Windows

No idea what the HPs specs were, but I'm suprised it was able to run a 9600 with a 200w PSU.

Check the PSU, you'll need more like a 450w supply to run the system into which you want to install that card. Spinning fans and no post errors with a black screen are classic symptoms of an underpowered system.

The 9600 is not a demanding card the way that many current ones are today. Some didn't have fans.

Like I said mine ran just fine in a system with a 200 watt PSU. The MB for that system was an Asus board - custom for HP, 1.6 Ghz P4, 2 optical drives, floppy, 1 HD etc.

Ask George Ou about PSU requiements, or read some of the video card enthusiasts boards. Many are overstated by a pretty high factor. Using name brand PSUs also helps - many cheapies are somewhat optimistic in their ratings.

I've experienced running a top end card (x850 XT) in a system with a 300 watt PSU. Didn't have any power problems, but the board ran too hot for the case and I had thermal shutdowns when playing intense games(none for "normal" operations like web surfing)>

James

The quality of the PS is very important and is often over looked as unimportant. After all a PS is a PS isn't it?

Up until recently we did all of the repair work for HP locally where they couldn't manage a quick fix. That means that they would send a tech on site and if he couldn't fix the problem by changing parts we would end up with the unit to repair.

I remember one Compaq Evo that we got handed the Tech was sure that they had a PS Problem and had swapped 3 PS in the unit. It didn't even have anything overly hungry in the unit just 1 extra PCI Video Card 1 optical drive 1 HDD and the 1 floppy and a CPU Fan. I tended to agree with the first impressions and connected up a 300 W Antec PS and the unit worked perfectly without a hitch but the moment that we tried the Compaq PS it failed to boot. All that had been added to this one was an optical drive in the form of a CD Burner and the second Video Card for a Dual Display and that was only a 32 MEG PCI Card that was very frugal in it's power requirements otherwise it was original.

We ended up changing everything and it still wouldn't work which was at the least very frustrating and because of the fact that a propriety PS was fitted to this particular unit we where stuck with using HP Parts as the PS in this unit was triangular in shape so we where stuck with it. The moment that the Optical Drive was removed or unplugged it worked perfectly but plug in the CD Burner which was originally a Sony and it failed to post. We tried several different burners in the unit removed the second Video Card and put in a Video Splitter to minimize the power requirements and still had no joy with the HP supplied PS's. In the end I got one of HP's techs to grab as many PS as he could lay his hands on for this unit and we kept changing them over till we found one that worked with the current configuration.

Filling in the Warranty papers for that one was a nightmare and since then they have taken to doing these repairs In House by returning the problem ones to the Melbourne Head Office thankfully.

Col

I agree, this card does have meager power requirements, but it does state in my documentation that it needs a minimum of 350Watts for "optimal" operation. Even though it doesn't have a fan, just passive cooling. But, after a bit more research into the system I am working with it already has one HD a DVD Drive and DVD Burner, floppy drive, and a zip drive. So it's already drawing more power than the system should be handling, through the 250Watts. Though, I think Compaq should have provided enough power for all the expansion spots they include with the system, but then again, it's a budget computer so no surprises. = )

Matt