PCI ???

[blazeftp]

Hi just new here
well my question is that i needed a new graphics card so thought well get another SLI to hook both them up but as i was fumbling about inside i noticed that my PCI 16x ports where the opposite side to my PCI-E 16x
does this mean that i cant have another graphics card but in its place ?

and if so is there anyway to change this ?

the photo attached is NOt my computer my layout is diffrent but the way the ports face are the same as mine

please help me !

[RicheemxX]

First off whats the exact make and model of your board?

Second that board only has a single pci-e 16x slot so its not sli compatible. The white slots are standard pci, to utilize sli you need two pci-e 16 slots.

Third, what card are you running now, whats the rest of your system specs and budget.

[blazeftp]

motherboard Field Intel Alderwood i925X
Dell Dimension 8400
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 540, 3200 MHz (16 x 200)
System Memory 1024 MB (DDR2-400 DDR2 SDRAM)

Video Adapter nVIDIA GeForce 6800 PCI-E(now broken)
power 350w 12v

anything else you need ?
budget wise id say abt £200 which is prob abt $400

[Prince Lalijama]

So, buy another videocard, install the drivers, remove the 6800, and put the new one in.

I'm having a difficult time understanding your first post.

[RicheemxX]

Well for the budget of about $400 you could build a new computer. IMO since you are dealing with a dated cpu and ram I wouldn't throw a ton of money at that rig.

I to am a little lost, you went from wanting to do sli with your current card to you now have a broken card??

Are you looking for something for better gaming?
Or just need a new card?

[blazeftp]

well i was wanting to get a new graphics card but the 8800 ultra is abt $500 so i seen 2 512mb SLI cards for around $100 for the 2 and if i hook thease 2 up would have close to the 8800 ultra

thats why i wanted the SLI but instead i will buy another cheaper card than the 8800 ultra then buy 2 more gb of ram and cpu any ideas ?

its for better gaming

sorry for being a little confusing

[blazeftp]

I'm having a difficult time understanding your first post.[/quote]

well i am a noob to all this so i thought that you could change a simple PCI into a PCI-E but that doesnt exist )

[RicheemxX]

well i was wanting to get a new graphics card but the 8800 ultra is abt $500 so i seen 2 512mb SLI cards for around $100 for the 2 and if i hook thease 2 up would have close to the 8800 ultra

8800 ultra in your machine would be a waste of money IMO. You don't have nearly enough cpu power or memory. I don't know which two cards you would be getting for $100, but I'll tell you they would be no where near the performance of the 8800 line, unless you're getting some kind of a crazy deal.

Since I'm not certain which games you are wanting to play, I'd go with something along the lines of the 7600gs and a new p/s unless you are planning on going with a future build. That won't be extremely expensive and will run well with what you currently have.

[blazeftp]

well not $100 more lk $180 for GeForce 8800 GTS 640Mbx2
but my friend is gonna give me a good deal on his pc but it needs a new power supply
thx man

[ShyguyXPC]

well not $100 more lk $180 for GeForce 8800 GTS 640Mbx2
but my friend is gonna give me a good deal on his pc but it needs a new power supply
thx man

your current Power supply probably wouldn't even be able to handle that, factor in what size case your running (they are long cards, longer than the old 6800 cards), add in the fact they are both dual slot cards, taking up four expansion slots, & needing good cooling in case... its just not worth running SLI on 2 of those, depending on what your case size & all that is now, your looking at 360 for the 2 cards, probably at least $50-60 on a decent case to hold them if yours now isn't big enough, another $40-60 on a good enough power supply... CPU & ram would be holding you back some as well. so even with that good deal, you'd probably be looking at spending more than your budget anyways.

would make more sense just going with a single 640MB GTS instead, still might have to upgrade PSU & case, but better off with your current system, keeping in mind just a single card will probably be 5-6 times at least more better than the old card. extra money saved could go for an extra Gig of ram (or replace it with 2GB's of Faster stuff), maybe a better CPU depending on what that board supports? (Pentium D maybe?)

but what are the specs on your friends system your getting a deal on, so we can suggest a new Power supply?

[blazeftp]

he foned me today sayin hes sold it
but thx anyway you have been a good help
heard there where good deals on ebay so gonna see what i can get there

[blazeftp]

only got $400 thow

[nemowolf]

Honestly, since your not experienced with testing out your gear i would stay away from Ebay as you might get scammed on some faulty parts.

Your best all around option is to save up more scratch and build yourself a system. So much to learn even on the first pass that it will be well worth the extra money for you.

[blazeftp]

thx for the advice

[ShyguyXPC]

this is just an example, but if you can save up an extra $50 to $60, this wouldn't be a bad combo to go for, definite improvement over what your running now...

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion...basic+game+rig

might even be able to offset the cost (besides the rebates, though don't know how they do that overseas), by selling off some of your older parts.

not sure if all or any of this will fit in your Dell case, though I would imagine the two biggest hurdles if there are any is the PSU & mobo, as I know some Dell cases can be rather proprietary.

but again, its an example of what can be had for around the $400-450 range. its no top of the line rig, but definitely a big jump from what your running now. plus not brand new hardware, but still more future proof than your current system as well. (doesn't support PCI Express 2.0, but as long as the first gen or few gen's of 2.0 cards are backwards compatible with PCIE 1.1, not a problem, the mobo being an nVidia 650i, should support most if not nearly all the new 45nm CPU's, SLI compatible, for future addition of cards if you want, etc etc)