# Need Some Info



## Sarn Darkholm (Jul 19, 2009)

I am acquiring a tower unit from a friend that has enough fans in it to keep a glacier frozen in the Sahara.  The thing has a motherboard in it that is screwed up, so I know I am going to have to replace it.  It also has a 256MB Graphics PCI card that is still in good shape.  My question is when I get a new mobo which is going to have PCI Express more than likely, will an old PCI card still work on it or will I have to buy a new graphics card.  

Normally I would just say screw it and just get the new card anyway, but money is an issue right now.


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## LizardKing (Jul 19, 2009)

Not even AGP? Good lord.

I expect it would be fine, assuming you can still get the drivers for it, but it will be taking up a precious PCI slot. You don't get many these days.


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## Sarn Darkholm (Jul 19, 2009)

Free is free.


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## Internet Police Chief (Jul 19, 2009)

Sarn Darkholm said:


> My question is when I get a new mobo which is going to have PCI Express more than likely, will an old PCI card still work on it or will I have to buy a new graphics card.



No. It's a different slot, why would they work together? I mean, you can put the PCI card in a PCI slot, but you can't put the PCI card into a PCI-E slot.

Also, good lord, even if it _did_, you wouldn't want to use it. Regular PCI video card? Your onboard is probably more powerful.


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## Sarn Darkholm (Jul 19, 2009)

Baron Von Yiffington said:


> No. It's a different slot, why would they work together? I mean, you can put the PCI card in a PCI slot, but you can't put the PCI card into a PCI-E slot.
> 
> Also, good lord, even if it _did_, you wouldn't want to use it. Regular PCI video card? Your onboard is probably more powerful.



That is what I wanted to know.  I have been out of the computer business for a while and I wasn't sure.  The problem with on board video is usually that is shared with the RAM, unless that has changed as well.  I would rather have a weaker card with dedicated video memory than shared memory, but that is just me.  I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.  I am getting the case, video card, and wifi card free.


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## Runefox (Jul 19, 2009)

*Integrated graphics are guaranteed to be faster than your PCI card. Ditch it or use it in another computer.*

More than likely, you've got a Radeon 9250 or GeForce 6200 (at maximum). Unless you purchased it very recently, in which case you can still get up to a Radeon HD 4350, but those are 512MB cards.


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## AshleyAshes (Jul 19, 2009)

Baron Von Yiffington said:


> No. It's a different slot, why would they work together? I mean, you can put the PCI card in a PCI slot, but you can't put the PCI card into a PCI-E slot.
> 
> Also, good lord, even if it _did_, you wouldn't want to use it. Regular PCI video card? Your onboard is probably more powerful.


 
Of course ANY PCI-E equipted board is certianly going to have some PCI slots.


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## Shino (Jul 20, 2009)

Yes, your PCI card will have a slot you can use, but dear lord man, PCI hasn't been a graphics standard since the days of windows '98. Do yourself a favor and spend an extra $40 to get a PCI-E graphics card. Even the cheap ones will far outstrip your PCI card. Hell, my AGP card would be an improvement over that thing.


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## Nael-Oran (Jul 20, 2009)

Yep, he's Damn well right. I Wouldn't say you're out of date but...


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## AshleyAshes (Jul 20, 2009)

However there have been fairly modern PCI versions of graphics cards produced.  I've seen PCI Radeon X1900's even.  No, not PCI-E.  PCI.  They're built to offer DX9 support for Vista as some machines with onboard video and no AGP slot don't support DX9.  DX9 is necessary for Aero in Vista.

There are scenarios where a PCI cards offers advantage over onboard video, especially in non-gaming feature requirements.

Myself i've been keeping an eye open for a PCI Radeon R420 family.  I'm already running an AGP X800 but it has two monitors on it, I'm considdering adding a 3rd monitor and I'd need another graphics card for that display.  For 2D rendering purposes a PCI card would be more than sufficent and would add two more useful video ports.


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## Runefox (Jul 20, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> Myself i've been keeping an eye open for a PCI Radeon R420 family.  I'm already running an AGP X800 but it has two monitors on it, I'm considdering adding a 3rd monitor and I'd need another graphics card for that display.  For 2D rendering purposes a PCI card would be more than sufficent and would add two more useful video ports.



Well, it's not an X800, and if you're in the mystical land of the Penguin, it's not gonna help much, but there are Radeon HD 4000-series PCI cards out there, believe it or not.


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## AshleyAshes (Jul 20, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Well, it's not an X800, and if you're in the mystical land of the Penguin, it's not gonna help much, but there are Radeon HD 4000-series PCI cards out there, believe it or not.


 
A little over kill for a tertiary display driver, don't you think?  That's the problem I have with you tech heads, you have no concept of practicality.


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## Sassy (Jul 21, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> A little over kill for a tertiary display driver, don't you think?  That's the problem I have with you tech heads, you have no concept of practicality.


I used a PCI GeForce 6200 for a while, to drive two additional displays :3 Works well. It'd rule out Vista for you as you can't have two separate driver libs installed to have WDDM; but for XP it ought to be fine.


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## Runefox (Jul 21, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> A little over kill for a tertiary display driver, don't you think?  That's the problem I have with you tech heads, you have no concept of practicality.



 Very funny. What I meant was, you're not limited to the sea of Radeon 7000's and 9250's that tend to be the most widespread PCI ATI cards out there. It's really up to _you_, not me, as to what's practical and what's not.


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## whoadamn (Jul 21, 2009)

4x < 8x < 16x


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## AshleyAshes (Jul 21, 2009)

whoadamn said:


> 4x < 8x < 16x


LARGER NUMBERS ARE GREATER THAN SMALLER NUMBERS?  HOLY SHIT, NO WAY.  THEY NEVER TAUGHT US THAT STUFF IN SCHOOL!


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## Kommodore (Jul 21, 2009)

Yeah, they still make PCI cards, go figure. So ditto with the above; but I would think you are not going to be doing any kind of gaming on the computer so geting a new card should not matter all that much.


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## LizardKing (Jul 21, 2009)

whoadamn said:


> 4x < 8x < 16x



Unless x is a negative number


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## Yaps (Jul 21, 2009)

Sarn Darkholm said:


> ...so I know I am going to have to replace it.  It also has a 256MB Graphics PCI card that is still in good shape.  My question is when I get a new mobo which is going to have PCI Express more than likely, will an old PCI card still work on it or will I have to buy a new graphics card....



Normally it should work. But if you are getting a motherboard that has PCI-Express, then of course the PCI-E would be a lot better. It should generally still work. 

PCI still exist in most motherboard and even in the extremely expensive one eg: at least have one PCI port... Well my one has 2...

eg: for i7 Core motherboard - IntelÂ® Desktop Board DX58SO has at least one... 

Anyway, hope this help, good luck also for getting your new CPU Processor.


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## Runefox (Jul 21, 2009)

whoadamn said:


> 4x < 8x < 16x



Actually:

x16 = x8v2 < x16v2


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