PC/Graphics Help

[Paulthesmall]

Hey guys,
Long time lurker, first time poster, thaught it was about time to create an account :P
First off, just wanna say thanks to everyone in the community here, this has helped me with my multiboxing so much, and you guys are awesome. A big /cheer and /salute to Lax, Mirai and Ualaa, plus others :D

Now, Im fairly handy at computers and figuring stuff out myself, but my knowledge is fairly patchy in places. Graphics cards and all related stuff are a weak area :P
That said, I think Im having a problem with overheating when I multibox. Every now and then the screen totally cuts out my TV goes to the blue "No Source" screen. I reduced my graphics setting on all windows, changed the window layout numerous times, disabled windows aero and removed a screen from my setup, among other things. After that, its happening a lot less, but it is still happening (and has since happened when just playing one char at ultra settings as normal). The PC is in a fairly dusty room, so I think this *may* be a cause and plan to get some compressed air to clean it next time I visit the outside world.

My PC: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02622052&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=uk&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4328896#N1485
My Graphics Card: http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/product-geforce-gt-440-uk.html

My question is how likely is it that the dust is the problem? Is there anything else that could be causing this, or I should lookout for?
How much load should the card be able to take, both solo and boxing? How would it fare in MoP?
Is it a good card in general?
Its my birthday soon (24th April) and Im looking at getting more RAM and possibly a new card. I know nothing about this, can anyone suggest an upgrade? What should I be looking out for, and in what price range?
Since I have aero disabled, I cant use VideoFX. How much more load is it to enable aero and videofx?
Is having two screens with all 5 windows sync'd and visable a lot more work than having all the windows stacked on one screen at native resolution?

Again, thanks for everyone who takes the time to help, like I said some things Im great at, some things Im still learning :P
All the best, Paul :D

[Ughmahedhurtz]

First thing you can do is go install the latest NVidia reference drivers. This will give you access to the NVidia System Monitor, which will show you GPU temperatures for most video cards. Yours should run under 85C while playing or you are potentially going to see heat-related issues. Note that system/case fans that are clogged with dust will indirectly cause your GPU to heat up, too.

Second thing to do is double-check your event logs and make sure you aren't seeing driver crashes or other Bad Things(tm). For more information on using that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um_zLfXqXyc

As for dust being a problem, not unless it's caked on.

GT440 will struggle as it's just not a high-performance card. No idea how it will fare in MoP or how many clients you ought to be able to multibox.

As for upgrades, your CPU and RAM are fine. The biggest upgrade would be a modern graphics card like a GT560/570 or one of the better ATI cards. Give us a budget and we can make better recommendations, though you might end up having to upgrade your power supply to support it (figure another $150 for a good PSU from Thermaltake or SeaSonic). And if you need a new PSU, make DAMN sure you contact HP and make sure it will properly support your motherboard's connectors. HP sometimes uses specially-keyed connectors that aren't the same ones you see in stores.

Aero will probably hammer your poor card as it is not a performance/gaming card. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-entry-level-graphics/Index-Lower-Midclass,2882.html will show you how poorly it fares even in the "Entry-level" class of video cards.

Lax can better answer your question about performance in stacked vs "corner" layouts, etc.


Good luck!

[d0z3rr]

Note that system/case fans that are clogged with dust will indirectly cause your GPU to heat up, too.

It's also a sign that you are disgusting and need to FUCKING VACUUM. Ugh, I can't imagine someone having dust caked on so much it heats up their system. Dust is like 90% dead skin, so you essentially have a corpse inside your pc. *vomits*

I had heat problems when I went to SLI. I solved it by upgrading to a full tower case (expensive!) that had massive fans on the front/top/rear, yet is still very quiet.

[Apps]

Damn... tell us how you really feel d0zer. lol

[Paulthesmall]

you essentially have a corpse inside your pc
Hmmm, never thaught about that before, I usually keep my corpses in my wardrobe. Nice idea.... Muahahaha!
But yeah, I really do need to clean more often :P

Thanks for the help ughma. I opened my case up and it was a lot dustier than I thaught, gave it a very good clean out yesterday. I have the latest drivers for my cards, but couldnt find anything about the reference drivers to bring up the system moniter, so after looking around for a while Im assuming my card doesnt support them. I managed to find some software to measure temperatures anyway called RivaTuner, according to that Im sitting at 70 when just browsing etc and around 90ish when Im raiding.
Thanks for the link to the Events Log stuff, havent used that before. Theres nothing going wrong in there though after checking it.

When I was sorting out my drivers etc, I noticed that my card isnt actually what its advertised to be (I was going by the specs listed on the website earlier). Instead of the GT440, I have a GT230, which Im just assuming is worse going by the numbers.
Looking at the charts etc, I have no idea how my card manages to play WoW on ultra settings at all considering it got such a low score. I know WoW isnt the most graphically advanced game, but still, /cheer for my lil card pluggin along like a champ.

All this considered, I've decided its time to get myself a new card for my Birthday. My budget is roughly £300ish ($475), with the aim of still being able to play WoW at ultra settings without getting too hot, and with acceptable performance for multiboxing 5 clients. Any recommendations fellas? :)

[Bollwerk]

Depending on exchange rates, etc... (prices I list are in US dollars)
You're right on edge of the price of an Nvidia GTX 680. (~$500)
If you can't scrape a little more cash up, the GTX 580 is still very solid (~$375-400)
The AMD/ATI Radeon 7950 is solid, but costs a bit more than the 580 and is a bit slower that it (in WoW), so I woudn't recommend it over the 580.

[Paulthesmall]

Thanks for the advice Boll.

I was looking around the internet the past few days for info about those cards, and searching through the hardware link ughmah provided etc. I think I'm even more confised now than when I started :S
I was trying to check if the GX 580 would work on my PSU, but Im guessing it wont - but that purely is a guess out of what numbers I could determine, I came across too many abbreviations like PSI, SLI, different power connectors, different numbers here there and everywhere, and my head just exploded :S
The GTX 560 seems like a reasonable card for WoW and it looks like it might be more compatible with my current specs. http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-560/performance/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-geforce-gtx-560-ops
Is it any good?

Could anyone who knows more than silly little me lend me their brains please?!?! :P And again, sorry for being so noob at this :P

[d0z3rr]

Definitely upgrade your PSU first. Shoot for at least 600w and pay good money (nothing exorbitant required, though ~$85-$120). Your HP has a built-in one I would never trust to power a 560 properly or efficiently. You might have a problem fitting a 560 into your HP case.

Actually, after looking at your current PC, building a new one might be better. Your PC has a single 1.5tb drive in it. You get the best performance separating OS from Games, Games from Apps, Pagefile from everything. Cramming all your stuff on one HD is a recipe for intense fragmentation and slowdown. I have 4 hds in my system to separate everything I have.

If you built a new one you can harvest the proc, memory, hd, bdrom, and wireless card to put in a new PC.

Good luck.

[Bollwerk]

Check with HP before buying a new PSU.
Some proprietary desktops use non-standard cases and other components, which cannot be replaced with off-the-shelf components.
As d0z3rr said, you might be better off saving a bit to build a new PC (or have one built for you at a local shop).

[Bollwerk]

Also, beware that there are (as far as I can tell) 3 versions of the 560, which have very different levels of performance. I think the highest end one is the "Ti" version, which is not too far below the 570 in performance. The "SE" version is much slower and cheaper. I think there is also a "vanilla" version in between those 2.