• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

PCI question

C

clint g

Admiral
Admiral
I'm looking into getting a new video card for my dell. The old card is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT and I'm thinking about picking up this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...131330&cm_re=HD_radeon-_-14-131-330-_-Product

its a Radeon 5770

That being said, I don't know if my PCI slot is PCI-e 2.0 or 2.1? Is there an easy way for me to find this out? Does it even matter?

Also I'm new to the whole swapping video cards thing (I do have experience with RAM, Hard drives, and network cards though) so if any of you fine folks have advice I would greatly appreciate it :)
 
You don't need to worry, PCI 2.0 cards will work in 2.1 slots, and vice versa.

Your PSU (Power supply unit) also needs to be 450 minimum, your old GT8600 card only needed 360 watt but that new card will need 450 watts......Do you know what your PC has PSU wise or do you have a link to its spec or make or where you bought it so we can have a look...if that's not being to nosy.:)
 
Yes, they come with all the wires. Pretty much all you have to do is disconnect all the wires from the old one, unscrew it from the case, screw in the new one, and hook up all the wires again. Piece of cake, as long as you buy one with enough wires and remember where they all go. :p
 
Thanks for the help! I've decided to go for the full overhaul, plucked out my power supply and video card. Now it's a matter of waiting for the parts to arrive :D
 
^^Good stuff, the PSU is all encased so it will be 4 screws and it will slip out of the shelf, ....and enjoy your 5770, i have that card and its fantastic.

Let us know how you get on.:)
 
clint g said:
I'm looking into getting a new video card for my dell. The old card is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT and I'm thinking about picking up this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...131330&cm_re=HD_radeon-_-14-131-330-_-Product

its a Radeon 5770

That being said, I don't know if my PCI slot is PCI-e 2.0 or 2.1? Is there an easy way for me to find this out? Does it even matter?

Also I'm new to the whole swapping video cards thing (I do have experience with RAM, Hard drives, and network cards though) so if any of you fine folks have advice I would greatly appreciate it :)
Click to expand...


Little pointer for the future - it's a PCI-e card not PCI - don't confuse the two as they are totally differnt beasts.
 
^^^Good point, the PCI slots are the other slots usually below the top PCI-E slot were you would plug your sound card, PCI-E is the graphics card slot....although we know Clint had a PCI-E card wqith his 8600GT because they did not make any AGP video cards after the 7000 series, and if he actually still had a PCI video card that was originally out before AGP he would have mentioned having to stoke his PC with coal and wood.:lol:

But still your right, I'm always calling it a PCI card as well.
 
clint g said:
Hmm the little sticker on my PSU says 300W guess that means im SOL :lol:
Click to expand...

It is surprising how much more you can get out of a low watt power supply than some people will tell you. That said, 300 watt is really, really pushing it.

If you want a low cost amazing power supply go with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

I am always in the process of building a machine for one person or another. This PSU will easily handle your card. If you get into this much, look a lot more at the amps on the PSU than the wattage.

Anyway, if you are interested in an overhaul, post an idea of what you are looking for and a price range you want to be in. I'll post a newegg wish list. Don't be shy if your price range sounds low...you might be surprised how good a system you can get for a little amount of money. Heck, even if you want to do it for fun to see what you can get out of it I am game.

It is not hard to assemble. Spend a little time on the forums at anandtech.com if you have any questions.

So as not to be misread, I am not offering any service here. I just enjoy spec'ing systems.
 
Out of curiosity, what do you think someone could get for around 700-800 bucks? I already have hard drives and ram that I'm satisfied with so that wouldn't be much of an issue.
 
clint g said:
Out of curiosity, what do you think someone could get for around 700-800 bucks? I already have hard drives and ram that I'm satisfied with so that wouldn't be much of an issue.
Click to expand...

Here is a very rough draft. It can certainly be tweaked and price brought down by looking around a bit, but this is to give you an idea.

I went AMD in this price range because I think the 3.4ghz quad AMD at 180 is the best you can get in this range. Intel has some that can beat the processor, but for a lot more money. This proc is very good, especially at 180.00!

Had to go with DDR3 memory because the processor fits an AM3 socket and those require a motherboard that only takes DDR3 (I assume your memory is DDR2). Both Intel and AMD have processors that will go on a ddr2 board, but I really think it is worth it to get the better proc.

807.00 is the total on the rough draft. With tweaking this could probably be brought down to 700 or less with no hit to performance....and this would be a damned decent gaming machine for little money.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603
Mobo – 84.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
AMD 965 proc – 3.4 GHZ quad core – 180.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
4gb ddr3 – 109.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143183
GTX 275 – 249.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Case – 64.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335
CD/DVD burner (ligthscribe) 31.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
PSU – 89.00
 
clint g said:
Out of curiosity, what do you think someone could get for around 700-800 bucks? I already have hard drives and ram that I'm satisfied with so that wouldn't be much of an issue.
Click to expand...

some tech sites like Anadtech will occasionally do articles on building systems at certain price points and they can be a good starting point.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top