PCI express question

Browser_ICE · July 2008

It has been along time since I looked at computer and computer parts prices and I am surprised how low they became (even for here in Canada). I could buy a motherboard+CPU+2GB+video card for less then $500 (what I have free on my credit card right now). It is very tempting. I had originally wanted to wait until I got a better job but even if I got a job at IBM (was on contract before), the salary still sucks.

But, I am illiterate regarding PCI technology.

Can a PCI Express 2.0 fit on a PCI Express MB ?

I am looking at these right now (thinking of getting a total of about $400):

<a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=10&Nav=|c:1826|lp:100:hp:199.99|&Sort=2" target="_blank">video cards</a>
<a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3981671&Sku=MCM-M2NSLI-5000" target="_blank">one popular MB Combo</a>

I currently have :
MSI 6712 MB (KT4V-L) AGP
AMD Athlon XP 3000+
2Gb memory
ATI Radeon 9600XT
2HD
CD ROM
CD/DVD R/W Burner

spellman23 · July 2008

I'm not 100% sure what the question is.

PCIE x16 2.0 is a recent development to squeeze more bandwidth out of your graphics card. Most PCIE x16 2.0 cards are backward compatible with the older PCIE x16 1.0 ports on the older motherboards, and simply switch on the 2.0 features if they are supported. So, getting a PCIE x16 2.0 graphics card and putting it on a motherboard with only PCIE x16 1.0 probably will work, but you won't get any of the 2.0 benefits.

Basically, inspect your stuff carefully to figure out if you're paying extra for features you can't use. I strongly recommend newegg.com as a good place for checking out equipment, reviews, and baseline prices.

Good hunting.

Browser_ICE · July 2008

Ok, I understant what you mean by limiting a PCI-E 2.0 down to a PCI-E 1.0 because of the connection.

I realized other things too :
- I would need another Power supply. Mine is 300W
- most MB are now either SATA or Ultra Sata. So I would either have to replace my 2 IDE HD or get an IDE-2-STA converter. I was thinking of having 3 HD (1 small for temps/Swap/downloads + 1 mid for all my resident O/S + 1 big for games/MP3/Video/data/backups)

It is starting to get more costly now.

Now I am thinking of just buying a full tower + a bigger HD + fans and then get a new MB+CPU+VC. But since my current MB is ATX Form, are most recent MB nowadays non-ATX and therefore would not fit in it ? Hummm, but then I would have the same IDE problem when I change my MB. Crap !

I wish I had more money.

TychoCelchuuu · July 2008

Most motherboards still support IDE and they're all ATX.

spellman23 · July 2008

yeah, most are still ATX, and you can find some with IDE support still.

Still, the upgrade to SATA is pretty nice, so when you do your overhaul it's probably a good investment.

The main thing you don't want to skimp on is the power supply, at least making sure you have enough juice on all the right places (such as the +12V rails for the video card) and the motherboard. Make sure you get the Motherboard that fits your system, and maybe some room to upgrade if you're thinking that path instead of another overhaul. But don't spend excessively on either or else it's just wasted money.

Note that the price for storage isn't linear. The sweet spot used to be around 300GB, but basically just do quick calculations on size versus price. So, three small devices are probably not as efficient as one large hard drive, unless you're using RAID or something for backing up your storage.

Drfuzzy · July 2008

Dont go too expensive on your hard drives right now, technology in that department is heading for solid state and fast. I'll be in the market for a new pc soon too, let me know if you create something you like for around $500

Kouji_San · July 2008

True dat, 128gb solid state DDR disk I have seen in google ads somewhere, still quite some cash needed for them...

And are they atm really that much faster? I've heard that they are only faster during certain conditions...

-noresearch post as I'm lazy and don't feel like googling <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

spellman23 · July 2008

solid states tend to not be faster in small amounts since it's harder to write to them.

however, at larger sizes they're better since reading is always faster and you don't have to 1) build as big of a disk and 2) don't have to worry about a moving reading arm.

In general, they take longer and more energy to write to them, but you can read off them really quick and don't have to deal with moving parts.

Browser_ICE · July 2008

Talk about bad luck !

For the past 3 days I had been looking at different items at tigerdirect.ca and decided yesterday to get a full tower (with 500W PSU) + an AGP HD3850 at very interesting price. I had figured starting wiht the Full Tower so when I would change MB and add hardware, I would have room enough (not like now) and the VC was just so I could enjoy graphics more until the full upgrade (1-2 years).

But right now, just as I was going back on tigerdirect.ca to buy them, they are gone ! THey are no longer on tigerdirect.ca . All that is left are items that are at least %50 higher in price and my budget cannot allow it. I have been waiting on the phone for 30 min trying to reach someone at tigerdirect.ca to find out what happened with these items. But I am getting fed up of waiting (it is 23:45 now) and they said its a 24hr line.

So I am finding myself out of options. The only decent AGP card left is an HIS HD38500 at $271Cnd (some users reported having problems with install and drivers) and all other full towers are like $180Cdn+

If I buy a new MB, I will need a new CPU, new memory and new Power Supply. Plus the IDE connections are problably limited in amounts (I have 2hd + burner + CD-Rom + Floppy).

This situation is really disapointing me. I hung up the phone. Don't know what to do now.

Browser_ICE · August 2008

Well I thought about it and I think I will settle for buying a full case (found another deal) and get all the necessary fans for it. I figured anyway that for any kind of path I will take, I will wind up chaning my motherboard and power supply. So why not go for a full tower case to get enough room for what I want and make sure it is ventilated enough.

The only think I am wondering now is my MB has 2 IDE connectors. I currently have 2hd(80Gb,250Gb) + 1burner + 1 CD-rom. So if I want another HD, how will I connect it ? I am thinking about maybe droping the CD-rom as I had on very few occasions weird problems with it (just spinning and not fetching). Its either that or get a USB drive ?

As for getting a new AGP card, I think it is out of the question now. Nvidia`s AGP card are about as equal in power then my ATI 9600XT and ATI`s AGP are about 2x max compared to mine. So not much of a deal. That one deal I had seen for a HD3850 was really interesting but ...

By the way, since I have to also shop for a power supply, why do the majority of them have the fan on the top <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" /> The cases are made to have the PSU fan in the back. The case I am looking does not have a fan on the top.

spellman23 · August 2008

They think more fans is better. Also, it provides air directly to the power supply, which definitely needs to stay cool, especially since usually the intakes are on the lower front portion of the case.

If you want to connect more hard drives, you're going to have to use SATA. Either that or cut down on your IDE items. Although often times for some components you can connect two components using one IDE cable. Poke around inside your current system to check out how it's configured.

Wow, didn't know they still had AGP cards. Thought we'd gone completely PCIE. At least with the more modern cards. Last time I looked I could only find GeForce 5s for AGP 8x

PCI express question

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