Wanted to Know the size of my PCI Express slot

[AeoluxZ]

I have the HP Pavilion 1230n from a few years back,
and i was thinking about giving it an upgrade.

But as a computer idiot, i have no idea the number of lanes for my PCIe slot.
So I am afraid to get the wrong one and having to regret over it later,
So can anyone provied me with a video card for under 200 dollars?

Much appreciated,
more information about my PC can be found:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN#N308

P.S. This is mainly for gaming~~

 

[PC eye]

First you will want a Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html and the usual remonder to new members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

The answer to how many PCI-Express slots are available are seen at the HP page there under "expansion slots". PCI ExpressOne (available)
That should be one PCI-E 16x slot since no further information is seen there. Since that wouldn't be a big gaming case deal there you can find a larger number of cards available for under $200 depending on where you can order from. Can you order from? a US vendor like newegg, Canadien vendor like Memory Express or TigerDirect.CA. or where from?

 

[chupacabra]

Another problem would be your power supply, that may not have enough power

 

[elitehacker]

Get cards that doesn't require an external power, like the 7600GT PCI-E version, then 300W should be enough.

 

[AeoluxZ]

First you will want a Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html and the usual remonder to new members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

The answer to how many PCI-Express slots are available are seen at the HP page there under "expansion slots". PCI ExpressOne (available)
That should be one PCI-E 16x slot since no further information is seen there. Since that wouldn't be a big gaming case deal there you can find a larger number of cards available for under $200 depending on where you can order from. Can you order from? a US vendor like newegg, Canadien vendor like Memory Express or TigerDirect.CA. or where from?

Well, i do live in the US, so Newegg would be perfect,
I will also review the forum rule when I get back home, (Currently at schoool now)

 

[AeoluxZ]

Get cards that doesn't require an external power, like the 7600GT PCI-E version, then 300W should be enough.

Thank you very much for your suggestion.
But since I am very weak at the field of computer, could you provide more information about cards that do nor require an external power supply?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[elitehacker]

Well I know definitely the 7600GT and 7600GS cards don't need external power. That is true for the PCI-E versions only though. External power means you have to stick a molex connector ( the ones you use to power up your hard drives and optical drives) onto the graphics card.

 

[AeoluxZ]

Well I know definitely the 7600GT and 7600GS cards don't need external power. That is true for the PCI-E versions only though. External power means you have to stick a molex connector ( the ones you use to power up your hard drives and optical drives) onto the graphics card.

Thank you very much on explaining the issue with the power supply.
I am thinking about getting this one on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130017

and thankyou guys very much here at computer forum, this saves me loads of time , and saves me from having to go return it if anything was no compatiable.

 

[leet6thgrader]

^ That's perfect.

 

[hermeslyre]

Consider added another gig of RAM as well. If you do that then your system would be just like mine, and i can play anything i want.

 

[Geoff]

Just for future reference, you can tell how many lanes it has by looking at it. If it looks about the same (tad longer), then a PCI slot, it's x16 compatible. If it's only about 1-1.5", then it's a PCI-E x1.

Although you can have a PCI-E x16 slot that runs at x4 or x8 speed, it will still work with an x16 card.

 

[PC eye]

EVGA makes some good cards. MSI, BFG, and even Asus when instock. You can also select from a few ATI models as well to grab one for a good price at time. Since you are not looking for a high end model and the price that goes with them you can widen the selection to look over.

Two ATI models with one for only $89.99 can be looked over at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1+1068309611+1069609641+1068409614&name=GDDR3 The Radeon X850 series are great for gaming while still a little high compared to the Powercolor model seen there for a large gap. As far as the rules every forums has them. That's simply let's you know where to review them along with the welcome thread.