XL201 Video Card Upgrade

[grahamjb33]

I have recently started using my Sony XL201 MCE 2005 running on WinXPSP2 for playing games and all was well until I installed MotoGP 2007. Whilst the graphics on this game are extremely good and even with the resolution set to its lowest, the CPU can reach over 90% power usage and the screen 'sticks' occassionally which makes it difficult to play.
I am thinking that as the standard card fitted namely the Nvidia Geforce 7600 GTL with 256Mb on board could be struggling with this game, the main CPU is trying to compensate and this is causing the high power usage.
If I am correct in my diagnosis I would appreciate advice on what video card upgrade would resolve these problems, eg a Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT? By the way... the XL201 is bog standard with 1Gb ram and no upgrades to date.
Great forum for info, keep up the good work everyone!
Thanks... Baler

[GavMack]

It's not that easy to replace the card in the XL series, you need a low profile graphics card with a silent heatsink which isn't that easy to find. An 8800 consumes a lot of power and generates a lot of heat but I do believe others have found alternatives so search the forum for info.

I'm not sure whether your diagnosis is correct, stuttering as you describe sounds like you're short of main memory playing this game, it occurs when windows swaps out memory to virtual memory on the hard disc causing the 'pause' so I'd recommend going to 2Gb.

Another option for improvement is to install a second SATA hard drive into the XL and install your games on a separate drive. Because it's not the Windows boot drive the game will have uninteruppted access to it's data.

The final suggestion if would be to install a newer Nvidia graphics driver but as Sony don't provide the latest versions you have to hack the video driver's INF file to support the 7600 GTL..

[grahamjb33]

It's not that easy to replace the card in the XL series, you need a low profile graphics card with a silent heatsink which isn't that easy to find.  An 8800 consumes a lot of power and generates a lot of heat but I do believe others have found alternatives so search the forum for info.

I'm not sure whether your diagnosis is correct, stuttering as you describe sounds like you're short of main memory playing this game, it occurs when windows swaps out memory to virtual memory on the hard disc causing the 'pause' so I'd recommend going to 2Gb. 

Another option for improvement is to install a second SATA hard drive into the XL and install your games on a separate drive.  Because it's not the Windows boot drive the game will have uninteruppted access to it's data.

The final suggestion if would be to install a newer Nvidia graphics driver but as Sony don't provide the latest versions you have to hack the video driver's INF file to support the 7600 GTL..

Thanks a lot Gav... what you have said could be right. I will look for more info on the forums before possibly trying the options that you suggested.
Thanks again... I'll post my progress so that others can benefit.
Cheers... Baler...

[achster1]

Baler

Let me know what you find out. The only card I've found is the Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 512 HDMI - PCI Express, HDMI out but able to do 1080p .....whoohooo..
Ta

Achster

[grahamjb33]

Baler

Let me know what you find out. The only card I've found is the Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 512 HDMI - PCI Express, HDMI out but able to do 1080p .....whoohooo..
Ta

Achster

Thanks Achster... I have now upgraded to 2Gb ram and whilst I had the lid off I added another 320Gb HDD primarily for storing TV recordings. I have re-tried the Moto GP07 game but haven't installed the game on the new drive yet, would it really make the difference? Still jerks when the CPU gets to 90%+ performance so I still wonder if the CPU is trying to help the Nvidia Geforce 7600 GTL cope but is sapping performance.
When I had the lid off I could see that it is very cramped in there and not much room. I would be interested in whether the Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 512 HDMI - PCI Express actually fits in the XL201 and how easy it was to do and what improvement to expect. Have you actually fitted one yet?
Appreciate any other help and suggestions that anyone will have on the subject.
Cheers... Baler

[FHB]

The only card I've found is the Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 512 HDMI

This graphics card won't fit because it uses two slots and it isn't low profile either.
The only suitable card, that I know at the moment, is the new Leadtek WinFast PX8500 GT TDH HDMI. It's a low profile card with passive cooling. The 8500 GPU isn't really fast for gaming, but at least it has nVidia's VP2 engine built-in that will take most of the load from the CPU while decoding HD video content.

Regards,
Frank

[ITTroll]

Has anyone tried the WinFast PX8500 in an XL series? I too am looking for video upgrade and was wondering if it fitted.

[ITTroll]

I've had a poke around and found another couple of possibilities:

MSi NX8500GT-MTD256EH/D2
This is low profile, has passive cooling and HDMI.
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1231&maincat_no=130&cat2_no=136#

MSi NX8600GT-MTD256E
This is low profile, has active cooling and HDMI. Quite rare to find an 8600 in low profile!
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1232&maincat_no=130&cat2_no=136#

I'm not sure what they would be like fitment-wise though.

[FHB]

The brackets on the MSI cards aren't low profile. Looks like a no go for the XL series, although the PCB's of the cards are low profile. Silly MSI.

[ITTroll]

I believe they come with a low profile bracket so you can switch them.