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I want to get a new GPU, and I was thinking about something along these lines...Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 DX11 DVI HDMI 2xMiniDP PCI-E

This card requires PCIe 3.0

My motherboard is, pretty old. http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5K/#specifications

On that page it says my mobo has PCIe x16. But I can't really make the distinction between what I need and what I have. Does PCIe x16 answer the 3.0 version which the GPU needs? In other, simple and plain words - Will this GPU be compatible with my mobo?

Regarding power supply, I have a 500w PSU, and the card GPU needs 450w, so I am covered there. Any help will be appreciated on the matter.

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This card requires PCIe 3.0 No it does not.

This card is compatible with PCIe version 3, but will work in a PCIe v2 slot.

Regarding power supply, I have a 500w PSU, and the card GPU needs 450w, so I am covered there.

Sadly not true. The cards needs power in specific voltages and amperages. You will need to check how much power it requires on the +12v rails and how much power your PSU can deliver on those rail(s). (E.g. a PSU delivering up to 1oo watt on the +5 volt, 200 watt on 3.3 volt and 150 watt on +12 volt will not do if your GPU needs more than 150 Watt of +12v. - Note that these numbers are fictional, but a PSU does deliver +3.3v, +5v and +12 volt lines and it never can deliver all of its power on a single line).

You also want to check if the card uses extra power connectors (it probably does since the PCIe spec only allows a card to draw 75 watt from the motherboard and most high end cards use up to 188 Watt - Again a PCIe cap. More is not allowed). These extra connectors come in different flavours (8pins and 6 pins) and some cards require more than one.

Update: I just looked at a picture of the gigabyte 7770 and it has one 6 pin connector.

enter image description here

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  • This is my PSU coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3738 - What do you make of it?
    – user6004
    Oct 28, 2012 at 22:07
  • The specs on that page includes: AD input/DC output +12 v 18A. That is 216 Watt (12*18) per +12v rail. (they list two rails, but you will only connect one). Since no PCIe card may need more than 188 Watt this rail will do for all PCIe cards. – As for connectors, it lists both PCI-e 6+2 pin connector x2 and under cable it lists PCI-e 6 Pin x 1. Seems inconsistent, but you only need one PCI-e 6 pin, so that part will also do. – Efficientcy is listed as 70+%, which is quite low.
    – Hennes
    Oct 28, 2012 at 22:22
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PCIe is backwards compatible. So in this situation, the 7770 will be fine. As for your PSU, it may not be enough depending on the brand. If its a garbage PSU by Raidmax, Coolmax, etc, you may have trouble powering the card. A quality brand like Antec, XFX, Seasonic, etc will be good though.

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