Motherboard help please?

posted on May 30th, 2013, 4:04 pm

Hi. I was just wanting to buy the nvidia 660ti for my computer but then I just realized that when switching from my
ATI radeon HD 4650,
there might be compatibility issues. I was hoping you guys could help, my motherboard version is
ACPI x64-Based PC
based from the device manager, if you need more info. you'll need to tell me how to get it because I don't know at all.
I'd really appreciate any help you can give me, thx.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 4:35 pm

yes we'll need way more info. what you've provided isn't the name of a motherboard, it's just a generic description.

install and run cpu z:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

go to mainboard tab, screenshot it and post here.

also a gtx 660 ti will need two 6-pin pci-e power connectors. your power supply may not have them. you can convert two 4-pin molex to one 6-pin pci-e, but that will require four unused 4-pin molex. which is a lot.

sadly the only way for you to know your power supply and its cables is to check the hardware itself.

molex looks like this:


6pin like this:


an adapter for them:

posted on May 30th, 2013, 4:40 pm

Additionally, the GeForce 600 series requires PCI Express 3.0 which didn't come out until November 2010 and is not yet available on AMD motherboards. So, to start, how old is your computer?

posted on May 30th, 2013, 5:02 pm

Additionally, the GeForce 600 series requires PCI Express 3.0 which didn't come out until November 2010 and is not yet available on AMD motherboards. So, to start, how old is your computer?

firstly a clarification on dates, the specification for pci-e 3 was in nov 2010, but no cards were sold with pci-e 3 until january 2012.

secondly, the performance difference between 2 and 3 is debated.

thirdly, it's backwards compatible, so a pci-e 3 card will still work in a pci-e 2 slot, just at pci-e 2 speeds. which isn't much lower than 3.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 5:17 pm

Additionally, the GeForce 600 series requires PCI Express 3.0 which didn't come out until November 2010 and is not yet available on AMD motherboards. So, to start, how old is your computer?

I bought it 2nd hand about 2 year ago, I can't be sure how long it was used before that, though I think most of the components were changed before I bought it.

and btw, the CPU-Z said this

Motherboard
_____________________________
Manufacturer: // Intel Corporation
Model: // DG43GT // AAE62768-301
Chipset: // Intel // P45/P43/G45/G43 Rev: // A3
Southbridge: // Intel // 82801JR (ICH10R) Rev: // 00
LPCIO: // Winbond // W83627DHG-6
_____________________________
BIOS
_____________________________
Brand: // Intel Corp.
Version: // GTG4310H.86A.0024.2009.0921.1022
Date: // 09/21/2009
_____________________________
Graphic interphace
_____________________________
Version: // PCI-Express
Link Width: // x16 Max. supported: // x16
Side band

key:
Side band--- greyed out
_____________---- section
// ----------------------- box
xyz: --------- subsection

posted on May 30th, 2013, 6:42 pm

thanks for the info. your motherboard won't be a problem for the card you want. your pci-e slot is version 2, this will work with the new card, but not at the card's full speed. the speed difference won't be that important, pci-e 2 is still up to the task.

the power supply is your next consideration. you'll have to physically open up your computer and look.

maybe the person you bought it from will know what power supply it has.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 9:00 pm

thanks for the info. your motherboard won't be a problem for the card you want. your pci-e slot is version 2, this will work with the new card, but not at the card's full speed. the speed difference won't be that important, pci-e 2 is still up to the task.

the power supply is your next consideration. you'll have to physically open up your computer and look.

maybe the person you bought it from will know what power supply it has.

Spot on Myles. Could'nt have said it better myself. @GrandAdmiral, follow Myles tips and you should be golden. Your power supply should be at least 600W for such a powerful video card and obviously it should have all of the necessary molex connectors. I don't really like the connector 'Y' adapters because alot of them tend to be flimsy.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 9:14 pm

Your power supply should be at least 600W for such a powerful video card and obviously it should have all of the necessary molex connectors. I don't really like the connector 'Y' adapters because alot of them tend to be flimsy.

tbh 4 molex connectors is a lot for 1 graphics card, i doubt he even has 4 free molex to convert to 2 6-pin.

if his power supply doesn't have 6-pin cables, then he's probably just better off replacing it with a new one.

also such a modern graphics card would be by far the best core component in his system. he only has a motherboard with lga775, so his processor isn't going to be that new. adding the 660 ti would make his build lopsided.

my personal recommendation would be to either do a major upgrade (board, processor and power supply with your new graphics card), or buy a cheaper graphics card. perhaps one that is only powered through the pci-e slot.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 10:21 pm

A 460 or 480 would probably be a good upgrade without resulting in such a lopsided system. It should be a lot cheaper, too.

posted on May 30th, 2013, 10:49 pm

these are all good recommendations

posted on May 31st, 2013, 3:25 am

Yeah if you spend that much on a 660 you want to make sure youll be able to utilize it fully, and your setup will bottleneck that GPU significantly, the CPU is just too outdated to take advantage of such a card. Your best bet is Myles suggestion, either upgrade your core components first, or go with a lower end GPU, to be honest you dont need a super high end GPU to play most games with mid to high graphics settings. My old Radeon 4890 on loan to a buddy plays almost everything out there at high or maxed settings.

posted on May 31st, 2013, 3:51 am

So if I understand correctly, it will play that card just not at 100% but at around 90%, thanks guys.
I've got at least a 500W power supply, so I could play it correctly.
the thing is that I'm not actually buying the card, it was a present from a guy who doesn't use his gaming computer (he uses a high end labtop) anymore and he wanted to give me his card, but he wanted me to check if I could support it. so now I see that I can.
(and I find it's no fun playing the high end games like BF3 on mid quality)

so just one last Q, will it still be able to run BF3 on high (no need of ultra) smoothly? I don't really use MP,
thanks for alll this help.

posted on May 31st, 2013, 8:15 am

so now I see that I can.

you've got the raw wattage, but have you got the required free connectors?

so just one last Q, will it still be able to run BF3 on high (no need of ultra) smoothly? I don't really use MP,
thanks for alll this help.

depends on monitor resolution.

my system for example:

core i3 2120, 8gb ram, radeon hd 7750 (draws power from slot, far less powerful than 660 ti).

it can run bf3 at high with no trouble at my monitor's max resolution of 1366x768.

i can also run crysis 2 the same way (with the dx11 patch).

if your monitor is 1920x1080 (like full hd telly) then that card is definitely strong enough. if there's any slowdowns it will be from processor/ram/hd. not from that card.

posted on May 31st, 2013, 4:47 pm

so now I see that I can.

you've got the raw wattage, but have you got the required free connectors? I'll just check that but I think so

so just one last Q, will it still be able to run BF3 on high (no need of ultra) smoothly? I don't really use MP,
thanks for alll this help.

depends on monitor resolution.

my system for example:

core i3 2120, 8gb ram, radeon hd 7750 (draws power from slot, far less powerful than 660 ti).

it can run bf3 at high with no trouble at my monitor's max resolution of 1366x768.

i can also run crysis 2 the same way (with the dx11 patch).

if your monitor is 1920x1080 (like full hd telly) then that card is definitely strong enough. if there's any slowdowns it will be from processor/ram/hd. not from that card.

I've got 1920x1080 so I think it'll run run.
Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate it...

posted on May 31st, 2013, 5:23 pm

you've got the raw wattage, but have you got the required free connectors?

If you don't have the connectors, power supplies are fairly cheap and very easy to replace.