Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &graphics

Perfectionist · 12-09-2008, 02:23 PM

Which of the two uses the least electricity and which has the best graphics? I'm thinking about cobbling together a very lowend PC for use leaving on overnight on IRC, downloading etc rather than my powerhungry 4870x2 q6600 8gb ram 30" LCD monster gaming PC that isnt really going to be needing its capability when I'm AFK or doing stuff like writing in Word - in the long term I think it'd all add up.

It's both an environmental thing and not wasting money as fuel prices ever rise

Thanks for any help!

**wrench97** · 12-09-2008, 05:31 PM

I Think the 9200 is a better card then the 420 it may use a little more power but not much,
Ideally on a low power rig you would want integrated video as it hardly uses more then a motherboard without video and for Word IRC you don't need more then 2d graphics.

**lazareth1** · 12-09-2008, 10:13 PM

Go for an ITX system which. It has everything included onboard including the CPU! Perfect for what your wanting to do.

For reference: http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/

It's a UK site but just to give you an idea.

Perfectionist · 12-09-2008, 10:27 PM

I am from UK actually ;)

But hmm not sure how much less power those use? With it looking like £200ish even selfbuilding dunno if it's worth it?

the old PC bits I have at the moment are 2 motherboards (no idea to find out what they are or what RAM they use? One I think is RIMM but dunno), a pentium 4 1.3Ghz and a pentium 4 2.6Ghz (may be broken), 1gb ddr2 ram and 128MB of unknown ram

**magnethead** · 12-09-2008, 11:36 PM

post pictures of the boards and there's a 99.99999% chance we can identify them.

the other 0.000001%, is just assuming the impossible.

Perfectionist · 12-10-2008, 12:06 AM

thx will do, waiting for new PC to arrive so can upload files, on Wii browser atm! have ordered a nokia phone USB cable too a few days ago, in another thread I wanted to show some pics for help but couldn't!

**magnethead** · 12-10-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectionist

thx will do, waiting for new PC to arrive so can upload files, on Wii browser atm! have ordered a nokia phone USB cable too a few days ago, in another thread I wanted to show some pics for help but couldn't!

ahh yes, the thing nintendo did right- almost as good as WebTV. I've used it also.

**lazareth1** · 12-10-2008, 01:56 AM

Comapred to the P4? Those VIA motherboards along with their built in CPUs will defenetly run on much less power. I have an older one which has a 65W power supply and I even doubt it draws that much half the time!

http://resources.mini-box.com/online...nsumption.html

It does seem dear for a motherboard at 200ish but remember everything including the CPU and display card, network card and sound card is chucked into that price. Can't say itz bad myself

Perfectionist · 12-10-2008, 01:57 AM

@magnethead:

dunno what webtv is don't think we have it here

I do like how getting faster at typing on here improves aiming on stuff like resident evil umbrella chronicles and vice versa, though its nice how you can plug in a USB keyboard too

Hate how you can't highlight chunks of text to delete, copy or paste and how there's no scroll bar in the text editor though (ridiculous replying to an email, have to put something heavy on the up key and wait for it to scroll slowwwly to the top - I get the feeling the browser used to be for mobile phones and it was a bit of a rushed port

Perfectionist · 12-10-2008, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazareth1

Comapred to the P4? Those VIA motherboards along with their built in CPUs will defenetly run on much less power. I have an older one which has a 65W power supply and I even doubt it draws that much half the time!

http://resources.mini-box.com/online...nsumption.html

It does seem dear for a motherboard at 200ish but remember everything including the CPU and display card, network card and sound card is chucked into that price. Can't say itz bad myself

hmm the top of list prebuilt one on the ITX warehouse UK site looks good, but doesn't mention anything about what PSU/powe consumption - if you dunno either I'll email em

12-09-2008, 02:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
Perfectionist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 61 OS: n/a	Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &graphics Which of the two uses the least electricity and which has the best graphics? I'm thinking about cobbling together a very lowend PC for use leaving on overnight on IRC, downloading etc rather than my powerhungry 4870x2 q6600 8gb ram 30" LCD monster gaming PC that isnt really going to be needing its capability when I'm AFK or doing stuff like writing in Word - in the long term I think it'd all add up. It's both an environmental thing and not wasting money as fuel prices ever rise Thanks for any help!

12-09-2008, 05:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,872 OS: Win7	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap I Think the 9200 is a better card then the 420 it may use a little more power but not much, Ideally on a low power rig you would want integrated video as it hardly uses more then a motherboard without video and for Word IRC you don't need more then 2d graphics. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

12-09-2008, 10:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
lazareth1 Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hong Kong, previously Fife in Bonnie Scotland Posts: 1,294 OS: Vista SP1, Ultimate My System	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap Go for an ITX system which. It has everything included onboard including the CPU! Perfect for what your wanting to do. For reference: http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/ It's a UK site but just to give you an idea. __________________ Prime95\|Everest Ultimate Edition\|How to do a repair install of XP\|Bench Testing "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted"

12-09-2008, 10:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
Perfectionist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 61 OS: n/a	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap I am from UK actually ;) But hmm not sure how much less power those use? With it looking like £200ish even selfbuilding dunno if it's worth it? the old PC bits I have at the moment are 2 motherboards (no idea to find out what they are or what RAM they use? One I think is RIMM but dunno), a pentium 4 1.3Ghz and a pentium 4 2.6Ghz (may be broken), 1gb ddr2 ram and 128MB of unknown ram Last edited by Perfectionist; 12-09-2008 at 10:29 PM.

12-09-2008, 11:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap post pictures of the boards and there's a 99.99999% chance we can identify them. the other 0.000001%, is just assuming the impossible. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

12-10-2008, 12:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
Perfectionist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 61 OS: n/a	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap thx will do, waiting for new PC to arrive so can upload files, on Wii browser atm! have ordered a nokia phone USB cable too a few days ago, in another thread I wanted to show some pics for help but couldn't!

12-10-2008, 01:56 AM	#8 (permalink)
lazareth1 Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hong Kong, previously Fife in Bonnie Scotland Posts: 1,294 OS: Vista SP1, Ultimate My System	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap Comapred to the P4? Those VIA motherboards along with their built in CPUs will defenetly run on much less power. I have an older one which has a 65W power supply and I even doubt it draws that much half the time! http://resources.mini-box.com/online...nsumption.html It does seem dear for a motherboard at 200ish but remember everything including the CPU and display card, network card and sound card is chucked into that price. Can't say itz bad myself __________________ Prime95\|Everest Ultimate Edition\|How to do a repair install of XP\|Bench Testing "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted"

12-10-2008, 01:57 AM	#9 (permalink)
Perfectionist Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 61 OS: n/a	Re: Old graphics: Geforce MX 420 versus Radeon 9200 -power usage (ENVIRONMENT!) &grap @magnethead: dunno what webtv is don't think we have it here I do like how getting faster at typing on here improves aiming on stuff like resident evil umbrella chronicles and vice versa, though its nice how you can plug in a USB keyboard too Hate how you can't highlight chunks of text to delete, copy or paste and how there's no scroll bar in the text editor though (ridiculous replying to an email, have to put something heavy on the up key and wait for it to scroll slowwwly to the top - I get the feeling the browser used to be for mobile phones and it was a bit of a rushed port