Graphics Cards

Alright, a buddy of mine needs a graphics card for wow as he is running off integrated mobo graphics. But all the slots hes got is 2x PCI-E x1, 1x PCI-E x4, and 1x PCI-E x16. And he needs the best he can get for around $100 but tops $150-175.

Been looking at the ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB with GDDR5. But uneasy with it.
I have an extra NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS offhand, but unknown if it is compatible with his slots.

Any suggestions?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339&cm_re=9800gt-_-14-130-339-_-Product for $95 after rebate is a great deal and what I would use.

 

Thats a PCI-E 2.0 x16, which is not compatible with his slots.

EDIT: This is the exact card i have but the Galaxy edition.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0470&cm_re=radeon_5450-_-14-150-470-_-Product

I got mine at my local BestBuy for around $100. Newegg is the best place to get whatever you want cheap. So I'd try there first, then head to the nearest computer/electronics store.

Mitch.

 

The 5670 is PCI-E 2.1.

Post the model # of the motherboard, because it seems like it should be a PCI-E 2 slot if its x16. I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as a PCI-E 1.0 x16 slot, but I may be wrong.

 

Thats what the manual and system specs say :/

 

Is it a custom build or a pre-made?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103104

HD 5670 is PCI-E x16 ^

 

Have him run this and check the Mainboard tab - http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.54-32bits-en.zip

 

I dont have contact with him atm, but this is the site he bought it from, and under specifications and then under available expansion slots it says : 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x4, 1 PCI-E x16

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...ci_sku=9698918&ref=06&loc=01&id=1218153427813

EDIT: Missed your post up there, and the link explains that its a Premade.

 

Isn't anything pcie 2.0 and above backwards compatible with x1 slots and such or was that only back in 2008? xD.

 

Hmm.... I'm not convinced. The H57 chipset that that system natively runs a PCI-E 2.0 x16. (Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-clarkdale-core-i5-661,2514-6.html) I want to say that its a typo and it should be 2.0 x16, but I honestly don't know.

 

Yes, so this really all is moot. You can run any 2.0 card on a 1.0 - it just won't have as much bandwidth. In the case of the 9800's or 5670's, it will be enough. You just won't be able to run any higher end ones. (Just as a test I put my 9800 GTX in an old system I had with a PCI-E 1.0 slot and it worked).

 

Hmm, well reading up on the GeForce 8600GTS that i replaced out of my computer it says that its a PCI-E x16 as well, can we throw it in there and see if it works?

 

Yep, it should.

 

PCI Express 1.0/2.0/2.1 are backward and forward compatible, there's absolutely no reason any card wouldn't work.

 

Not entirely right. 2.0/2.1 do have double the bandwidth of 1.0/1.1. Higher end cards like 59xx and those newer nvidia series will put out more than pci-e 1.0 can handle and will fail. Also, some 2.1 cards will have issues running on PCI-E 1.0a, seen it on ~25% of the ones I've tried.

 

Alrighty, well the 8600GTS was a great card for me, ill just let him have it, and looking around, theyre more expensive than the 9800GT (which is what i have), they're $164 when i bought 9800GT for $115

 

It will not "FAIL". It will not run at the full speed, yes, but it will NOT fail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_2.0

 

It most certainly can and will if it doesn't throttle correctly. I've seen it dozens of times. Will bsod with a memory out of bounds error.