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PCI-E version 1 vs 2

I

imported_Harbinger

Member
Long story short, my 4-year old setup (A64+ 3500 agp/ddr1 based) pretty much went bananas so I got some some old pieces from a friend.

A64 x2 4200+
2gigs of ddr2
Asus M2V (KT890 based)

Unfortunately the graphics card he had was a horrible 7300 LE (my old one was a 6800gt). I don't really play new games at all and gaming-wise my pc is used only for WoW so I really don't need something really powerful. Though 7300 just won't do it. So I'm in search for a low/mid-class card. Something in the lines of 2600/3650/8600 or 8800 (they go pretty cheap second hand nowadays). I understand that 2600 is using PCI-E v1 while atis 3xxx and nvidia 8xxx use PCI-E v2.

The mobo has a PCI-E 16x version 1 slot. For starters, would a PCI-E v2 card work to begin with? And if yes, would it work properly or be severely bottlenecked? Again, keep in mind I only play WoW and not Crysis 🙂

One last thing, I'm still using my old PSU which is a first generation NeoPower 480. It has a PCI-E 6-pin connector. Should do the trick, right? (with the cards mentioned above).

Thanks in advance guys.

P.S. Before someone suggests something like getting a new mobo/cpu/psu, if I could afford it I would but right now I cant 😛
 
Single card solution, you are fine using a PCI-E v1 even using a GTX280. A GPU advertised with PCI-E v2 is actually saying it is compatible with with v2 but can run fine with 1 or 1.1. The only bottleneck would come from the number of lanes and 16x is the max. No bottleneck.

Your PSU is fine for the GPUs you listed.


 
Thanks for the fast reply 🙂

Obviously it'll be a single card solution. I found a 2900GT for less than 30 pounds Obviously it'll be a single card solution. I found a 2900GT for less than 30 pounds (link) and I think price/perfomance ration is really good. My only concern now is that I read it requires an 8pin PCI-E power connector and my psu only has a 6-pin one :/ Can I assume Sapphire throws a molex->pci-e 8pin adaptor in there? :S
 
You probably cannot assume that it will come with the adapter. From my personal experience, it could come with a 4pin molex to 8pin PCI-E connector (my HD4850 came with them). I'd ask to make sure 🙂
 
Did some searching around. While card has an 8-pin connector it works fine with a 6-pin one and includes a molex-to-6pin. Though if you run it on a 6-pin overdrive is disabled. Not a big deal for me and I guess I could buy an adaptor at a later point. Right now I just need a card that can play a 4-year old game, go figure.
 
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