PCI-E 2.0 Question?

[SippyCupXIII]

Hey all,

Got a quick question, I have a friend that is looking to uprade his video card in his system. The problem that he has is that he has a board that is PCI-E 16x. And to even further the problem he can only get it to run at 4x (just recent, baord wont run at 16x anymore). He is going to replace the motherboard within the next couple months but wanted to go ahead and get the graphics card now. So my question is can he use a PCI-E 2.0 card in his computer? Here is his specs:

Operating System: Windows XP 32bit with SP3
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo e6600
Video Card: 256mb Geforce 7900gt
Memory: 2gb G.Skill DDR2 pc8000
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Hard Drive: 500gb Western Digital SATA
Power Supply: Thermaltake 450watt TR2 RX Cable Management W0146RU

He was either looking at a 512mb Radeon 4870 or 512mb Geforce 9800gtx+. Another thing I am not sure about is whether his power suipply will work with those cards or not. Any info would be awsome!

Thanks,
Chris Stickles

 

[fullmetall]

Yes, its a 16x card and a 16x pci-e slot 2.0, onlything that really matters in that is the x16.

Well, instead of getting the 4870 or the 9800gtx since its a 1x6pin connector for pci-e, get the gtx 250 instead since it uses 1x6pin only.

its the upgrade of the 9800gtx.

but, if he plans on going on to something more than that later on, then he will need to upgrade the psu aswell.

 

[SippyCupXIII]

Fullmetall,

I am a little confused by how you worded what you said. So it will run even tough the PCI-E slot on the motherboard isnt 2.0 and it is currently running at 4x? An other quick question, if it will work....how much reduced performance will he be facing with it running at 4x instead of 16x?

Thanks!
Chris Stickles

 

[fullmetall]

Hmmm,

The PCIEx16 slots is actually referring to the speed of the slot, or bandwidth. So in turn a PCIEx4 is only going to use 1/4 of the total bandwidth of your VGA cards true potential. So it is kinda worthless to go with a really top of the line card on this particular board, there might be a jumper or something to set to make it x16, I dont see why it automatically runs at x4

 

[fullmetall]

I dont want to give you information on many parts to buy for it because, that isn't something your looking for but, your running a 7900gt, should look at getting a motherboard.. P43 per say and the gtx 250

 

[SippyCupXIII]

Yeah, he is going to get a new motherboard too, just cant afford it at this time. He has enough for a card though so he was just looking at getting the card now and use it if possible untill he can get a new motherboard in a month or two. He said he was going to go with the gts 250......So it would work then?

 

[JaredAudiophileGamer]

Yeah, he is going to get a new motherboard too, just cant afford it at this time. He has enough for a card though so he was just looking at getting the card now and use it if possible untill he can get a new motherboard in a month or two. He said he was going to go with the gts 250......So it would work then?

Yes it would work given that he has a power supply with the correct pci e connections. And he should have a look at this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128356&Tpk=Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G pretty terrible reviews, and lots of rmas filed from what i can see there.

 

[fullmetall]

Yea, his pci-e slot could be shorting out, so, if he's going to get a new card, as i said before, x4 will only use 1/4th of the total bandwidth. Is there a reason why he needs a new card right at this minute? if so, get it but, he can't be expecting full potential until he gets a new motherboard

 

[SippyCupXIII]

Yeah, I think he is just going to wait, thanks for all the info guys!