Newer Card (Nvidia GTX 960) in older PCI-E v1.1 motherboard?

[MGMorden]

Ok - I've got a dilemma. I tend to not chase benchmarks, but my old gaming system which served me well for a long time has finally gotten to where newer games simply aren't playable anymore.

My specs are:

Intel Xeon X5460 (like a Core 2 Quad) 3.16 Ghz
Foxconn G31MXP-K I7 Motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 460
1TB Hard drive (5400RPM)
Windows 10 Pro

I'd really like to upgrade the RAM, but the board is maxed out, so that needs a new motherboard, which requires a new CPU, AND a new Windows license. The total cost gets outside of my budget.

So what I'm looking at right now is definitely upgrading the hard drive to a 250GB SSD.

I'd also like to move the GPU up to a Nvidia GTX 960, but the motherboard in the system is only PCI-E 1.1.

I know I'll take a small performance hit versus PCIE 2 or 3, but will the card still otherwise function in this system? Not looking for screaming performance, just enough to get by (I don't play a lot of FPS or anything - mostly stuff like Tomb Raider, Dragon Age, Witcher series, Starcraft II, etc).

Thanks!

 

[LTC8K6]

Most cards should run okay in the 1.1 slot.

There will undoubtedly be a few that won't, though.

Do you have a good power supply?

 

[LTC8K6]

That board came out in 2011.

Is it really only PCIE 1.1?

 

[MGMorden]

That board came out in 2011.

Is it really only PCIE 1.1?

From what I've been able to tell, yes. The chipset is the Intel G31 which from what I've read only supported PCIE 1.1.

As to the power supply, yes I think I'm good there. It's no monster but I'm running an Antec 450w PSU. The current rig has had no issues with power and the GTX 960 should require a little less power than my old 460 (TDP for the 960 listed at 120W versus 160W for the 460).

 

[LTC8K6]

I would buy a card from a retailer that will let you return it easily.

I'd try an EVGA card.

02G-P4-2962-KR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487093

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Perfect-Graphics-02G-P4-2962-KR/dp/B00T4BWGBM

 

[Insert_Nickname]

You might run into BIOS problems, since newer cards are UEFI based. The only way to be sure is to try. So make sure its easy to return the card, if it doesn't work. I'd avoid MSI cards, they seem to have the most issues with this.

And about that 5400RPM, get it upgraded ASAP. You won't know your computer afterwards... :biggrin:

 

[SimianR]

I'm using a GTX 960 on an old Gigabyte p35 board on a Q6600. Works just fine. I'm sure you'll be okay.

 

[Atreidin]

I have a HD7870 Ghz Edition by MSI in a P35 chipset motherboard from 2008 that works fine. It also has an overclocked Xeon in it.

 

[RussianSensation]

As long as you are running PCIe 1.1 x16, you are not going to loose too much performance with a GTX950/960/280/280X level card. This is on an Ivy Bridge platform:

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/23.html

At current prices, it might make sense to buy a GTX950 for $150 / R9 280 for $150 or go for the R9 380 4GB/R9 280X for $180-190. The 960 2/4GB kinda sit in no man's land in price/performance but an of these cards will work. If you don't mind gonig used, HD7950/7970/7970Ghz for $80-120 would be the best bang for the buck for your ageing CPU platform.