Can EP35-DS3R support pcie 2.0 nvidia graphic card

Hi,

I am using a EP35-DS3R motherboard running on Core2Duo 4xxx CPU, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, with Nvidia 7900GT graphic card.

When playing NFS-undercover, the performance really disappoint me. Hence considering upgrading.

Which component should i upgrade? I was thinking of upgrading to Nvidia 9800GT, but not sure if my existing motherboard can support a pcie 2.0 graphic card.

Any advice? thanks

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Yes your mobo can support the pcie 2.0 cards...
The pcie slots are backwards compatible...

Reply to gkay09

would it be a better choice to go for 9600GT or 9800GT?

Message edited by tawfey on 04-15-2009 at 11:57:44 AM

Reply to tawfey

Or in this case, lateral, as both the 9800GT and the mobo are both 2.0.

Simplest answer: Yes, it would support it.

9800GTX+ > 9800GT > 9600GT

Message edited by RazberyBandit on 04-15-2009 at 12:03:53 PM

Reply to RazberyBandit

Also, I am using 500W psu which is supporting 1 DVD-RW, 1 IDE hdd, 4 SATA hdd, 1 7900GT.

would this PSU be sufficient enuugh for the new 9800GT?

Reply to tawfey

Should be... What's the 12V amperage rating on the PSU?

Also, do you have the necessary PCI-E 6-pin power cable, or two available 4-pin MOLEX connectors available to use a 2 MOLEX-to-6pin PCI-E adapter?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to RazberyBandit

Your motherboard should be able to handle the 8800GT/9800GT

PS. NFS Undercover PC versions performance is trash, even if you have a Radeon 4850 with the fastest E4000 dual core, you wouldn't even reach 60FPS consistently.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to stridervm

stridervm wrote :

NFS Undercover PC versions performance is trash, even if you have a Radeon 4850 with the fastest E4000 dual core, you wouldn't even reach 60FPS consistently.

+1 But get the 9800GT (I'd say 9800GT, but you have 5 HDDs so that could be a prob.
If you're okay with a PSU upgrade, get a GTX 260 Core 216 55nm and a Corsair TX650/TX750

i have just upgraded to the OCZ modxstream-pro psu with a seperate pci-e connector to my existing 7900gt directly.

just wanna make sure this new psu can sustain my configuration.

thanks all for the quick response ...

Hi Stridervm,
so you think its not worth upgrading my graphic card for the NFS-undercover?

Reply to tawfey

How many watts is the new PSU?

RazberyBandit wrote :

Should be... What's the 12V amperage rating on the PSU?

Also, do you have the necessary PCI-E 6-pin power cable, or two available 4-pin MOLEX connectors available to use a 2 MOLEX-to-6pin PCI-E adapter?

the psu specifications is a bit complicated, i do not quite understand

AC Input = 100-240 8A 50 - 60Hz

DC Input = +5V +3.3V +12V1 +12V2 -12V +5VSB
Max Output Current = 25A 25A 18A 18A 0.3A 2.5A
Max Combine Power = 150W 432W 3.6W 12.5W
Total Power = 500W

Message edited by tawfey on 04-16-2009 at 03:23:28 AM

Reply to tawfey

36A is plenty. Can even run a GTX 260

changing from a 7900GT to 8800/9800GT (they are the same thing) isn't really a huge step in performance. Moving up to a 9800GTX+ (55nm) or GTS 250 would give much more improvement, and a GTX 260 Core 216 would be a very significant improvement. Also, the equivalently performing ATI cards would offer very similar improvements, scaling just as the nVIDIA-based cards would, so don't rule them out.

Reply to RazberyBandit

GTX-260 is double the price of 9800GT, definitely out of my budget. how about GTS-250? would there be significant improvement between 9800GT and GTS-250?

Reply to tawfey

GTS 250 is a rebranded 9800GTX+ so its your call between a 9800GT and a 9800GTX+

GTS 250 is a guaranteed 55nm chip, though. There are still some 65nm 9800GTX+ cards sitting on shelves in some places. If inclined towards either, make sure it is in fact a 55nm card. They are the better of the two.

Though not as significant as the original jump from 7900 to 9800 series cards, yes, you would see improvements in each step over the 9800GT. The scale would go:
GTX260 > GTS250 ~ 9800GTX+ > 9800GTX > 9800GT > > > 7900GT

With GTS250 and 9800GTX+ in the $130 range, you might want to hold off 2-3 weeks and see just how well they compare to the soon-to-be-released ATI HD4770. It's already known it will surpass the performance of the HD4830, which has been marketed as the rival to the 9800GT/9800GTX cards. At a street price of $99, if it encroaches at all on the performance of the GTS250/9800GTX+, it would be a great choice.

Message edited by RazberyBandit on 04-16-2009 at 11:33:09 AM

Reply to RazberyBandit

thanks guys for all the quick response. very very informative indeed ...

so if my psu can support gtx260, i guess i will be heading towards the shop pretty soon

Reply to tawfey

Why not get it in Newegg?

i am in singapore, can i still get it from Newegg?

Reply to tawfey

No. I don't think so.

One thing to note about NFS Undercover is it wasn't written specifically for the PC, so it's really just another port of a game written for consoles. Since the code in and of itself is not truly optimized for PC performance, it may not be the best game on which to base your buying decision.

Since you're in Singapore, prices there may not reflect the same price/performance ratio as seen in the US and Europe. However, the actual performance ranks are constant. Consult the chart at the bottom of this page for GPU performance comparisons, as GPUs that perform similarly will be grouped together: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 270-6.html

Reply to RazberyBandit

^ It wasn't optimized at all. Even consoles got poor frame rates. They did release a patch for the PC that claims to improve frame rates.

the patch did improve the game play by a bit, not very much though ...

my 7900GT still unable to run the game at medium perf, i have to set all settings to LOW ...

and btw, i am running it on 24 inch LCD ...

Reply to tawfey

Nothing wrong. A 7900GT just cannot handle 1920 x 1200. Get a 285. 295 if you can afford.

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