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Perhaps I'm trying to push my mobo too hard, but I think I have read that PCI-e 3.0 is back compatible to previous PCI-e specifications. But 3.0 into a 1.0, is it possibly asking too much?

I'm thinking about buying an AMD Radeon HD 7750. My mobo is an Asus p5g41-m le

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Yes, PCIe 3.0 is backward-compatible with all prior PCIe implementations.

Reference Wikipedia: PCI Express

However, because PCIe 1.0 maxes out at 2.5 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) vs. PCIe 3.0's 8 GT/s, your video card may not perform as well as you would expect when installed in a PCIe 1.0 slot.

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    If the card doesn't work in a PCI-Express 1.0 slot, it's not a PCI-Express 3.0 card. May 22, 2012 at 0:18
  • I rolled back my edit, but it still doesn't hurt to purchase from a seller with a generous return policy in case you're unfortunate enough to get a "PCI Express 3.0" card that isn't fully compliant with the spec.
    – rob
    May 22, 2012 at 1:12
  • It worked perfectly. So, yes, it's fully compatible.
    – Karolinger
    Sep 15, 2012 at 1:38
  • And what about BIOS? I've heard some new videocards have BIOSes which are not compatible with mobos without UEFI BIOSes (which might include many older mobos with PCI Express v1.0)? Nov 27, 2016 at 19:27
  • @JustAMartin, I'm not familiar with that issue but I suppose it's possible.
    – rob
    Nov 28, 2016 at 1:17

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