hardware then simply buy a good quality psu,im lucky (touchwood) ive bought some cheapo psu's and they all ran fine for me but not all cheapo psu's will,some will fail and take out other components too so just keep that in mind

[lonrot]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

I'm a risk taker, so I will get the adapter and see what happens. I can blame myself later if my computer and I became ignited.

[profJim]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

Check out RAIDMAX:: RX-380K ($16.99 (USD) from Amazon).

The power cable setup looks to be similar to your "600 watt" psu:

• M/B 20+4 PIN - x1 connector
• CPU 4 PIN ----- x1 connector
• SATA ---------- x1 connector
• MOLEX 4 PIN -- x4 connectors
• FLOPPY -------- x1 connector

maximum rated 12 volt load = 18 amps

For comparison, check out their 600 watt psu specs at RAIDMAX:: RX-600AF and compare their cable setup and power specifications with the claimed power output of this psu.

I do NOT recommend buying any Raidmax psu no matter how good the price might be.
The Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D psu will deliver on their rated specs and should easily and safely power your system, but a 450 watt quality power supply would be better if you want to overclock your video card.

It's your choice, but I think that your decision is not a good one and is dangerous.
Even if your psu is OK initially with your 6850, I wouldn't want to leave your system running if I left the computer room for more than one or two minutes.

Good luck.

[lonrot]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

@profJim @wazaa I finally received the cable adapter for PCI, it has two molex in one side, I only connected one and it works great. Despite all the odds I have been working for 4 hours with the new 6850 card, and even played Battlefield 3 in ultra settings. It runs super fast. The temp while playing is 80C in desktop 46C. Maybe a bit high, but I heard this card tends to be hot. The power supply is running fine, I hear only the fans spinning.

Bottom line, the Motherboard Asrock G41M-VS3 R2.0 works with PCI 2.1.

@wazaa How can I do benchmarking?

[wazza300]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

You can read the sli/xfire thread at bottom of main tweaktown forum page,its shows unigine 3 settings/results ect,also cinebench is good graphic card benchmark

[lonrot]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

You can read the sli/xfire thread at bottom of main tweaktown forum page,its shows unigine 3 settings/results ect,also cinebench is good graphic card benchmark

What about 3DMark? Used to be pretty good in the mid 2000's

[wazza300]

Re: Best DX11 Video Card under $100?

yh 3dmark 11,unigine 3,cinebench