quick question. Is PCI-E x16 slot compatible with a PCI-E x16 2.0 video card

[The Stigenator]

I am planning on taking over my friends old AMD Athlon X2 6000 computer and use it as a cheap HTPC (not running all the time) attached to my tv (HDMI or VGA)

The computer comes with an Nvidia 6150SE onboard video. I want to run 1920x1080 and would like to have a discrete videocard.

The issue is the motherboard has the original 1.0 version of PCI-E x16 has very few cards and only the Nvidia 8400GS cards are available. I'd rather run a newer ATI or Nvidia card than the POS onboard.

The question is the port compatible with a 2.0 card? If so then I can buy a more advanced card (8400GS in the PCI-E 2.0 version is cheaper than the 1.0 version) be it that 8400GS or something like a Radeon 4350 or a 9400GT or Nvidia 210 or something..

It will be running windows 7

 

[The Stigenator]

never mind some right amount of googling gave me the answer.. yes it is.. so I am off to buy a PCIe 2.0 card for that machine. I am so looking forward to running amazon prime, hulu and other stuff that my PS3 cant run natively.

edit: it seems they claim 2.0 cards are backwardly compatible with 1.0 but i am seeing issues.. grrr!

 

[stahlhart]

I'm afraid that you're going to be fighting a losing battle here. 🙁

 

[postmark]

In theory according to the PCI SIG PCIe spec, things should be backwards compatible. But there isn't really a certification process that everyone has to go through to make sure that is always the case. So it's kind of hit and miss. Some might work (good to follow PCI SIG), while others might not work.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

YHPM. This is all news to me. The 9600GSO I have now started out as a replacement video card in a Socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 machine. I looked both the old motherboard and the card up for giggles, and lo and behold, the ASUS A8N-E was PCI-E 1.0, and this card is most definitely PCI-E 2.0. Never had a single problem. Also never had any problems using a different PCI-E 2.0 card to upgrade a friend's [wait for it] 6150 powered Socket 939 machine either. I'd buy an older card just to be safe [one that was less likely to require the bandwidth of 2.0]. FWIW, none of these were crappy cards; eVGA, XFX, good stuff. Galaxy, Sparkle, Zotac, etc, cross your fingers.

<---Also had no problem with AGP 8x cards in AGP 4x motherboards. Slower than that became electrically incompatible I think.

 

[fffblackmage]

My assumption would be that 1.1 and 2.0 are compatible both ways, but they just operate at the slower specs of the two.

What kind of issues are you experiencing btw?

 

[mfenn]

I ran a long succession of PCIe Gen2 cards in my P35, never had a problem.

 

[The Stigenator]

thanks guys, i was thinking this is not going to work, but some of you guys have gotten it working. I hope an 3.0ghz Athlon x2 with a decent video card be enough to power through hulu, youtube, amazon video and occasional MKV files.