Graphic card and mobo compatibility

[szr137]

I'm new here so i apologize if i posted in wrong section


Here's the question- i have Asus P5B-MX/WiFi-AP , and i'm planning on getting new graphic card like MSI HD 6870 , but since it is pci express 2.0 i dont know if my motherboard can support it. If my mobo doesnt support pci 2.0 , i know it will still work but what's the difference in performance , let's say for MSI HD 6870 , will it lose lots in performance?
By the way I'm also planning on getting new mobo but not right now so i'd like to know if this one would be sufficient to play till then. The game im playing is world of warcraft on 1920x1080 resolution , and that's all i play so what's the average fps I could get from this card on my mobo?

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forums!

Will the HD 6870 work - Yes ; will your MOBO/CPU bottleneck it - Yes. I would recommend either the HD 5750 or 5770 or maybe HD 5830. What CPU, OS, RAM; I know you have an LGA 775.

Bottleneck Video - http://www.youtube.com/user/NCIXcom#p/u/5/TGdo75gasaQ

 

[szr137]

Thanks for the answer , and those are other specs:
cpu -DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E4600, 2400 MHz (12 x 200)
os - win xp professional sp3
2gb ddr2 ram
If i buy one of those that you recommended , will they work with full power on this mobo, and do you know, if i still chose to buy 6870 , with how much approximately percent of power will that card work, i've seen this video but do you think i could still go with this card, since my gpu and ram are not so strong, and for all of those cards , would 500w corsair be enough power on my computer?

 

[jaquith]

I'd be wildly guessing exact figures, the video is on par with both your MOBO/CPU. The HD 6870 ~ GTX 470 which even a worst example from the video; I guarantee 100% that your current CPU/MOBO will bottleneck the crap out of the HD 6870.

If you OC both the CPU + GPU then TX650W, but the 500W is within acceptable. PSU Configuration - http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

Please watch the entire video, it's very helpful and will illustrate the figures you're looking to get.

 

[szr137]

Well ok thanks for help , i guess I'll buy new mobo then , can you recommend a good one that supports pci 2.0 , crossfire ,quad core proccesor ,ddr3 etc

 

[jaquith]

Before I help you spend your money, what 'reason' do you need the HD 6870. Is there are game or some App?

 

[szr137]

The reason is that I'm also buying a new monitor , a 23'' with 1920x1080 reso , and now i have 8600Gt so i think that I'll have low fps in games on that resolution.
Prove me if i'm wrong , i plan on playing only Warcraft 3 Dota and World of Warcraft, they dont require strong pc but i still dont know if 8600 is strong enough even for those games , and my 8600 has 1gb of memory so what do you think ,what would be my average fps in WoW with this card?
I searched a lot on net about this card and fps in WoW with it but i didnt find any specific info about how it works on 1920x1080. I dont need maxed out details ,low+medium and texture only high ,but if there's not like atleast 50fps in non overcrowded areas in wow , it can really get annoying.
So tell me your thoughts about this , if it can work fairly good , i wouldnt mind saving money for now

 

[jaquith]

Rendering is a combination of GPU:CPU + Architecture. Your rig unfortunately will not deliver the same performance. I hate to tell someone they're 'wrong,' so lets stick with wishful thinking. You certainly can get the GPU and find out, and if you're not 'satisfied' then no waste - add it to a 'new build.'

I found this very recent post interesting, {I've heard SC2 & WoW use the same rendering engine} / see links - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/302769-33-5770-world-warcraft

ref: {X58 i7 920 OC}
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,697202/Ati-Radeon-HD-5770-reviewed-DirectX-11-Mid-Range/Reviews/?page=11
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,689378/WoW-Wrath-of-the-Lich-King-Benchmarks-with-Ati-and-Nvidia-graphics-cards/Practice/?page=4

 

[szr137]

Ok so it would work great with new card but ,theres no performance for 8600gt, so what do u think , now im playing on 1280x1024 resolution and fps is average 70 , sometimes goes over 120, and i didnt do overclock on gpu or cpu, they are on factory settings since i bought computer. So if i OC both and play on 1920x1080 how much lower can fps get , and if i play on 1600x1050 , would that be too small resolution for 23'' screen? I'm asking this now cause i think, after i saw those performances , that buying such an expensive card would be kinda waste since i play only WoW.

 

[jaquith]

Imagine a BIG RED LINE somewhere between 40~50, my best guess, in the first graph above - like a WALL. You CPU now and the i7 920 OC @ 3.5GHz doesn't compare; the i7 illustrated is NOT bottlenecking any of those GPUs -> yours WILL like a WALL.

i7 920 - http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37147
5,559 PassMark
Core2 Duo Processor E4600 - http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=32242
1,097 PassMark

PassMark - http://tinyurl.com/2fxf29z

I digress to my first post for GPU recommendations.

 

[szr137]

Well 40-50 would be awesome, thats enough for wow , so i guess i'll be fine without new card for some time ,thanks a lot for your help!

 

[jaquith]

Good Luck and I hope I answered all your questions!