graphics cards

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 20th, 2007, 22:10

yet another thing to add to my list of to-buy things, i want a better graphics card than my horribly low performance 8500 gt.
i was going to buy the 8800 gt but someone told me tht u need pci 2.0, i have 1.0a (i think), he said tht i should get a different card, maybe a gts or something......
2 questions -
1. should i bother upgrading from my 8500 gt (possibly a cheaper, fast card on the horizon) and
2. wats the best card i can get for around £200, def. nt more than £220

Post by **HereComesPete** » December 20th, 2007, 22:17

What exactly is your pc? What make/model/specification. If you post it then we can smash our heads together and provide a solution based on what it will run.

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 20th, 2007, 22:26

k is there a quick and reliable way to get all my pc details on tht pc specs page or shud i just do it manually?

Post by **HereComesPete** » December 20th, 2007, 22:30

Well, a start off would be to hold down your windows key, then hit the pause/break key, that'll bring up your system properties, if you printscreen that, or copy it into this thread, we can make start. If more info is required then I'll ask.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 22:33

http://www.5punk.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8647

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 20th, 2007, 22:46

here's the specs..... changing lots soon

some 'xblade' gaming case (lots of fans,lights and slots)
AMD Athlon X2 4400+ (energy efficient 65w version)
nVida Inno3D 8500 gt
EliteGroup GeForce 6100SM-M
2x1Gb of 667mhz DDR2
Some crappy none-brand 5.1 sound card
Lite-On 18x SerialATA DVDR/RW drive
MiCO 2.1 Sound System
160 GB WD SATA HDD 7200 rpm
320 GB External WD My Book HDD
Microsoft Optical Mouse nd Wired Keyboard
450 W Power Supply (WinPower)
Dell 19 Inch Monitor (FlatScreen)

tell me if there's anything missing here........
and as i said upgrading soon so not v. gd specs

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 22:48

You're stuck then

that mobo only has a PCI-E 8x slot. you need 16x for 8800 cards.

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 20th, 2007, 22:52

you would think tht berk buuut it has a nice shiny sticker on the front of the mobo box with says pci express x16

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 20th, 2007, 22:54

i'm going now but any info is greatly appreciated , and errrm, if there's anything which u 5punkers think shud be changed tell me

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 22:55

wiggles wrote:you would think tht berk buuut it has a nice shiny sticker on the front of the mobo box with says pci express x16

I would think that, because I just looked up the motherboard, checked the specs and confirmed it has a PCI-E 16x slot, which is actually 8X electrically, making it, to all intents and purposes an 8X slot.

Post by **Dog Pants** » December 20th, 2007, 22:56

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
I would think that, because I just looked up the motherboard, checked the specs and confirmed it has a PCI-E 16x slot, which is actually 8X electrically, making it, to all intents and purposes an 8X slot.

What does that mean then? It'll accept an 8800 but it'll be slower than it should be?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 22:58

Dog Pants wrote:What does that mean then? It'll accept an 8800 but it'll be slower than it should be?

Nope, an 8800 will fit, but won't work. at all.

ISTR Some older ATI cards would work at 8x, but generally it's only low-end crap that will now.

Post by **Dog Pants** » December 20th, 2007, 22:59

So how can they advertise it as 16x if it isn't?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 23:04

Dog Pants wrote:So how can they advertise it as 16x if it isn't?

They probably have some bollocks small print (and generally PCI is up/down compatible)

I'm pretty sure the old 8800GTX and GTS would only work in 16X, not sure about the new GT/GTSs

edit:
nvidia said this

“Although our GPU can support it, you have to make sure that the motherboard has the proper physical and electrical connection, and SBIOS to support it (not all mobo will support it). According to our specification, the Geforce 8800 is designed to run on a x16 PCI express slot for optimal performance. Since it was intended for that purpose, using it in any other way is not recommended since graphics performance may suffer by 50% or more. On top of this, you may encounter driver and hardware problems that are not found on cards that run in a compatible x16 PCI-E system. So please note that if you use it in a x8 slot, should the card get damage or encounter problems it may void you graphics card warranty with your manufacturer.”

As far as this thread goes. I'm not willing to get involved, there's far too much unknown with the 8x/16x thing.

Post by **Dog Pants** » December 20th, 2007, 23:12

So they're bullshitting then. Naughty mobo manufacturers.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 20th, 2007, 23:14

Dog Pants wrote:So they're bullshitting then. Naughty mobo manufacturers.

Kinda, It can probably work with most 16x cards.

I think this shit is kinda why some mobos use the term PEG (Pci Express Graphics) to make it clearer that it's proper real 16x

Post by **HereComesPete** » December 20th, 2007, 23:16

That. It's a pcie x16 slot, capable of running in x16 mode, just not when it's nailed to this mobo, which can't handle it.

Here we are with specs from the ecs website.

Post by **deject** » December 21st, 2007, 0:05

As far as the PCI-Ex 2.0 vs 1.1, all 2.0 devices are fully compatible with the 1.1 slots. Aside from the x16/x8 issue, all 8800GTs and Radeon HD 3870s will work in any x16 slot. I'm running my 3870 on a ASRock 939Dual-SATA2.

Post by **deject** » December 21st, 2007, 0:06

bottom line: Don't buy shitty ECS motherboards. They're <strike>Cashy</strike>shit.

wiggles · Post by **wiggles** » December 21st, 2007, 9:07

are u sure about this pci 8x thingy berk?

on there website it distinctly has the feature pci express-

http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Produc ... 46&LanID=8