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

[Lar77]

Sorry but I'm going to post this question here too .......

When changing graphics cards do you loose the ability to send sound to an amp through the Digital Optical cable in the Xl 301?? I'm going to install the leadtek 8500 GT but it's more or less the same as the MSI one. I really nead the Optical connection to work after I swap cards.

[ITTroll]

Yes it will work fine. The Digital Optical output is unaffected by the upgrade. With audio output set to HDMI/SPDIF you get output from both the digital audio out and the HDMI (with the internal SPDIF cable connected). I have both connected so I can choose between TV sound or Cinema amp sound depending on the material.

[Lar77]

Yes it will work fine. The Digital Optical output is unaffected by the upgrade. With audio output set to HDMI/SPDIF you get output from both the digital audio out and the HDMI (with the internal SPDIF cable connected). I have both connected so I can choose between TV sound or Cinema amp sound depending on the material.

Excellent, thanks for the reply

[h4]

The extra cable on the 7600GTL is for the external video connections. As the MSI doesn't have this connector you do lose this functionality.


Could you just confirm what functionalities i would lose... I have my sky plus connected via composite and and dual rca which i use when i rarely i archive my sky recordings onto dvd..is this affected...

Also, whilst i'm here i've another question, (possibly more) and would really appreciate assistance. Will it possible for me to use the hdmi and dvi port simultaneously? How about hdmi and the component(which is probably more important)? I've got a projector and at the moment because of the hdmi/channel switching issue i'm splitting (yep thats right) the component signal from my vaio to my tv and my projector.... ideally i'd like hdmi to tv and dvi or component to projector.....

[andysp5]

So in summary, none of the 9 series range is suitable for a standard XL-201 because of either power usage issues or cooling issues? So the 8500GT is the best option?

[scoobyuser]

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#

Got one of these for sale brand new boxed offers

njohns02@o2.co.uk

[scoobyuser]

Well I received my MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH/D2 and found like others that the heatsink is too wide to fit. However rather than remove the PCI riser support bracket, I decided to follow the example of Timiboy from a German forum and modify the 7600GTL cooler.

It is fairly straight forward to remove the coolers from the cards. The top left corner of the 7600GTL heatsink must be removed to allow for a capacitor on the MSI card. A strip from the bottom of the heatsink must also be removed in order to clear motherboard components (the MSI card sits lower down). Then simply refit the modified cooler to the 8500GT with some fresh thermal paste.

After being switched on for a day the GPU temperature has settled at 65°C.

I have hosted some pictures of the process.







The extra cable on the 7600GTL is for the external video connections. As the MSI doesn't have this connector you do lose this functionality.

And this modified hink sink

[scoobyuser]

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#




Got one of these for sale brand new boxed offers

njohns02@o2.co.uk

Still for sale

njohns02@o2.co.uk

[grant_garge]

I am looking at following the guide from IT Troll but when I look online for the NX8500GT-MTD256EH/D2 most show a card that looks slightly different from the one shown in IT Trolls pictures. Of course the cooler is different but beyond that the mounting plate also looks different i.e. to long. Is there a different card available or does the plate need to be cut & bent?

The products online looks like this...

[andysp5]

I've just bought one of these cards myself but haven't fitted it yet. What you see in the picture is the normal profile bracket. It should come with a low-profile bracket which is very easy to swop. You remove the black cable at the top of the normal bracket, and you are left with HDMI and DVI connectors with the low-profile bracket.