PCI Express x16 1.1a vs 2.0

[Debu_013]

Hi
I have a AMD 690V motherboard from MSI, can i get a PCIe 2.0 graphics card and put it in my PCIe 1.1 slot?

Will it deter performance?

Are BIOS updates possible to make 1.1 to 2.0 or are they completely hardware dependent?

[desiibond]

depends on which card you are going to get. Your processor would be a bigger bottleneck if you want to game on 1440x900 or higher resolution.

[amitash]

PCI-2.0 will only give you anadvantage with very powerfull card configs or sli/cfx card configs...It should be fine upto sth like the gtx280/285.

[dOm1naTOr]

actully the CPU bottleneck is reduced as we go up the resolutions and quality setings, as GPU tends to be the bottleneck.

cpu load on 1280 or 1680 is more or less same, but almost double on GPU.

[Debu_013]

NO, no, no, My question is whether i can install a PCIe x16 2.0 card like ATI HD 4770 on the PCIe x16 1.1a slot on my motherboard and still run it ???

[dOm1naTOr]

Yup. It can run it, though bandwidth is lil bit limited. That means u cant unleash the full potential of the card, if the card is really powerful like a GTX 260/275 or a 4870/4890.
In worse case, ur mobo wotn detect the card, ull need to update the mobo BIOS to latest. That shud solve the problem.
which is ur mobo?
The bandwidth offered by PCI 1.0a is more than enuf for a 4770.
btw 4770 is no more available. Get a 4850. Prices has really come down.
Check at lynx, sapphire 4850 new one costs 6.5+tax +shipping only. SO total is less than 7k with 3 yrs warranty.

[dOm1naTOr]

5200+ is somewhat just enuf to juice a 4850. It ll better if u OC the CPU to max, so that reduce the bottleneck caused by CPU.

[Debu_013]

I donot want to fiddle with Overclocking and stuff, already i had my fair share of overheating problems. So i would steer clear of it.
So you say that i can run a 4770 or a 4850 on my AMD 690V Mobo without problems.
But does 4770 or 4850 require a powerful PSU as I have only a frontech 450W PSU.
I have a 19" LCD so max resolution for me is 1440x900.
By the way whats better MSI or Sapphire Graphics card?