Can a lack of power cause V-Card problems?

[rockinup1231]

A few weeks ago (goin back into late november) I purchased a new video card to replace my old Raedon 7000 AGP. However when I got home I found my PSU 50w short of the 250w mark (Folly on my part). I ignored it, installed it, and it ran fine. However when I went into Windows Media Player and the visualizations ran choppier than my previous card.

Later, I played NFS Most Wanted, a game I purchased to test my new Hardware and it ran very bad. I changed the prefs to brighten the very dark display and sluggish performance. It got worse as I lowered the graphic detail, so I did the opposite, and it got better as I brought the graphics detail up.

It was still dark and slow, and would near reach the peak processor usage (about 680500K according to task manager), and would lock my system up. Outside of games and programs, windows would run sluggish in general. So I swapped cards again.

Can someone help me. I have tried all I know to fix it. I have 256MB of ram, which is more than enough to use the card, and min spec for the game. The system runs slow even with a fresh start (boot up) and doesn't get faster when I get rid of background programs.

Specs...
Sis Socket 478 Mobo
AMD Atholon T-Bird @ 1.4ghz
New V-Card: nVidia GeForce 4000 MX PCI, 128 DDR, 275mhz gpu, dual 350mhz ramdacs
Old and current V-Card: Raedon 7000 AGP, 64 DDR, assuming a weaker gpu, single 350mhz ramdacs
Western Digital 10gb HDD
256MB ram (crucial is the company make)

By specs the new card should be faster, but did the fact that it is PCI make it slower?

[AllGamer]

it's possible some video cards like the nvidias and ati, they will not even turn on and give you a BIG warning message instead if you try to power on the comp without the power attached, or enough power attached to the video card.

some newer ATI video cards gives so an error in big red and white that you need to first connect the power to the video card when you boot up the PC :D

[Shoreguy]

1st. You need to know your own system specifications. socket 478 and athlon aren't exactly compatible.
Next, just because the card specs show higher, doesn't mean it will be better. agp was meant as an improvement over pci.
Next, yes, insufficient power can and will effect performance. Simply, if you put a match to a pot of water, don't expect it to boil.
Next, you've got two different gpu cards, which means drivers, etc. Did you completely...completely... remove the old ati drivers before installing the nvidia card?
Next, 256Mb ram is the minimum required for NFSMW. I'm guessing that if I further researched through google, I'd find that there are a bunch of recommendations to make sure you had more in order to run smoothly.

...as there's too many "next"'s still to list, your best bet is to quit assuming and guessing. If you want the new card running properly, start with a psu that can handle the devices installed. Then go through the 'best of' thread to properly uninstall both the ati card and drivers, and then rtfm from the 4000 to properly install it and the drivers.

[MadPistol]

Post some screenshots of what you're seeing, or take a picture of the screen. I'm not sure I fully understand what's going on...

BTW, you know that a Geforce 4 MX 4000 is a very weak card (stronger than a Radeon 7000, but that's not saying much), and newer games aren't going to run all that hot on it either. It's a DX7 card, and DX10 has just been released)

However, if windows media player isn't running correctly, it may be a driver issue (Visualizations are NOT dependant on video card performance. The CPU is going to be the bottleneck for that 90% of the time) Like shoreguy said, go through the necessary utilities to make sure that ATI driver is uninstalled fully, and that may help.

And sorry to say that going from an AGP card to a PCI card is not good at all. The AGP card is going to have much more bandwidth, and therefore, it will have a faster transfer rate, which in 95% of cases results in better performance... even if the PCI card is "faster".

If it's not to late, you may want to return that card and swap it for the AGP flavor.

[rockinup1231]

Well, it is. There are many games I couldn't even run with the Raedon 7000 that I can now. Also, I know for a fact that my new card is a DX 9 card.

I know (or at least now I do) that PCI is slower than AGP. But I know that the card can't be that weak. NFSMW wouldn't start with my old card, and most of the time it can run relatively smooth.

The processor has run very well on my mobo, and I would prefer it over any Intel cpu.

I know that need memory will vary between qualities in picture, but it only requires 32mb minimum, the card has 4x as much as that.

Well, the next time I purchase a card I will go agp, but for now, I will get more memory 'cause the card meets my gaming and usage needs.

[rockinup1231]

Oh yeah, my computer calls the card a GeForce4 4000 MX, and GeForce4 MX

[Peter M]

The 4000MX is a DirectX7 chip, period. Just a badge job rename of the GF4MX, which in turn is little more than a rebadged GF2MX.

And yes of course is performance going to be hurt as you move from a dedicated and fast slot like AGP to a shared and slow bus like PCI.

So ... you made no forward step on the graphics unit itself, and went to a bus roughly eight times slower, and now wonder why it's gotten worse?

This might not be what you wanted to hear, but that's how it is.

[rockinup1231]

Hmm...Well the package said it required DX 9, but you guys would know better than me.

I'll learn from this, but for now, I have a newer card that is more compatible with newer games.

I can play Alice again, my brother can play his dumb hotwheels game, and I can not worry about it for a while

[rockinup1231]

Now I can worry about when my HDD is goin' to kick the bucket, cool :-)

[The Triangle]

Hahaha... yeah, what Shoreguy said....

Socket 478 with your AMD Athlon processor??

How the heck did you manage that?? :confused: :confused: :confused: