Todays video cards in a PCIe x4 port?

[Phewmite]

Hello,
I am running a Gateway FX computer, Q6600 (2.4ghz x4, 3gig of ram, Windows XP).

I currently have an Nvidia 9800GT with 1gig of onboard RAM and was looking to upgrade. The trouble I have is my case/motherboard is a BTX form factor and the only PCIe x16 slot is the top slot on the motherboard which won't allow a dual slot video card. My only open slot would be the PCIe x4 slot. Can I put a current video card (looking at GeForce 285, Radeon 5770 or Radeon 5850) into a PCIe x4 slot or should I just plan on getting by with the current card until I can get a new computer?

 

[shadow187]

Nonsense! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131328&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Cards-_-Powercolor-_-14131328

That's a nice single-slot card.

But no, putting that card into a PCI-Ex4 slot would be a bad idea. It'll hurt the performance a lot.

 

[dndhatcher]

That fan sticks out pretty far. Looks to me like it would hit a card in the slot next to it.


A 5770 (512MB) is less than 50% faster than a 9800 anyway so it wouldnt be that big of a performance increase.

I would stick with the 9800 until you get a more mainstream motherboard/case. By then nVidia's DX11 cards should be available so you should have better choices anyway.

 

[builderbobftw]

Dndhatcher, Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm detecting vibes you may be partial to Nvidia much the same as me and MouseMonkey?

 

[dndhatcher]

Dndhatcher, Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm detecting vibes you may be partial to Nvidia much the same as me and MouseMonkey?

I am partial only to the best price/performance tempered by reliability and longevity. ATI is right now generally ahead in price/performance, but as the handling of the grey screen issue has shown they are still not up to nvidia's reliability so I am ambivalent. I have both a 9800 GTX+ and a 5770 (which has the driver stop/recover grey screen problem). I also am not confident of nVidias future as they seem to be focused on GPGPU and not gaming graphics, which is the only thing I currently care about in a graphics card.

 

[builderbobftw]

Agreed, I would buy a Nvidia card over an ATI card at the same Price/Preformance, But ATI dominates price to preformance now, so I was pretty much forced by Nvidia's suckiness into buying a 4870 1gb over the GTX 260.

 

[Phewmite]

I think that card would potentially fit, with it being shorter it wouldn't interfere with the CPU cooler. I was afraid that the reduction in memory would adversly affect the performance that I currently have.

I've had NVidia pretty much exclusively since the GeForce FX was first released, but quite frankly I've been a little disappointed in their blind focus on high end cards. I like gaming, but frankly cannot afford to spend $400-$500 for a graphics card, so like Bob I'm having to look elsewhere. I'd like to see someone (either ATI or NVidia) focus on refining the midstream cards in price/performance/reliability rather than just seeing how fast they can get a card to go.

Thanks for all the great input. I think that for now I will wait to see what happens with the graphic upgrades in the game I play before doing anything.

 

[dndhatcher]

Nvidia is it least pricing the 470 where its worth comparing to a 5850. The power/heat I think still gives ATI the advantage, even though price/performance is pretty even.

 

[L1qu1d]

Here is a Good review of how the 480 GTX scales with 16X 8X and 4X PCI-E

http://techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_PCI-Express_Scaling/

Hope this helps!