PCI express slot? why is nothing simple?

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hondochica

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Greetings;

I recently purchased a refurbished lenovo thinkcentre M55e; I wanted to upgrade the graphics card to a card w/ an HDMI port. Bought a XFX1 recommended elsewhere on these forums.

BUT: What I 'think' is the pci express slot is not configured for the card - (see photo here:
photostream
): the separator is in the wrong place and it almost looks like the card is too big. Also, if I could install the card; the ports would be 'inside' the box - not sticking out the expansion slot - the pci express slot is 'upside down'?

OK - everyone laugh now!! what have I missed? ;)


Ran cpuid for specs: here's what it said - let me know if you need more:

MB: Lenovo LENOVO (0x000001D3 - 0x0061A5E0)
Chipset
Northbridge Intel 946PL/GZ rev. C1
Southbridge Intel 82801GB (ICH7/R) rev. A1
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 2048 MBytes

PCI capability (is this the right data? do I have a pci express slot? it says 'physical slot #0 ??)
Caps class PCI Express
Caps offset 0xA0
Device type Root Port of PCI-E Root Complex
Port 2
Version 1.0
Physical slot #0
Presence detect no
Link width 0x (max 16x)



Thanks in advance

Kelly




 
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hedwar2011

hedwar2011

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See if this helps. You didn't give a specific series # so I'm winging it.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?DocID=PD002897

Where on the systemboard is the port at? Close to the sides, in the middle?
 
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maxalge

maxalge

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That slot in your picture is designed for low bandwidth expansion cards...



pcie.jpg






The top one in the picture is a proper pcie slot that you would need, do you have one?
 
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bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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Yea I didn't understand that as well. It kind of looks like maybe she is using the bottom expansion slot which may be the issue. I would go with what Max suggested with slot 19 because the one she is plugging in looks like a pci slot normal not pci-e
alixbp1a.jpg
 
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Kari

Kari

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the slot on the OPs pic is plain old PCI slot which seems to be on a very narrow pcb itself, some sort of riser card? looks weird anyways...

Could you take foto of the whole mobo area with the different slots?

 
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hondochica

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Wow! so many replies I can't keep up!!! :)

yes, the pci slot thing is on a riser on the side of the board.

if it looks like I'm SOL - it's going BACK!

do you still want another photo??

kelly
 
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G

Guest

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holy crap! i just saw a dinosaur!!!

that is pci not pic-e(xpress).
 
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hondochica

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OK - I'm posting a copy of the specs of the product when I bought it. It NEVER occurred to me that in 2012, even a refurbished computer would NOT have a pci-express slot!


Lenovo IBM ThinkCentre M55e Desktop PC - Intel Dual-Core 1.6GHz, 2GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, DVD-ROM,

Specifications
Desktop Specifications
Lifestyle Home & Student
Condition Off-Lease
Operating Systems Windows 7 Home Premium 32-Bit
Platform PC
Form Factor Small Form Factor (SFF)
Memory Module Specifications
Memory Type DDR2
Total Memory Size 2GB
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB - 64 bit
Media Ports
Serial Communication Ports 1
Parallel Ports 1
LAN Ports 1
USB Ports (Total) 2 - front
6 - rear
Audio Out Jacks 3
Microphone Jacks 1
VGA Ports 1
Processor Specifications
Processor Brand Intel
Processor Speed 1.6GHz
Hard Disk Drive Specifications
Interface SATA
Capacity 80GB
Hard Drive Types Hard Disk Drive
Speed 7,200RPM
Optical Drive Specifications
Optical Drive Class DVD-ROM
Audio Specifications
Audio Description Integrated Audio
Audio Chipset High Definition Audio
Graphics Specifications
Graphics Description Integrated Graphics
GPU/VPU Intel GMA 3000
Network Adapter Specifications
LAN Data Transfer Rate 10/100/1000Mbps
LAN Description Gigabit Ethernet
LAN Interface Type RJ-45
Mouse Specifications
Mouse Type Included
Connection Type USB
Keyboard Specifications
Keyboard Type Included
Connection Type USB
Specification Notes
Specification Notes [6] To provide the most accurate specifications, the specifications listed are based upon information provided by the vendor.



Is there anything in those specs that I missed that would have told me the MB didn't have and couldn't support a pci-express? Was I really that uninformed? or was there no way to know?

thanks

kelly

 
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hondochica

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So . . . does this mean I can salvage this dinosaur?? All I bought it for was to watch TV via internet - it will be my 'media center' I don't game; it's just gonna sit in the living room hooked to a 32" TV (hdmi input only from pc) and let me watch Netflix, and CBS - that's about it! Oh - and it will be hooked to my stereo and serve as my digital music library server

thanks soooo much!

kelly
 
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Guest

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seems so.

i was a bit surprised to see a PCI graphics card with HDMI out when i did a quick search on new egg. so i guess all is not lost.
 
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bigshootr8

bigshootr8

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loon you changed your portrait :ouch: Not all hope is lost yea. I mean if you had just purchased it it may be a good idea to get something newer but that is up to you. But yea you can get a pci card (the slot doesn't offer much in terms of bandwidth and has been legacy (meaning out of date) for a good 10 years)
 
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Kari

Kari

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hmm the second pic is a bit fuzzy on the important parts, is there actually a second black slot on that riser?

the chipset used on the mobo (946gz) did support pci-e after all... might not be used on that exact board but..
 
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hondochica

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here's another photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/91939719@N07/ ) - the pci slot is the blurred white thing on top - hard to get a camera in there . . but low and behold I see 'pci-e' on the riser board! does that mean I could add a pci slot somehow? is it necessary given my stated useage? but then could use the new card I bought

kelly
 
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