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Geek Culture / Is the graphics card compatible

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heyufool1
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Posted: 28th Mar 2010 23:56 Edited at: 30th Mar 2010 23:48
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Well now I'm making a custom computer so now I have a couple questions.

1. What's the difference between PC-#### and PC2-#### Ram? (I found the PC2 on Crucial's site).

2. This motherboard says it supports PCI-E 2.0. But down on the list of specs it says it has a PCI-Ex1 slot and a PCI-Ex16 slot. So is PCI-Ex1 the equivalent of PCI Express 1.0 and PCI-Ex16 the equivalent of PCI Express 2.0?

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bitJericho
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 01:04
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No, that's a PCI-e card, and you have an agp slot on your motherboard.

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heyufool1
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 01:09 Edited at: 29th Mar 2010 01:10
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Ok thanks! Just out of curiosity what are the 4 PCI Slots for on the motherboard?

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David R
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 01:10
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PCI cards, not PCI-e cards (PCI express)

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heyufool1
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 02:12 Edited at: 29th Mar 2010 02:12
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Quote: "PCI cards, not PCI-e cards (PCI express)"

Ok, thanks! One last question, where does it say PCI express on the GeForce 9400 GT? The tigerdirect site just says PCI or PCI Conventional. By the way, I'm not doubting your input I just like to know so I can find a working graphics card on my own.

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bitJericho
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 04:36
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Quote: "Sparkle GeForce 9400 GT Video Card Realize more vibrant photos, smoother videos and more realistic gaming with this NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT GPU. Immerse yourself in an improved 3D experience, watch videos at an astounding clarity, and play games at a higher level of realism. All for the lowest price point in NVIDIA’s GeForce 9 series GPUs. Enjoy a rich visual experience on your PC with the Sparkle GeForce 9400 GT. Features: NVIDIA unified architecture, Full Microsoft DirectX 10, PCI Express 2.0, GigaThread Technology, NVIDIA Lumenex Engine, NVIDIA Quantum Effects, NVIDIA ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA), OpenGL 2.1, Dual 400MHz RAMDACs, Dual-Link DVI, NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, HDCP Capable. Warranty Term: All Sparkle Video Cards carry a 3-year replacement warranty to original purchaser. Please check on www.sparkle-usa.com for further details. "


Hmm, the product description on Amazon says it's pci-2 2.0 compatible. I suspect this product is poorly labeled on most sites, I think it is in fact a pci-e card, rather than a pci card. Perhaps you can check out sparkle's website and see if you can dig up more info.

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charger bandit
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 14:22
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PCI graphics card dont exist.So either its PCI Express or AGP.The Geforce 9400GT is PCI Express while your motherboard is AGP.You can find some Radeon graphic cards that are AGP compatible.


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Van B
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 16:26
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Actually there were some PCI graphics cards - in fact the first generations of ATI Rage etc, like 10 years ago used PCI. It got pretty difficult to find them pretty damn quickly, so really I think you should consider a new motherboard, as the cost of a good AGP card might just make a MB upgrade the sensible option. Price will be higher for the AGP, so you'd get more graphics card for your money with PCI-E, because less and less people use AGP.

I'm maybe a bit OTT when it comes to upgrades, I tend to try and upgrade everything and end up with a whole new machine. I would suggest that you hold off and save some money to get more new hardware - like a new base system. You could look and look for an AGP card and then not even end up with something all that much better than what you have right now. What if the card you have, is really about as good a card as your motherboard can take?

If you keep telling yourself it would be so much easier with a PCI-E motherboard, then maybe that's the 'sane' option .


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charger bandit
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 18:38
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Yea Van B,I have an ATI Rage XL 8mb at home that fits into PCI but that isnt very useful today since 8mb is nothing.


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heyufool1
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Posted: 29th Mar 2010 22:22 Edited at: 29th Mar 2010 22:24
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Thanks for the responses! A motherboard upgrade did cross my mind, but after giving it more thought I decided just to let my computer go. I'll be going to college in 2 years and therefore be getting a laptop so I think I'll just live with the computer that I got (It runs Unity and DarkGDK games just fine ). I'm also thinking about just making a cheap computer with some extra money just to learn some more about computers. Thanks again!

