Graphics card compatibility

[Borealis_49]

My old XFX 7900GS recently died and I'm now trying to find a replacement. I've been considering getting BFG's GeForce 9800GT with EcoIntelligence, mainly because of the promised low power consumption. I currently have a Hiper 530W Type M PSU and I'm fairly confident that this should be sufficient.

I do play some games such as Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2, but I'm not overly concerned with video quality as I'm limited by space constraints to a 17in monitor.

My motherboard is an Asus M2V using the Via K8T890 chipset. Could someone please advise me if this graphics card will be compatible and if not, what can I replace my 7900 with?

Is PCI-E 2.0 fully backwards compatible with older motherboards?

I haven't messed about with PC hardware for a couple of years so I'm a bit confused!

 

[wa1]

Don't worry about PCI-E 2.0 or PCI-E 1.0, they backward compatible...
About your PSU, i never heard about that brand, but i think that's enough, 9800GT Eco as u said earlier has low power consumption, also your monitor is just 17inch, surely this card will fit well...
U might want to go for GTS 250, that's about the same level with 9800GT but with newer technology on it...

 

[edeawillrule]

Don't worry about PCI-E 2.0 or PCI-E 1.0, they backward compatible...
About your PSU, i never heard about that brand, but i think that's enough, 9800GT Eco as u said earlier has low power consumption, also your monitor is just 17inch, surely this card will fit well...
U might want to go for GTS 250, that's about the same level with 9800GT but with newer technology on it...

Actually the GTS 250 is a renamed 9800 GTX+.
So it's a higher level but same generation.

 

[HVDynamo]

short answer, yes that card will work. That power supply should be enough to power any single card you can put in there. Given the size of your monitor that card should do just fine for you. PCI-Express 2.0 cards are backwards compatible with a PCI-E 1.0 board ( I am currently running a configuration like that).

 

[wa1]

Oh, sorry about that, edeawillrule...
I'm not too familiar with nvidia's card...

 

[edeawillrule]

Oh, sorry about that, edeawillrule...
I'm not too familiar with nvidia's card...

It's all good there's a ton of cards to keep up with in Nvidia's renaming game lol.

 

[Borealis_49]

BFG tech support confirmed that it would work without any problems, so I've gone for the 9800GT in the end. I checked the combined 12V current rating for my PSU and decided that I'd go for the lower powered option since despite a 530W rating, it can only put out around 25A. Most of the GT250s I looked at required 25A and I thougt it would be safer to have a little excess power available. The GTS250 is also slightly more expensive than the 9800 so I'll save a few pounds.

My case is somewhat small and the BFG 9800 is about the same size as my old 7900, so the airflow shouldn't be too bad. I may decide to pop in some extra fans for good measure because I think the 7900 may have overheated.

Unfortunately, it probably won't be delivered until the 4th January, so I'm going to have to reactivate Windows whilst using a spare 7100GS I have. I go back to Uni before the 9800 will arrive and I need the machine for my degree course research and coursework...

Can anyone suggest any older games that will run OK on a 7100?