11-05-2009, 04:12 PM
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#1
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285 video card question
Hi guys,
I recently acquired a used Dell Precision Workstation, which is about two years old. It has an NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285 128mb video card installed. I realize that this is not a card for gaming -- which is fine, since I'm not a gamer -- but I'm wondering if it will be adequate for watching full-screen HD video at 30fps. That's probably the most taxing thing I'll ever do with it. At the moment I don't have any HD videos to test it.
I was also wondering if it's normal for this card to run quite hot. I ran SpeedFan last night and the temp of the card was 53C, and that was with the computer idle. The temp rose to about 55C while playing a small 640x480 video clip. When I tried to view the clip in full-screen mode, the video and the audio slowed down to about half their normal speed. It wasn't stuttering or dropping frames; it was like a slow-motion replay at a sports game. 
Thanks in advance for your help/advice!
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11-05-2009, 06:40 PM
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#2
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Forum Administrator
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How much ram is installed?
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11-05-2009, 07:17 PM
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#3
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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The computer has 2GB; the video card has 128MB.
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11-05-2009, 07:50 PM
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#4
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Member (12 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay
Posts: 2,144
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That is not an unusually high temperature for a GPU. They generally run hotter than CPU's.
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11-05-2009, 08:45 PM
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#5
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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Thanks for the reply. I popped open the case and the video card only has a tiny little heatsink, and no fan.
My previous computer, which I built myself, has an old NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX4000 card, which also lacks a fan, but I've never known what kind of temperatures it operates at because SpeedFan can't detect it. Therefore I had no frame of reference for the card in the Dell. I'm glad to know that 55C isn't abnormal. It was definitely a lot higher than the CPU temp, so I was kind of worried!
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11-05-2009, 10:39 PM
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#6
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Forum Administrator
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80c is normal for high performance video cards.
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11-05-2009, 11:26 PM
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#7
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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Wow! I had no idea. Glad to know that it's not something I need to be concerned about.
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11-06-2009, 12:35 PM
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#8
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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With the temp concerns out of the way, am I going to be able to watch HD videos with this card, or will I need to upgrade?
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11-06-2009, 03:28 PM
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#9
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You won't know till you try. That's a pretty old card. If you do have to upgrade, be very mindful of power supply issues.
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11-06-2009, 07:17 PM
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#10
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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In the event that I do have to upgrade, what kind of card(s) should I be looking for? The computer has a 375W power supply.
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11-06-2009, 07:34 PM
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#11
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If you go by ATI's official power recommendations, a Radeon 4350. However, Dell power supplies are generally underrated and it *should* be able to handle a 4650.
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11-06-2009, 07:35 PM
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#12
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
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Thanks!
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Linear Mode
