last seen 24 weeks 5 days agohi everyone, im new here and id like to get to know my little box shaped friend a little better. my computer is a AMD athlon 64 3500+ series, practically a assembly-line product, i cant seem to find out what kind of motherboard it has and how powerful upgrades it is compatible with. im considering buying a new comp alltogether but in the meanwhile i really need a graphics upgrade, so i browsed by local sellers sites and ofcouse i like the most expensive and powerful of them all.
The 1GB Club3D 9800GX2 PCI-Exp. So in short im asking if something as powerful as that would actually work on my weakling, or would it burst into flames immediatly?
I thank the person(people, hopefully)upfront, who can help me in my quest for knowledge.
PS. what the hell is a PCI slot used for? 
heres something that may also help, its a site that can tell you what is compatable with your computer, and the cost,
http://www.4allmemory.com
The only stupid question is the one that remains unasked
~Niebr~
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is a computer bus used for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. It is the most popular local I/O bus used today
Sticking a 1GB Club3D 9800GX2 PCI-Exp in a computer using a AMD athlon 64 3500+ series is sort of like sticking a Hotrod engine on a Tricycle.
Your computer was likely meant as a high end BUsiness Machine meant for some video presentations and animated graphics (like C.A.D.), not Gaming, and your processer might actually freeze or jitter even with the faster Graphics board as those 3500 series always had problems with handling the types of 3-d Direct draw call a game requires
On the upside, and unless your COmputer is OEM (CPU is sodered on) you can just replace your CPU with a Gaming CPU compatible to your Motherboard.
You will need to know what kind of graphics slot you have on your motherboard before you know what type to buy. My guess is that right now if you have a standard stripped-down system, you are using onboard graphics (no card; graphics built into your motherboard). If so, your graphics slot is probably free to add your choice of upgrade.
What kind of slot do you have? You will either have an AGP type slot or if you have a newer system you will have a PCI Express slot. You'll have to open your case and look. Google up images of motherboards and compare AGP with PCI-E slots. The graphics slot is always the slot closest to the CPU. The CPU is a big ass computer chip in the middle of your motherboard with a fan or at least a large heat-sink clamped to it.
Try cpuz (cpuid.com). It gives you all kinds of specs on your system such as your motherboard, bios, memory, graphic interface, etc. Run it, click on motherboard, look at graphic interface and it will tell you if you have PCI-Express or AGP slot.
You can use the specs to check for the compatibility of additional upgrades besides just uping your video card.
Here's a good image that shows a motherboard with BOTH types. Yours probably won't have both types. AGP is usually brown and sits about 2" away from the edge where the case openings are. The PCI Express slot sits almost even with the PCI slots. Notice how the video slots are the perephial slots closest to the CPU.
well, i found the answer to one question thus far:
what is a pci slot used for?
Tuna ><((((*> the other white meat!