Needing to replace my video card Blue screen of death! PLEASE HELP!!! [ Edited ]

[RobinLea70]

Hi! I am needing to replace my video card. I have an

HP Pavilion Elite m9040n

Windows 7 OS 32 bit

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS PCI Express x16 256 MB 

Power supply is a 300W. 

Unfortunately the graphics card crashed and I have the blue screen of death!!!  I am a gamer (nothing hard core! just play A LOT of Guild Wars)and I am new to computer hardware replacement. Can I upgrade to a faster graphics card? If I can what would you recommend?

I have been reading about the differences of a PCIe and a PCIe 2.0 but I am still confused on the differences. The computer world is a little overwhelming at the moment but I am willing to learn!

Thanks for your help!

Robin

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Robin:

I would recommend you get a nVidia card since your model originally came with the 8400 GS.

You will need to get one that works within the limits of your power supply (300W).

You will be able to run a PCIe 2.0 card in your PC just fine, so no worries there.

Here's a listing of nVidia cards.  Look on the details tab for the specs/power requirements.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204026%20600007855%20600030348...

You may find this one considerably better than what you had. Doesn't list P/S requirements though.

However one of the reviewers stuck this card in a Dell 530s (which I have -- should I admit that on our HP forum? ) and it only has a 250W P/S.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134121

Good price with the rebate too!

Paul

[RobinLea70]

Paul,

 Thanks for responding... I thought that nVidia was a brand name like Sony or Panasonic.. Is it set in stone that I must replace the graphics card with a nvidia chipset? (read "chipset" on the newegg site description) What is a chipset? What does it do? Is it important?

What was meant by stream processor? Some have 32 some have more???

What is the difference between a PCIe and a PCIe 2.0????

Can I run a graphics card that uses DDR3 when my machine uses DDR2????

I found this..... Would this work?? Here are the specs...

Product Name : XFX Nvidia GeForce 9500GT 1GB Graphics Card

Features/Specification:
-Brand :XFX
- Model V-T95G-ZAFG
-Interface : PCI Express 2.0 x16
-Chipset Manufacturer : NVIDIA
-GPU : GeForce 9500 GT
-Core Clock : 550MHz
-Stream Processors :32
-Effective Memory Clock : 800MHz
-Memory Size : 1GB
-Memory Interface : 128-bit
-Memory Type : GDDR2
-DirectX : DirectX 10
-OpenGL : Open GL 2.1
-Ports : 1 x DVI-I (dual link) - 29 pin combined DVI 1 x HDTV output
-Max Resolution : 2560 x 1600
-HDCP compatible -Yes

Sorry for all of the questions.. so new to this world! (and lovin it!)

[Big_Dave]

Hi Robin,

Are you aware of this issue pertaining to the NVIDIA 9500?  NVIDIA GS9500 replacement program.  I would stay clear of the NVIDIA 9500 video card.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

nVidia is the manufacturer of the video chip (GPU). Then there are various video card manufacturers that make video cards using the chip.

Big Dave points out the 9500 has issues. I didn't know that but I didn't recommend the 9500 because I saw that the cards I looked at needed more than 300W to work.

You can try an AMD Radeon if you want. But you may have a hard time finding a card that only takes 300W.

You can read this article and you will have all you ever wanted to know about PCIe versions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

General info on video cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Processing_Unit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_card

Paul

[Big_Dave]

HI,

The below video cards will work with the 300 watt power supply in your PC:

$50---->NVIDIA GT 430    9.6 GB/s

$65---->NVIDIA GT 520    8 GB/s

$80---->NVIDIA GT 440    25.6 GB/s

$130-->NVIDIA GT 545    73 GB/s ----> might be hard to find but perhaps only in the store

Review the NVIDIA performance specifications. Look at the memory bandwidth specifications and the DirectX level support.

The GT 440 might be your best choice.

An older but excellent video card is the NVIDIA GT 240 1GB DDR5.  This card doesn't support DirectX 10 which is optionally used in some of the newer PC games but it is an excellent performer.

Until you get a video card, you could remove the video card and use the on board video processor that is integrated into the motherboard.

[RobinLea70]

How hard is it to replace the power supply? Can I do it myself? How do I know the max of a power supply that my computer will support? Would it be worth it to help with the choice of a graphics card?

Thanks for helping me become a more informed consumer!

Robin

[Big_Dave]

Robin,

These HP "how-to" articles should explain the procedures that are required to add and replace hardware.

If you are not comfortable with the HP "how-to" information then I recommend that you take your PC into a competent local PC repair shop.