Question can old systems handle modern graphics cards?

[h4l]

about a week ago i bought an old used pc hoping i could slowly upgrade it.
i was looking at new parts and since i dont have enough money now to buy all the parts i was thinking that i would seperately buy the parts and upgrade the pc one part at a time when that part is useful alone
specs:
motherboard:asus p5kpl-am epu
cpu:intel core 2 quad q9300
ram: 4gb of ddr2 800mhz
ssd: kingston sata 3 240gb
psu: 300w

i know the psu is not strong enough but i will upgrade that soon.
i just wanna know if any of the 1660 cards would work with the motherboard, cpu and the ram

 

[helpstar]

possible, maybe, but why? this system is way too ancient for such a gpu
next step would be motherboard, cpu and RAM

 

[h4l]

possible, maybe, but why? this system is way too ancient for such a gpu
next step would be motherboard, cpu and RAM

I dont wanna wait until i buy a new motherboard and cpu i wanna use it as soon as i can because right now this pc is close to useless
The current videocard has 512mb of vram so no games would run on it

 

[Eximo]

The problem with cards beyond the 10 series is the lack of a UEFI BIOS on the old system.

For a Core 2 I would not look at anything above a GTX1060 or RX570/RX580.

Some of the other 10 series cards may support traditional BIOS, but it was up to the vendor to put that in the vBIOS, the lower spec ones were intended for a market that was more likely to have older systems, so most of them have it. (General rule of thumb, if you see a VGA port or DVI-I port, you are good)

Rather than spend on a 1660, might make more sense to just get yourself into a Ryzen APU system. That will have enough GPU power to play many modern titles and allow for a GPU upgrade later.

 

[h4l]

Okay thanks

 

[COLGeek]

Keep in mind that your 300w PSU severely limits GPU options as well. Look closely at the power requirements of any GPU you are considering.

 

[Math Geek]

i'll second the idea of am AMD APU system that you can slowly upgrade. not sure what you were going to spend on a 1660 but a few hundred dollars should get you started with the AMD system if you reuse the case and hdd's

something like this

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($130.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($102.07 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 - TT Premium Edition 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $362.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-01-09 11:34 EST-0500

you can start here and be good to go for now and then add a GPU, new case, ssd's and so on as you get to it. the psu will handle a good gpu no problem so you'll not have to worry there as you upgrade.

 

[ARICH5]

i'll second the idea of am AMD APU system that you can slowly upgrade. not sure what you were going to spend on a 1660 but a few hundred dollars should get you started with the AMD system if you reuse the case and hdd's

something like this

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($130.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($102.07 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 - TT Premium Edition 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $362.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-01-09 11:34 EST-0500

you can start here and be good to go for now and then add a GPU, new case, ssd's and so on as you get to it. the psu will handle a good gpu no problem so you'll not have to worry there as you upgrade.

Nice. U can even drop the 32g ram to 16 for now and get a cheap 512gb ssd

 

[Math Geek]

would save like $20 or so to drop to 16 gb. wouldn't really hurt it either, except don't forget the APU shares the ram. so it's really only 10-12GB ram after the iGP gets some, or even more if you set the BIOS to dynamically auto configure it.. still enough to start with for sure, so not out of the question

 

[stonecarver]

motherboard:asus p5kpl-am epu
cpu:intel core 2 quad q9300
ram: 4gb of ddr2 800mhz
ssd: kingston sata 3 240gb
psu: 300w

What OS will are you running on the older system . That also might determine choices for a GPU besides the needing power supply.

The core 2 CPU's are my cutoff point meaning I would only use as a retro XP or Windows 7 gaming machine off the internet.

 

[stonecarver]

i just wanna know if any of the 1660 cards would work with the motherboard, cpu and the ram

Also just from what I have used on the older core 2 CPU's as far as GPU's is the GTX 970 worked fine and that was on windows 7. Also tried a RX 560 and only black screened.

Nvidia like already mentioned the GTX 1060's , 1070 is where I would stop they seem to be more user friendly with older BIOS than RX Amd's it's a hit or miss.

Learn from this older system but I agree start tucking money aside for a newer build.

 

[Gaidax]

I don't think it will work and even if it will - it's pointless anyway.