PCI E x16 compatibility

[kayos]

I have an Epoch 9NPA Ultra motherboard with a PCIe x16 1.1 slot.
Can I use a PCIe x16 2.0 graphics card or do I have to stick with a PCIe 1.1?

 

[vj8usa]

You can use PCI-E 2.0 cards; they'll just be limited to 1.1 x16 bandwidth (which is the same as 2.0 x8). This might reduce your framerates a bit in some cases with cards like a GTX280 or better, but there won't be any real difference with midrange or lower cards.

P.S. - the [Epox, not Epoch] 9NPA+ Ultra's a great board. My rig prior to this one used it. But that means you're on S939 - what CPU are you using?

 

[kayos]

Thanks for the answer. The selection and price of the 2.0 cards seems to be quite a bit better.
I am using an Athlon 3800. Kinda old and slow but it will have to do for awhile. I got the board just a few months before AMD switched to the newer socket.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: kayos
Thanks for the answer. The selection and price of the 2.0 cards seems to be quite a bit better.
I am using an Athlon 3800. Kinda old and slow but it will have to do for awhile. I got the board just a few months before AMD switched to the newer socket.

Ah. I asked about the CPU because you don't want to get a video card that'd just be held back by it. Is that a single core or dual core 3800? If it's a dual core and you manage to get a decent overclock out of it, something like a 9800GT or 4830 would make sense. If it's a single core, you'll be bottlenecked a lot in modern games.