Asus P5E-vm & HD4670 combo??

McMoron

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Apr 27, 2009
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Hi there,

I have a rig with the Asus P5E-VM HDMI mobo, but the cooling of the GPU is so bad I need a dedicated graphics card, the damn GPU crashes to something that looks like CGA mode :lol: every now and then, even with the lid open at 21 Celsius.

The Sapphire RADEON HD 4670 Ultimate Edition seems to fit the bill (sub 100 USD, decent oomph & passive cooling - which is must) but it's a PCIe x16 2.0. The P5E-VM does have a PCIe x16 slot, but I cannot figure out which generation it is. The common wisdom seem to be "no GPU really needs 2.0", but could someone confirm that any kind of 16x PCIe will be fine, before I'll waste some precious cash?

My rig is primarily for work, but a bit of gaming doesn't hurt, does it? :sol: Are there any (which) games that wont work with this rig? I'm running an Intel Quad 2.4 (Q6600) + 2x2 GB DDR3, on XP, and 1024*1280 is more than enough.

Alternatively, are there any other/ better choices concerning a passive graphics card in the 80-120 USD territory?

Many thanks
 
Hi welcome to the forums,
Yes a Pcie 2.0 card will work in a Pcie 1.0 slot no worries there.
I dont know about passive cooling but ATI are about to release (within the week) the HD4770 which is between a 4830 and 4850 performance wise according to tests on teh engineering sample.
Its said to be aimed at $99 so would fit the bill but i dont know if you will be able to get one with passive cooling.
Either card will run any game on your rig but at varying levels of detail/quality. The 4770 will game better than the 4670.

Mactronix

 

McMoron

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Apr 27, 2009
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Hi,

Thanx for the thumbs up!

I don't think I can wait until a passive version of the 4770 surfaces, so I think I'll go ahead and get the 4670.

Thanks again