PCIe and PCIe 2.0

so im looking to upgrading my VideoCard to this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130350

but my mobo is not really old, i got it last year , but its not PCIe2.0 - can i still use this videocard on my MOBO even if it doesnt specify 2.0

my mobo is
MSI K9N6GM VClass SERIES
http://www.cobra-computers.co.uk/scr..._id=65&id=1167

 

PCI-Express 1.0 is an older version of PCI-Express. There's 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. All slots on a PCI-Express 1.0 motherboard including x1 slots and x16 slots are version 1.0. And all slots on a PCI-Express 2.0 motherboard are 2.0 The "x" number of the slot has nothing to do with the version of PCI-Express.

But there are exceptions. It gets more complicated because some motherboards with more than one x16 slot actually have different PCI-Express versions for each x16 slot. One x16 slot can be 1.0 while the other x16 slot is 1.1. Some PCI-Express hardware uses bridge chips which result in some slots using a different PCI-Express version than the main chipset on the motherboard.


Your motherboard uses the P4M890 chipset and it's PCI-Express 1.0a according to these guys. Unfortunately, it may have problems with NVIDIA PCI-Express 2.0 video cards. Some people report problems with 1.0a motherboards and NVIDIA 2.0 video cards and some report that their's work. It doesn't appear to be as clear cut as some motherboard makers have said: ASUS on the subject for a different motherboard. It's hard to know what fraction of people with a given hardware combination have the problem because it's mostly people who have problems who post in the first place. Sadly, this leaves a lot of people in the lurch.

It's hard to guess about the likelihood of having problems with an NVIDIA 2.0 card and your motherboard but I've seen people with this problem and it's a pain to resolve. It involves flashing the video card to a specific video BIOS which makes the card appear to be a PCI-Express 1.0 video card. And that assumes you can find such a BIOS and have a way to flash the video card. It's no big deal if you can find the BIOS and have a machine where you can flash the card. But for most people it's a big pain.


If you're interested in relative speeds of video cards, you should have a look at this table.


If I were in your position... I'd either wait for NVIDIA to sort out its initialization problems with PCI-Express 2.0, or if you can't wait, then I'd limit myself to ATI video cards. Limiting yourself to ATI to avoid this possible problem means you can't get an NVIDIA 8800 GT or 9600 GT both of which are very nice cards. ATI has the 3870 which is about the same speed as the 9600 GT and only a little more expensive. The 3870 is a fair amount slower than an 8800 GT. The 3870 is the fastest ATI card you can get without going to a multi-GPU solution. Your other choice is the ATI 3850 which is probably the best card in its price range. The 3850 is a little slower than a 3870 but it's still pretty quick and is a very good deal for the money.

 

Thanks for the info