New Graphics Card on Old Motherboard

[DrCeeVee]

Hi everyone. I have a question about compatibility issues when using a new graphics card on a very old motherboard. What I want to do is to upgrade the graphics card on a very old, buy still very fast, system. I've recently started another thread in the Software --> PC Gaming section, and the guys there helped me out on my choice of suitable graphics card. I'm opening this new thread now, to address a different matter, not the choice of card, but its compatibility with my old mobo.

My current system consists of an ASUS Rampage Formula motherboard, with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.4 GHz and 8 GB of DDR2 RAM, which is extremely fast for my productivity needs, so I don't want to change it. More details on my system can be found in the other thread. I know this system will bottleneck any modern graphics card and I'm fine with that, as long as I can get a noticeable boost in 1080p gaming performance.

My question is this: will a modern (2015+) graphics card be recognized and usable on my ASUS Rampage Formula mobo (bought in 2008, latest BIOS update in 2010)? I'm ready to order one, based on the recommendations I've received on the other thread, but now there's the issue of compatibility. I stumbled across a few (not many) posts in forums that mention cases where the system doesn't boot at all. Although these may be isolated cases, I would like to know your opinion on this matter. Has any of you tested the above mentioned mobo (which was extremely popular in 2008), or a similar one, with a modern graphics card? Were you able to use the card with no issues? Again, I'm not talking about the card being bottlenecked, I know this will happen -- I'm talking about being able to boot, recognize and use the card, even at lower speeds.

I'm based in Greece and the shops here don't easily accept goods for return if they are unsealed, meaning that If I buy something and it doesn't work, I'll be stuck with it. So, if anyone can help me out in choosing a graphics card that will work with my old mobo, please reply. BTW, the graphics card I'm most interested in is the MSI Radeon™ R9 380 GAMING 4G (or similar of a different brand), or an equivalent NVIDIA one.

As always, thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[basroil]

My question is this: will a modern (2015+) graphics card be recognized and usable on my ASUS Rampage Formula mobo (bought in 2008, latest BIOS update in 2010)?

Most will, BUT, there's no point since it won't be all that great for games anyway.

Stick to something like the GTX750Ti or AMD 260/270, those should provide the best fit for your system. If you want 100% compatibility though, you'll have to stick to an AMD 6000 or Nvidia 500 series card maximum

 

[DrCeeVee]

Most will, BUT, there's no point since it won't be all that great for games anyway.

Stick to something like the GTX750Ti or AMD 260/270, those should provide the best fit for your system. If you want 100% compatibility though, you'll have to stick to an AMD 6000 or Nvidia 500 series card maximum

Thanks for the reply. I've spent the entire day on YouTube, searching for videos of gameplay using new graphics cards on old systems like mine. Found a few which show recent cards such as the GTX 1060 on Core 2 Quads, with very impressive results I must say. To stay on topic, those videos show that even the latest cards could be compatible with very old systems.

Having said that, a GTX 1060 will certainly not be fully utilized on a Core 2 Quad system, so it doesn't make much sense to spend all that money on such a powerful card. Will have a look at cheaper alternatives, even the GTX 750 Ti, as you've suggested, although I wonder how much better a GTX 750 Ti would be from my current pair of CrossFired 4850 Radeons...

 

[basroil]

Having said that, a GTX 1060 will certainly not be fully utilized on a Core 2 Quad system, so it doesn't make much sense to spend all that money on such a powerful card. Will have a look at cheaper alternatives, even the GTX 750 Ti, as you've suggested, although I wonder how much better a GTX 750 Ti would be from my current pair of CrossFired 4850 Radeons...

At least twice the performance in modern games, perhaps much, much more (many new games won't even start up with that card!)

 

[DrCeeVee]

Took the plunge and ordered an MSI GTX 1060 6 GB. This one:

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-GTX-1060-GAMING-X-6G.html

I know it's overkill, but should still have juice to give me when I eventually decide to upgrade the rest of my PC.

Now, the big Q: will it work with my old mobo? I'll know for sure by tomorrow afternoon. If it doesn't work, or if the CPU bottleneck is severe, I will upgrade the mobo, CPU and RAM. But something tells me that if it works, it will perform OK for my needs.

Many thanks. Will report my findings here.

 

[basroil]

Now, the big Q: will it work with my old mobo? I'll know for sure by tomorrow afternoon. If it doesn't work, or if the CPU bottleneck is severe, I will upgrade the mobo, CPU and RAM. But something tells me that if it works, it will perform OK for my needs.

Hard to tell without trying, there's a possibility that it won't work at all, in which case you need to consider an upgrade to a more modern platfrom (the i3 6100 is significantly faster than your Core 2, and can be had for ~$200 including b150 mobo and 8gb ram). For most games the Core 2 will bottleneck the 1060 at all possible settings, but it should still be playable

 

[DrCeeVee]

Hard to tell without trying, there's a possibility that it won't work at all, in which case you need to consider an upgrade to a more modern platfrom (the i3 6100 is significantly faster than your Core 2, and can be had for ~$200 including b150 mobo and 8gb ram). For most games the Core 2 will bottleneck the 1060 at all possible settings, but it should still be playable

Thanks for the reply basroil. That's exactly the plan I have in mind. Once I decided that I was willing to proceed with the mobo/CPU/RAM upgrade, the choice of graphics card was easier. I'm (almost) wishing that the old system doesn't boot with the new card, so I'll be forced to upgrade the rest ASAP! I know the GTX 1060 is overkill for my C2Q, but for 1080p light gaming it should be more than enough, if not for my current system, at least for a freshly upgraded one. $200 is not much at all (was expecting more). I believe I should be able to keep the rest of my system (1 kW PSU, SSD, HDDs, case, fans, etc.).

 

[basroil]

$200 is not much at all (was expecting more).

The minimum you need is

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($39.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $207.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-31 11:04 EDT-0400

Should be significantly faster for everything including games

 

[DrCeeVee]

The wait is over... Got the card, tested it, and I'm happy to report that the experiment was a complete success! More details can be found on my reply to my other thread, here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3145678/upgrading-good-gaming.html#18530202

The MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X 6 GB graphics card proved to be an excellent choice for my needs, and an excellent 1080p gaming machine.

To answer my original question, YES, a modern (2015+) graphics card can be recognized and perfectly usable on the ASUS Rampage Formula mobo (legacy BIOS, bought in 2008, latest BIOS update in 2010)! You can be sure that the above mentioned MSI card works absolutely brilliantly with the old but still good ASUS Rampage Formula.

Thanks to all who replied on my two threads and helped me out. Old h/w compatibility info like this is not easy to find, so I hope this and my other thread can help others in similar situations, wanting to upgrade their old system's GPUs.

P.S.: Why can't I pick my own post as a solution? If a moderator reads this, can you please set this post to be the solution? In this way, the thread will be complete. Thanks.

 

[gentieman]

wow glad it works for you bro we have somewhat same specs but now i have the same question what no one rarely even want to answer to my topic on which card will work psu it gets me mad everytime i get a reply like upgrading the hardware when there is no point you coult play any games from 2017 all that is just a waste imao i dont want an Nasa pc as well .... i have a old bios too like 2009 latest version american trends its an Asustek V-P5G41E motherboard i dunno someone have the knowledge a card from 2011 2012 will work like the geforce 4xx 5xx serie or an radeon 5xx 6xx serie on my bios ?? im sure it will but still i dk