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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 30th Mar 2010 01:10
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i remember the times when pci express was like a future tech that was suppose to revoutionize the whole graphics card industry. Me and my friends were all like "I CANT WAIT for PCI express to come out!"

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heyufool1
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Posted: 30th Mar 2010 03:27 Edited at: 30th Mar 2010 03:29
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Hey, I decided that since there's nothing I want I'm going to build a "practice" system that could be upgraded to out perform my current computer if I wanted to. Now I have every part picked out except for the ram. I checked on Crucial's site using their RAM matching thinger, and it said that a 1GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 is compatible with my motherboard. I checked on Tigerdirect and I found this: Crucial 1024MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (240-pin). The only thing different is the PC-6400 vs PC2-6400, so what exactly is the '2' there for and is the PC-6400 still compatible?

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charger bandit
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Posted: 30th Mar 2010 15:45
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DDR2 ram does not fit on your motherboad.Only DDR ram will fit into your motherboard.Its best to buy a new one.A new DDR ram will cost you more than a new motherboard and DDR2 ram.


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heyufool1
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Posted: 30th Mar 2010 23:44 Edited at: 30th Mar 2010 23:50
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Oh sorry, I should have edited my first post because I'm now making my computer so I will have a different motherboard. I know the new motherboard supports DDR2, I just don't know the difference between PC2 and PC ram.

(Check 1st post for new questions)

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bitJericho
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Posted: 31st Mar 2010 00:56 Edited at: 31st Mar 2010 01:00
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Quote: "1. What's the difference between PC-#### and PC2-#### Ram? (I found the PC2 on Crucial's site).

2. This motherboard says it supports PCI-E 2.0. But down on the list of specs it says it has a PCI-Ex1 slot and a PCI-Ex16 slot. So is PCI-Ex1 the equivalent of PCI Express 1.0 and PCI-Ex16 the equivalent of PCI Express 2.0?"


PC-xxxx and PC2-xxxx are simply the hardware spec of the ram. PC-xxx is DDR and PC2 is DDR2, and there's also DDR3. PC-3200 is the same as DDR 400. It's all explained here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_SDRAM#Chips_and_modules
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR2_SDRAM#Chips_and_modules

As for the other question,PCI-e can operate at different speeds. PCI-E x1 is the slowest, PCI-E x16 is the fastest and is commonly used for graphics cards.

http://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/pcie-x1-vs-pcie-x16/41848.html

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heyufool1
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Posted: 31st Mar 2010 01:34
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Thanks for the info! Now just to be sure a Centon 2048MB PC-6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory is the same as Crucial 2048MB PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz memory right?

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bitJericho
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Posted: 31st Mar 2010 03:12 Edited at: 31st Mar 2010 03:15
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Yes, except now you need to look at cas latency and other timings, and the cost difference. It may be important to you to get the fastest RAM possible, or perhaps you want the cheapest possible.

There's a good guide for you here:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_13265_13295%5E13335,00.html

Notice these settings aren't nearly as important as simply what speed your RAM is clocked at, so if you're on a tight budget, I'd say just go for the cheapest. But I personally wouldn't get Centon cuz they're a no name brand. I do know that Crucial makes awesome memory modules (along with Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin, and OCZ << great value for power), I'd take Crucial over Centon. Memory is one of the most important aspects you'll consider for your computer. Crappy memory will bring your whole computer experience down.

Oh also, I recommend Newegg.com for any computer parts if you live in the US. They've been great for me.

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heyufool1
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Posted: 31st Mar 2010 03:37
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Thanks for all your help! I got a simple (but very upgradeable) computer setup and ready to be ordered now Thanks again!

