I need help with a graphics card

[Frankjones]

I bought my computer last july and I would like to buy a graphics card for it. I have been looking at the ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 PCI-Express Video Card but i am not really understanding the pcie slot differences and compatiblities. I think I have a 1.1 but I am not sure and the card is 2.0 would the card work in my computer and will the performance cost be.
My computer is a
Acer Aspire E700 R01-A4
System Serial Number: PTS590X014721090602701
Board: Acer FG965M
Serial Number: 04EF64900146
Bus Clock: 266 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD R01-A4 03/26/2007

If anyone could please help me that would be great

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Hi Frankjones and welcome to the Anandtech Forums.

It will work

Good Luck!

 

[Frankjones]

Thank You could you also tell if there will be a signifcant performance loss and is it worth the extra money or would it be better just to buy a pcie 1.0 card

 

[Stiganator]

PCIe 2.0 basically only adds additional bandwidth to the bus. You won't have any performance loss.

 

[humanure]

what power supply is in the Acer? Make sure it has enough power for the card you choose.

 

[Frankjones]

I have a 300W power supply in right know and it doesn`t have a 6 pin connector so I was planning to upgrade to a 600w power supply which should be enough. Thanks for the heads up and all you help