Slight upgrade

[gadgeteer99]

Hey, I'm planning on upgrading my slightly aged compy soon and I just wanted to check to make sure everything is kosher...so to speak.

My current system is:

Asus P5k-v
intel e6750
2 gigs of patriot ram...800mhz...I don't know what kind specifically
netgear wg311v3 wireless card

I don't have a video card currently because of various reasons but I was planning on getting the 5850 soon. I'm just not sure that my mobo can handle the card because its pci-e 2.0

Also, I'm sure that arguing will ensue because of this question, but Nvidia cards have some sweet features and I was thinking maybe I should wait and get one of their new cards...whenever they come out.

Lastly, I'm running Windows 7 and my wireless card has some serious issues with it...reading online, one of the problems is apparently that it doesn't like when you have more than 2 gigs of ram in the system...does anyone know if that is just system memory or does video count also?

Thanks for any help/insight

[glc]

Your motherboard can handle a PCI-E 2.0 card. It's backwards compatible. I'd be more concerned about what you might have for a PSU.

That Netgear card doesn't like 64 bit Windows. I'd look for a replacement that has good drivers for your OS.

[gadgeteer99]

The power supply is 500 watt...I know it isn't a good one though. I'll have to invest in a corsair or something. What kind of performance hit am I looking at because of Pci-e 1.0?

[glc]

About 2% from what I've been reading.

The 5850 requires a 500 watt PSU with two PCI-E connectors. Here is an excellent deal on a quality PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015

[gadgeteer99]

You mentioned how my wireless card has issues with windows 7....Believe me, it was a headache trying to get it to work. I did however get the marvell drivers installed and everything is going good right now.

However, some people were saying that it has more problems when you have more than 2 gigs of ram in your system...luckily, right now, I only have 2 gigs. Do you know if thats just system ram or does it include the ram from video cards also?

[glc]

I personally don't see where the amount of system ram should affect a wireless card. However, with Netgear cards I suppose anything is possible - I've never been a fan of their routers and network adapters. If you are upgrading other components I think I'd go with something that gets good reviews with Win 7.