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heyufool1
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 01:48
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Well I ordered my computer case the other day and got it today (other parts are on the way). I have an antistatic bracelet and I WAS going to connect it to the case but then I found out that the entire case is painted black. So because of this what can I do to guarantee that I won't shock my components (other then opening up an outlet and fiddling with those wires)? Thanks, this will hopefully be my last question

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bitJericho
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 04:28 Edited at: 3rd Apr 2010 04:28
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You shouldn't ground yourself against an outlet leaving your computer case ungrounded. The point is to make your charge the same as the case.

There's usually open metal inside the case, you can connect your harness to a fan mount or the drive mounts, or, if there's absolutely no spot, install your power supply, plug it into a grounded outlet, then ground yourself to the power supply or middle screw on the outlet (see pic).



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heyufool1
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 06:38
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Ok I see, but I just thought of something that would be really easy. Could I just wear latex gloves?

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charger bandit
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 13:35
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Touching a radiator and keeping your hands dry is the most important.If you wear clothes that make static,change them.


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bitJericho
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 17:30
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Quote: "Could I just wear latex gloves?"


I don't think that'll help. TBH, you'll probably be fine to just touch the case with your hands before you start working on components, and taking care not to touch any metal parts or chips.

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heyufool1
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2010 19:52 Edited at: 3rd Apr 2010 19:53
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Thanks for the replies! I read that touching a doorknob is enough so I'll just do that, and then clip myself to the case anyway. Thanks again!

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bitJericho
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Posted: 4th Apr 2010 04:48
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Quote: "I read that touching a doorknob is enough"


Yeah, definitely not. You need to have the same charge as the components. Touch the case first, and for the motherboard or whatever, grab from the sides, don't tough the components.

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heyufool1
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Posted: 4th Apr 2010 06:00 Edited at: 4th Apr 2010 06:43
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Quote: "Touch the case first"

But the case is painted (everything, including inside) so because of that doesn't touching the case not do anything?

EDIT: I've read that touching an unplugged psu works the same as touching the case, so I'll do that parts should be here Tuesday. Wish me luck!

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charger bandit
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Posted: 4th Apr 2010 10:27
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And one more hint: once you unplug the PSU,hold the start button for a bit more so all the electricity goes out.

By the way,what parts did you order?


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heyufool1
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Posted: 5th Apr 2010 03:13 Edited at: 5th Apr 2010 03:16
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Thanks for the tip! Here's my currently bought parts (didn't get them all yet)

Case
Power Supply
Motherboard
Processor
Memory
Hard Drive
Optical Drive

I'm not getting a dedicated graphics card until I have everything setup and working (The motherboard has integrated graphics) But this is what I will be getting: Graphics Card

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charger bandit
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Posted: 5th Apr 2010 16:48
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Buy a graphics card with GDDR5 memory,its a big speed improvment over GDDR3.Im saying this from my own experience.The motherboard is ok,the CPU is great,RAM is also good.

But the HDD,I dunno I would rather pick WD.I own one for 3 years now,works perfectly.But I never owned a Samsung HDD so I dont know the difference.

I would go for a Radeon 4870 and a slightly better motherboard from ASUS or Gigabyte.


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heyufool1
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Posted: 5th Apr 2010 18:21 Edited at: 6th Apr 2010 00:45
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Thanks for the advice. I don't want a motherboard with SLI or CrossFireX and it supports my processor so why get another one? As for the graphics card I was originally going to get a cheap but good card, but I'm thinking I might spend a bit more on it.

EDIT: I'm looking into this card now: Radeon HD 5750 Looks very good (saw some youtube videos of games using it), it's cheaper then a Radeon HD 4870 and it has Direct-X 11 support (not a reason to get it but it's a bonus)

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charger bandit
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Posted: 6th Apr 2010 19:17
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For the motherboard,its not about Crossfire and stuff.Just the manufacturer is kinda werid,I always go for something more popular but I must say in my old PC,I got a werid Matsonic motherboard and runs like new.

For the Radeon 5750,I dunno.Its got only 128-bit data transfer which is kinda low.I would go for THIS or THIS.


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heyufool1
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Posted: 6th Apr 2010 22:20
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Thanks for the response! I'm thinking that I'll go with the Radeon HD 5770, after I save up a bit more money Thanks for your help!

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