[SOLVED] Best Graphic Card for Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L (PCIe v1.x support)

[datenhighway]

Hey guys,
I'm trying to get some more out of my old PC for cheap money.
I already upgraded to 8 gigs of RAM and a Samsung SSD and are about to buy a Intel QX9650, but I have no idea about which graphic card would be the best possible option for my motherboard without buying a new one. So could you please tell me which graphic card would be the fastest/best for my motherboard and to what I need to take attention, if I buy one.
The motherboard supports PCIe v1.x. As far a I understood correctly I can pretty much use any PCIe graphic card on my motherboard, it just doesn't make sense, if the PCIe bus is the bottle neck (slower than graphic card)... right?

Would be grateful for any tips and explainations

 

[clutchc]

Yes, any PCIe x16 gfx card will work. It will only run at PCIe 1.x throughput, of course. Not a big issue as anything faster than a GTX 1050 will be bottlenecked by the CPU anyway. Having said that, I would probably go with a GTX 1050 Ti, tho. There are some games that will be more GPU-limited than CPU-limited.

I have an old PC with a Q2Q Q9650 (not the QX), and it has a GTX 1050 Ti in it. This is the motherboard. A gen newer than yours, but still PCIe 1.x.
There will be bottleneck, but I wouldn't go with any less card unless your budget demands it.

Btw, I used to have that same Gigabyte board many years ago.

 

[datenhighway]

Yes, any PCIe x16 gfx card will work. It will only run at PCIe 1.x throughput, of course. Not a big issue as anything faster than a GTX 1050 will be bottlenecked by the CPU anyway. Having said that, I would probably go with a GTX 1050 Ti, tho. There are some games that will be more GPU-limited than CPU-limited.

I have an old PC with a Q2Q Q9650 (not the QX), and it has a GTX 1050 Ti in it. This is the motherboard. A gen newer than yours, but still PCIe 1.x.
There will be bottleneck, but I wouldn't go with any less card unless your budget demands it.

Btw, I used to have that same Gigabyte board many years ago.

Hey,

Thanks for your fast and good answer! A GTX 1050 to doesn't look too bad and the price is also pretty affordable. Would you recommend any manufacturer since the price varies quite a lot?

And just to understand: PCIe 1.x is not going to slow down my graphic card up to a GTX 1050? And you would go for a 1050 ti, which is gonna be slowed down just slightly by the PCIe 1.x, but will perform better with some games anyway? Like whats the limiting spec? Just data transfer rate? Sorry I don't know much about those connection types and would like to understand them some more...

And btw I really love my PC. It's like super old by now (from 2008) but it still runs pretty good and I'm excited to see what it can handle after the CPU and graphic card upgrade

 

[clutchc]

Hey! I imagine you've gotten the gfx card by now. For some reason, I never got your last replay until just now. That's why I never answered.

Yes, I personally, would go with the GTX 1050 Ti. Even if some games are slightly bottlenecked by the aging CPU. In games that are more GPU demanding than CPU, the 1050 Ti will be worth it.

There are no brands that are necessarily a whole lot better than another. It's more about not getting a lemon.

The throughput of PCI 1.x is going to make a slight difference, but nothing that will be noticeable. The throughput at PCI 1.x is 4 GB/s @ 16 lanes. Should be fine.