PCIE 2 Card on a Old PCIE board?????

[djglenn]

I have an oldish system, and am very interested in upgrading my graphics card.

I currently have: AMD 64 3200+
AS Rock 939 Dual SATA
NVidia 6600, 256mb
2GB Kingston Ram (2 x 1GB PC3200)

I am considering getting a 8800GTS 640MB to boast gaming performance, however am reading that new graphics cards use a PCIE 2 interface. I assume my board is a PCIE 1 as I bought it 2-3 years ago.

Will this card work on my board? ANY advise / help & criticism is welcome!

[SiM]

I think/hope it works... I will be using a pcie 2 card on my pcie 1 mobo

[staffsMike]

The 640mb GTS isn't PCIe 2.0 but the newer 512mb one is.

Even still PCIe 2.0 cards are backwards compatable.

[djglenn]

The 640mb GTS isn't PCIe 2.0 but the newer 512mb one is.

Even still PCIe 2.0 cards are backwards compatable.

Am I better off buying a PCIe 2.0 card for future upgrading? The 640mb looks good to me, for the same price am I better off buying something else?

[staffsMike]

Depends on how much you are spending on it?

Any of the current £100 cards (ATi HD38**'s or the 9600GT) are pretty much as good as the 640MB GTS.

The 8800GT is where you will start to notice improvements over the 640mb GTS. Since they are only £138 for a really good one (EVGA on scan) then that probably makes the most sense.

I don't honestly think any of the current PCIe 2.0 cards are managing to use the bandwidth gains that PCIe 2.0 actaully offers. I would just for for the best card you can get for the money you have

[djglenn]

Thanks for your help so far...

Me being naive assumed that the XFX GeForce 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 would be better than a 8800GT 512MB....

The GTS is currently £130 on dabs, are you telling me a 512MB GT is better?

<--- n00b

Thanks again...

[staffsMike]

It is better yeah. Nvidia have been quite confusing recently so no would blame you for not knowing that unless you had been keeping up

Pretty much goes like this

worst
8800GTS 320/640
9600GT or ATi HD38**
8800GT
8800GTS 512MB
8800GTX, ATi HD3870X2 and 9800GTX
9800GX2
best

[rufeo]

I have a 640mb gts, and i was fuming when the 8800gt came out. not only was it cheaper but it was quicker than mine!

take the 8800gt without a doubt, it'll run in a pci-e slot. likw staffsmike said i don't think any of the cards are using the bandwidth that pci-e 2.0 is providing, just like how most hdds aren't even reaching the sata-I bandwidth but there's sata-II out.

[djglenn]

thanks alot, I am glad I didnt make that mistake... I had convinced myself that the GTS was so well priced that it was a pricing mistake. The 9600GT that I was considering has become more appealing. I assume then that all of the cards you have listed will work on any PCI-E slot?

[staffsMike]

I assume then that all of the cards you have listed will work on any PCI-E slot?

as long as it's PCIe x16 yeah, not sure about anything else. I suppose it might work in 8x...cant remember.

[directhex]

they won't fit in a physical 8x slot, but will operate in an electrical 8x slot (with 16x form factor)

if you can visualise the difference

and pcie2 is mostly for readback, which you don't do much for conventional 3d stuff

[staffsMike]

they won't fit in a physical 8x slot, but will operate in an electrical 8x slot (with 16x form factor)

if you can visualise the difference

that'll be the one