GTX 960, is it compatible with my mobo?

[Grandad_Beef]

So, a little back story:

I have a entry to mid-range PC that has been running for near enough 3 years and I am going to try and upgrade it by Christmas, but, I had a thought. If I get the graphics card I want to get in my new build now and the new power supply as well, will it work with my current system so I can get some extra horse power from it at the moment. I have done some research and I couldn't really turn anything up my self because my motherboard is that old.

-Motherboard: Biostar N68S3+ (Told you it was old...)

-Possible graphics card: Gigabyte G1 gaming GTX 960 2GB

-Possible PSU: EVGA 500B PSU

[79 Potatoes]

Yes

[Tedster]

Yes, it should work, but I wouldn't recommend it. It has a PCI-E 16x slot, which is what you would need.

[Grandad_Beef]

Yes, it should work, but I wouldn't recommend it. It has a PCI-E 16x slot, which is what you would need.

What is the worst case scenario if I were to do this?

[79 Potatoes]

What is the worst case scenario if I were to do this?

Nothing. It's just that in terms of performance we don't know what's your CPU, and it might bottleneck the GPU...

[Godlygamer23]

What CPU are you going to use?

 

Edit: If the card you're purchasing has UEFI only, it won't work with your board.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Godlygamer23

[Prysin]

you probably have a Gen 1 or Gen 2 PCIe slot, which means you might lose 5-6 FPS in games, compared to a mobo with PCIe Gen3.

 

Thats all i know could come from this.....

[Godlygamer23]

you probably have a Gen 1 or Gen 2 PCIe slot, which means you might lose 5-6 FPS in games, compared to a mobo with PCIe Gen3.

 

Thats all i know could come from this.....

The difference between even PCIe 1.0 and 3.0 is something like 3FPS depending on the game.

[Prysin]

The difference between even PCIe 1.0 and 3.0 is something like 3FPS depending on the game.

the more you know.

[Grandad_Beef]

Nothing. It's just that in terms of performance we don't know what's your CPU, and it might bottleneck the GPU...

Prepare for me to melt your mind with how bad my CPU is:

AMD Athlon II X2 270 @3.4Ghz

[Godlygamer23]

the more you know.

Just grabbed TechPowerUp's article on Ivy Bridge PCIe scaling - they tested 1.1, 2.0, and 3.0. The numbers are actually more surprising than what I said. In some games, the lower resolution, the greater the difference between generations.

 

Link to the article: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/6.html

Link starts off in Battlefield 3.

[Godlygamer23]

Prepare for me to melt your mind with how bad my CPU is:

AMD Athlon II X2 270 @3.4Ghz

That CPU will be no good for the 960.

[79 Potatoes]

Prepare for me to melt your mind with how bad my CPU is:

AMD Athlon II X2 270 @3.4Ghz

Are you going to upgrade anytime soon?

[Grandad_Beef]

Are you going to upgrade anytime soon?

Like I said in my original post, I am building a whole new system by Christmas and I plan to use this GPU, I just had a thought of buying it sooner and seeing whether I could use it and get some sort of a performance increase in my current PC.

[Grandad_Beef]

That CPU will be no good for the 960.

I'm assuming terrible bottlenecks..?

[Godlygamer23]

I'm assuming terrible bottlenecks..?

Yes.

[79 Potatoes]

Like I said in my original post, I am building a whole new system by Christmas and I plan to use this GPU, I just had a thought of buying it sooner and seeing whether I could use it and get some sort of a performance increase in my current PC.

Just wait if you can...

It'll be cheaper and probably there'll be new hardware.