Graphics Card Advice

[JillyBean]

What model is your Dell? You may be able to fit a better CPU cooler.

It's a Studio XPS 8000

[JillyBean]

I changed the driver to the more recommended 306.97. Everything installed properly and it appears better for my system than the newest driver. My max/max benchmark went up over 100 points and one or two whole FPS! GPU still ran about 63-65c and the CPU in the high 50s/60. I'll watch it closely when I ... (well I'm legacy). If I have any concerns I will look into an aftermarket cooler. I'm not comfortable with the idea of giving it a torture test. It does idle near 40, certainly low 40s, and even 38-39 when it's really doing nothing. I appreciate all your input and expertise! Thanks again!

[Shura]

I changed the driver to the more recommended 306.97. Everything installed properly and it appears better for my system than the newest driver. My max/max benchmark went up over 100 points and one or two whole FPS! GPU still ran about 63-65c and the CPU in the high 50s/60. I'll watch it closely when I ... (well I'm legacy). If I have any concerns I will look into an aftermarket cooler. I'm not comfortable with the idea of giving it a torture test. It does idle near 40, certainly low 40s, and even 38-39 when it's really doing nothing. I appreciate all your input and expertise! Thanks again!

NP, if it idles at around high 30s and low 40s then its normal; that is the expected temps for your CPU on stock cooler, im actually amazed its not higher, considering its 3 years old and in a dell case. Your GPU is fine too, its under 70C so your ok; it is a bit high for a non OC but considering the case its in, thats normal. Nvidia control panel should allow you to raise your GPU fan speed, if your worried when playing long periods of time, just manually increase it a bit to drop a few Cs; might sound a bit louder if you go up 30%+ but shouldn't really notice any noise difference if you increase it by 10-15%.

Good Luck with the game, enjoy beta and feel free to ask if you have any other concerns in the future.

[JillyBean]

Well it's over 3 years old, but not heavily used. I played XI on PS2 from 2004-2009, then got this Dell (with the intention to play XIV). Ended up playing XI for a year on the Dell until XIV launched and then only played that for like 3 weeks in 2010. I returned to XIV last May when the free "come back and give it another try" period and legacy was announced (became hooked!) So for about 2 solid years, this computer did nothing but access the internet and do some office type work ^^

[JillyBean]

Me again! here's a question...

So my Nvidia panel didn't show where I could adjust fan speed, so I searched it, found this: http://www.fanhow.com/knowhow:Change...speed_27843686

which directed me to Nvidia site where to DL the performance part of the control panel
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_...ools_6.05.html

And so I installed it,and it also has a nifty little system monitor of it's own, which I like,although it fills the screen and I'd like to be able to minimize/make it a little box....

Moving on.... but when I go to look into the performance section, it gives this dire warning that you must accept before being able to use the performance section, called Accept End User Agreement which I can't even c&p but basically says the software utility may cause system damage and void warranties, and so on etc....all scarey bad things!

I guess this is warning ppl who plan to go in to overclock, etc.? Idk, you guys know anything about this utility? I really just want to be able to manually increase my GPU fan speed, but now it has me scared ....maybe I'll wait til after this weekend to see how necessary that will be anyway....

Thoughts?

[Shura]

Me again! here's a question...

So my Nvidia panel didn't show where I could adjust fan speed, so I searched it, found this: http://www.fanhow.com/knowhow:Change...speed_27843686

which directed me to Nvidia site where to DL the performance part of the control panel
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_...ools_6.05.html

And so I installed it,and it also has a nifty little system monitor of it's own, which I like,although it fills the screen and I'd like to be able to minimize/make it a little box....

Moving on.... but when I go to look into the performance section, it gives this dire warning that you must accept before being able to use the performance section, called Accept End User Agreement which I can't even c&p but basically says the software utility may cause system damage and void warranties, and so on etc....all scarey bad things!

I guess this is warning ppl who plan to go in to overclock, etc.? Idk, you guys know anything about this utility? I really just want to be able to manually increase my GPU fan speed, but now it has me scared ....maybe I'll wait til after this weekend to see how necessary that will be anyway....

Thoughts?

I'm currently running an ATI card so i have not personally used the Nvidia software but damage from overclocking does indeed void most warranties. In regards to increasing fan speed, that's not overclocking. Fans by default idle at about 20% or so, and usually auto adjust when gpu load increases; You can manually increase it to run higher at idle. While a 10% increase won't make a big difference, forcing it to run at 60%+ constantly will effect the lifespan of the Fan; This applies to all fans though.

Based on the data you provided earlier, 60C+ is normal temps for your card under load, by default your card is probably automatically increasing fan speed when gpu is under load. Keep the Nvidia Panel open and run the Benchmark, see what % your fan goes up to.

[Soukyuu]

nVidia user here. It's just a warning to remind you that if you fry your GPU, you lose warranty. As long as you don't touch the voltage slider, everything will be fine. And since you don't plan to raise clocks anyway, nothing will happen.