Does the Intel 915gag mobo support recent video cards?

backtopc

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Hi, I was interested in purchasing a computer that comes with this mobo but I'm kind of a noob with this stuff. I see in the specs that it supports a PCI express x16 expansion, but does this apply to the recent cards that have come out?

I'm sure I will need to upgrade the RAM to 4GB from 1GB, and probably add a better PSU and maybe a fan or whatever else, but would I be able to upgrade this PC in the future for gaming with some of the better cards on the market?
 

r_manic

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Yes, most high-end contemporary cards fit into PCIe x16 slots. What are your current specs, and what do you plan to upgrade for? (Gaming, specialized business apps, etc?)
 
The P4 CPU will probably be the bottleneck.
 

backtopc

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Thanks for the reply. This computer will be used mostly for email/internet use and word processing. I would like to upgrade this eventually though and play some recent games.

The system actually only comes with 512MB RAM. Is a P4 3.0 ghz and is using xp pro. I guess I will need to put in a PSU first right? I'm not sure what this one is, but it's likely not a very good one.

I have a question about the PCI express, is there a way to identify a mobo has it? I would like to open up the case for the computer I'm buying to take a look first, or can I see this just in the device manager thingy?
 

backtopc

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Would the cpu really be a problem? I don't expect to get the best results, but would I be able to upgrade this to a decent card and ram and have performance close to what a PS3 or 360 would give?
 

tcsenter

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If you purchase a PCI Express graphics card with integrated HD/HDMI audio controller such as Radeon HD 3000 ~ 4000 Series, the audio controller may not install or function properly on motherboards based on the Intel 915 and ATI RS482/485 chipset (with an older BIOS from 2004~2006), due to a BIOS limitation. But I've never seen this affect graphics functionality. The graphics should work fine, just the integrated HD/HDMI audio controller will not work, which can be disabled in Device Manager.

Otherwise, you should be able to use any current PCI Express graphics card (providing the PSU is up to it). Check that you have the latest D915GAG BIOS from Intel. I hope this is a very inexpensive computer, as the D915GAG is a rather dated motherboard that has been discontinued for a couple years now.
 

It depends on the graphics card and what you'll do with the computer. If you expect to run recent games, then it isn't powerful enough. For Internet browsing and most Internet games it's powerful enough. An ATI HD4670 video card might be a good solution and a new PSU probably wouldn't be required. I presume that you're not paying much for that computer and you probably shouldn't spend too much to improve it.
 

backtopc

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No, not spending much, $150 cnd. I guess I'm just better off at finding the best deal I can for something I need for stuff other than gaming, and than when I'm ready perhaps I'll have to spend some more money for something more recent either prebuilt or attempt at building on my own. Do you guys think a P3 800 mhz machine with 256MB ram and xp can handle flash based websites, and word processing? A pretty big downgrade from the P4 3 ghz machine, but I'll at least save some money here since one costs $150 which I cant game on, and the older P3 costing $30.
 
Do you guys think a P3 800 mhz machine with 256MB ram and xp can handle flash based websites, and word processing?
I have a 10-year old who plays a lot of Flash games. He always complained about his P4 2.4 with an ATI 9800 Pro graphics card, but a P4 2.8 with an ATI 1950 Pro is acceptable. He doesn't complain when using a Core 2 Duo 6300 or faster with the same GPU (and neither do his friends). Forget about the PIII 800 MHz for Flash games. It might be fine for word processing, but it depends on the program and the size of your documents. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with it.
 

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