HD 4850 on PCIe x16

[Amit3945]

Have been a Nvidia regular in the past but ,the HD 4850's look really inviting (for the price).

I am currently using 7900 GS on a Intel DG 965RY Mobo.

The Mobo box indicates PCI Express* x16.
I am confused as to weather 4850 will work on my mobo.

I read something about PCIe 2.0 , 1.0,1.0a and now am confused about the whole thing.

Will I see a "significant" improvement in IQ and Performance with a 4850 as compared to my 7900GS in games like Crysis,BioShock and CoD4?

I usually game at 1024*768.At these resolution's will it actually make sense to upgrade to a 4850?

 

[QuixoticOne]

No, I don't think it is that critical to upgrade to play in 1024x768 if you're satisfied with very decently playable settings for performance / IQ. Crysis is the worst, and if you can play that and be satisfied now with a few compromises in quality then why upgrade?
Certainly you'd have noticeable improvements in IQ (basically every possible thing at maximum for the most part) if you upgrade to the 4850 while usually boosting the FPS. But if the FPS you get now is OK and the IQ is OK then it's just $150 for a bit more pretty IQ, more AA/AF, more shadow details, a few more water ripples/reflections, etc. Nothing earth shaking.

Boost the IQ settings to max with your current card at the expense of FPS no matter how slow it gets. Well that is in most cases the IQ you'll get with a 4850, maybe a little better on the 4850 (assuming the games LET you make such a change without forcing your IQ down to keep FPS up). The only difference in many cases will be the 4850 will do that sort of IQ at a higher FPS, ignoring very slight DX10 / MSAA effects which are mostly or totally irrelevant.

Don't worry about PCIE specs... if it is a PCIE x16 physical sized slot with at least an electrical width of x8 or x16 in the best case, it will be totally compatible with the 4850 assuming your case / PSU can accommodate the 4850 size and power draw. PCIE 2.x is totally backward compatible with 1.0, 1.1, and in your case it is just irrelevant if your motherboard lacks 2.0 or whatever.

 

[madbutcher88]

At those resolutions it wont be as necessary to upgrade your card but you will be able enjoy a big increase in fps and will be able to put everything at max

 

[Amit3945]

Thank's guy's . .
That was really helpfull.
The initial 2/3rd's of Crysis is a delight to play at 1024*756 on medium on my card.
But I am getting absolutely horrible frames in the later levels in Crysis . . . when the jungle freezes over.
I believe those levels are not optimized at all . . . . There is no tree/leaves movement and due to the fog the visibility is also severly limited and yet I ended up getting single digit frames on medium.

Hope they do something better with WarHead.

FarCry 2,STALKER:Clear Skies are next on my list and from the Preview performances , my card should not have difficulty in handling them.