Posted: 12/12/2008 6:40:40 AM EDT
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I have a PC gaming rig I built about 5 years ago. Here are the specs:
Asus P5AD2 Premium Motherboard - Intel 925X chipset - Intel LGA775 Pentium 4 CPU - Dual-Channel DDR2 533 - Intel PAT - PCI Express Architecture - Wireless LAN onboard - Dual Gigabit LAN - 1394b/a Intel Pentium 4 - 3.4gHZ CPU 600 Watt Power Supply 2 Gig of PC4300 DDR2 533 RAM NVidia Geforce 6800 Ultra 256 MB PCI Express 16 Video card What I want to do is get a better video card with at least 512MB of RAM maybe more. I don't have a SLI motherboard so that is problem number one. The second problem I have is my motherboard is PCI Express 16 and it seems like all the newer video cards are using the PCI Express 16 2.0 slot. I have talked with NewEgg, Nvidia, and even the geek squad at Best Buy and nobody can give me a straight answer on what card is best for me. Some are telling me the 9 series NVidia cards will work and others are saying it won't. Some recommend the 8800 GT others are against it. So I ask those of you who have built PC Gaming rigs, what is the best video card out there that will work with my existing system and motherboard? My other option is to replace my motherboard with a newer one. I was looking at the ASUS P5N-D that has the following specs: CPU Intel Socket 775 Core™2 Quad/Core™2 Extreme/Core™2 Duo/Pentium® Extreme/Pentium® D/Pentium® 4 Processors Compatible with Intel® 05B/05A/06 processors Support Intel® next generation 45nm CPU Chipset NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI Front Side Bus 1333/1066/800 MHz Memory 4 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 800/667/533 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel memory architecture Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 - Single VGA mode: x16 - SLI mode: Hardware ready for x16, x16 2 x PCIe x1 2 x PCI 2.2 With this new motherboard can I use my existing P4 CPU and 2 Gig of PC4300 DDR2 533 RAM? According to what I have highlighted in red, it looks like I could. Then I would be able to use the newer PCI 2.0 video cards and/or have the ability to run dual videocards in SLI. What do you think? |
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Quoted:
My other option is to replace my motherboard with a newer one. I was looking at the ASUS P5N-D that has the following specs: I would wait. Intel Core i7 is just being launched, and will require a new mobo to accommodate the new CPU (integrated memory controller!). Let the i7 get out there for a few months and come down in price a bit. Then go out and upgrade your system with a Core i7, new mobo and video card. |