How to find out my motherboard specifications

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Hugh G Wreckshon

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Nov 16, 2010
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Hello people,

This is my first post here, so I hope I do not come off as annoying; anyway, I have a problem- I have googled for a lot of time, but could not find a way to find out my motherboard specifications without breaking open my computer.

I need to find this out, as I am looking to purchas a nVidia GTS 250, which requires two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. My current card (geforce g100) uses only one, so I hope I will be able to fit this one in.


The current system specifications I know are:

AMD Phenom X4 quad @ 2.33GHZ
4GB RAM
640GB HDD
Windows Vista x32 Home Edition
512 nVidia geforce g100 graphics card, hoping to upgrade to GTS 250.

Also, if anyone could tell me what nVidia hybribpower is, and if it's essential to me being able to run this card?

Thanks in advance!

-Hugh
 
Everest Home Edition - will give you all the information you could need about your system ( for expansion slots look under Motherboard - motherboard selection and it will give you all of the Motherboard physical properties.

That said --- the Nvidia 250 is a dual slot card meaning it takes up the space of 2 slots in the back panel due to the fan -- but only needs a single slot to be placed into the MOBO not 2 PCI-e slots !!! and the PCI-e 2.0 spec is backward compatible so the card will work in a PCI-e 1.0 version slot also so you should have no problem using it on your MOBO (as long as you have a powersupply with enough power to run the card.
 
Ok, right, so I should be able to run this card on my system based on my specifications; will this Everest thing show me what power supply I have?

Sorry for being such a total newb, but I have one more query- how can I upgrade my PSU? Do I need to buy a new PSU device or can I just change it via software?
 
The PSU is not identified on any App; you'll need to open the case and take a look. The size {Wattage} is the most important in determining 'need' requirements for CPU, HDD, GPU, and OC.

Upgrading a PSU is pretty simple: 4 screws, and unplug then reverse the process. 10 minutes is typical time - NOTE ALL of the connections!
 


No the only ways to find out the Power supply info is either by looking at the manufacturers information or by opening the case and looking at the label attached to the powersupply. For example this label from an ANTEC PSU :

psu.jpg



Notice it is a 550W PSU but the label is a bit confusing if you look it has 3 +12v rails with a rating of 22 - 22 and 25 Amps which if you combine them would mean 69 Amps and since Wattage = Amps times Voltage it would suggest that it could handle 69x12 = 828Watts of +12v power which is not correct -- instead notice the small print that states the +12v1 +12V2 +12V3 Max load is 384W or 384/12 = 32Amps !!! SO the label is misleading like many Power supplies and you need to look at the actual Max load it can handle on the +12v and not just add the rails (since each rail can handle more by itself but the combined output is what matters for running your system !) --- If you had this PSU you would have a PSU rated for 550W that can provide 32Amps on the +12v rails and since for instance the PALIT GTS250 card is specd to need
Minimum 450W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 24A)
Click to expand...

So would be fine to run the system with a Palit GTS250 !!
 
Ok, sorry once more for being a newb, but I am on the Everest software, and I cannot find where my free PCI slots are. :S

Any help on where to go to find this?

Thanks in advance
 
Err... All I see is the motherboard ID and the name says: "Unknown".

Also, on the back of my PC it says "Rating: 220-230VAC 2A 50HZ". What does this mean?
 

Here is a photo that might help notice on my system I have 2 PCI slots - 3 Pci-e x1 slots and 2 PCI-e x16 slots on my MOBO as listed - to get to that info expand the Motherboard tree and select Motherboard to open that window !

everest.jpg
 
You still need to look up the version of PCIe anyway, so the OEM site I 'trust.' I'm not badmouthing the App, just my Missouri {show me} mind set.

BTW - since the OP has the Gefore G100; the Geforce GTS 250 will indeed work fine, it 'uses' 2 slots but connects only to (1) slot. I was waiting around for the MOBO only to determine it the CPU+MOBO are going to bottleneck the GTS 250...
 
I'm not sure I have the power supply or connectors for the GTS 250; I will check, but if I don't, I will probably get a GT 240 or GT 430, depending on which one will fit.

I'm not on my home PC right now, but I will try to get the motherboard by doing the instructions above, thanks! :)
 
The GT 240 has a double the memory bandwidth, and has better performance ratings
http://www.nvidia.com/content/HelpMeChoose/fx2/HelpMeChoose.asp?lang=en-us

Compare them both, and tell me which one overall is better- I realise that the GT 430 doesn't disappear when I click "Play latest games at extreme HD resolutions (above 1920x1200).

Help me choose, please!

Also, will post the motherboard soon, still not at home PC 🙁
 
Per 'your' choices GT 430 vs GTS 250 - Per 'my' choice GTS 450; DirectX 11 support and worth the 14% price difference. I play DirectX 11 + PhysX games.

Prices:
GT 430 ~ $70 ; DirectX 11
GTS 250 ~ $105 ; DirectX 10
GTS 450 ~ $120 ; DirectX 11

I'd hope the GTS will beat a GPU that 1/3 less in cost; likewise the GTS 450 10% more cost $15 more and offers DirectX 11 and is the next generation.
3DMark+Vantage+%28DirectX+10%29.jpg
 
Sorry for the triple post, but I just need a card that will run CoD: Blackops at a decent framerate and resolution; now I can run it at 800x600 at around 20FPS; same with GTAIV, except that one is even worse.

Is it really worth Direct X 11?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I use photoshop and sony vegas, and they both currently run fine. That's it, really.
Could you tell me what the optimum card would be for my specs? (Specs shown in first post)

Thanks
 
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