pci express slot v's mini pci express

wildlifeboy

My dad got a pci express graphics card and he has a lenovo desktop. the problem is that the card doesnt fit the pci slot on the machine. i have looked up a few graphics cards and there doesnt seem to be any definitive answer.

the slot on the back of his pc for the card interface is very small. only about 5 or 6 cm's. Can anyone tell me the exact thin i should be looking for when purchasing this card. is it called Mini pci express? the stupid thing about pcworlds website is that it doesnt expressly say this and he has bought two cards that wont fin his pci slot.

also he gave the model number of his machine to maplins and to pcworld and they both told him the one they sold him would fit. now that could be because they wanted to make a quick sale or they were genuinly stupid. not sure on that one. any feed back appreciated.

justsomebloke

what is the model number of his machine

TerrorFirmer

Mini PCI-E is much smaller than 5-6cm.

You are describing closer to a normal full size pci-e lane.

If you give us a model number we will have to look up what the issue is. He could be trying to fit the card into a regular pci slot which will not work.

Give us a model number, and what it is he bought the card for, as in what he wants to do.

duffman85

Sounds like one of the PCI Express x4 slots or a PCI slot is what he has.

PCI Express sizes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_.28standard.29

The PCI-express Mini is a much smaller form factor,usually only seen in laptops.

Post the model of PC and the graphics card here so we can figure out what you've got.

wildlifeboy

duffman85 wrote: »

Sounds like one of the PCI Express x4 slots or a PCI slot is what he has.

PCI Express sizes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_.28standard.29

The PCI-express Mini is a much smaller form factor,usually only seen in laptops.

Post the model of PC and the graphics card here so we can figure out what you've got.

Here's the model

justsomebloke

ye it should work once you have a low profile card and removed any existing card that is there.

It will have 1 PCIe x16 and one PCIe x1 with only he former suitable for the graphics card.

If still in doubt take a decent photo of the machine with the cover off

wildlifeboy

ok so there are two pci e ports on it? strange I removed the slot cover of the one underneath the wifi card which is where it should go but the casing gets in the way. where is the other pci slot?

TerrorFirmer

At this point its worth asking what he is using the card for, as in, why he bought it. The GT610 is as slow as, if not slower, then the onboard graphics of an i3 CPU, and certainly is 100% useless for games, whatever else you could use it for, like 1080p playback, the onboard video is perfectly fine. Cards like the GT610 are completely obsolete in any modern build really.

justsomebloke

wildlifeboy wrote: »

ok so there are two pci e ports on it?

There are 2 PCIe slots but only 1 is useable for graphics card. The one closest to the end of the board

wildlifeboy

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

At this point its worth asking what he is using the card for, as in, why he bought it. The GT610 is as slow as, if not slower, then the onboard graphics of an i3 CPU, and certainly is 100% useless for games, whatever else you could use it for, like 1080p playback, the onboard video is perfectly fine. Cards like the GT610 are completely obsolete in any modern build really.

I really cannot wait to show him this post. he has complained about the graphics from day 1 and thinks that an upgraded graphics card will make them ten times better which is what happend the last pc he owned. i personally dont see any issue with the on board graphics at all. he has also complained about the perfomrance of the lenovo too even though he got it for a steal at 300 quid. i got the rest discounted through a work scheme. no pleasing some people.

wildlifeboy

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

At this point its worth asking what he is using the card for, as in, why he bought it. The GT610 is as slow as, if not slower, then the onboard graphics of an i3 CPU, and certainly is 100% useless for games, whatever else you could use it for, like 1080p playback, the onboard video is perfectly fine. Cards like the GT610 are completely obsolete in any modern build really.

Its for gaming predominantly. he loves first person shooters and strategy games and says the on board graphics arent good enough.

wildlifeboy

oh i should clarify after reading back my first post. the pci card will fit into the slot fine and the card would sit in the machine. the only problem is that the interface area of the card which has the hdmi and vga input is too big to be exposed through the interface at the back. it may be possible to cut the casing on the unit itself and squeeze in the card but is there even a point>?

TerrorFirmer

wildlifeboy wrote: »

Its for gaming predominantly. he loves first person shooters and strategy games and says the on board graphics arent good enough.

He's right, if your into games, particularly FPS games, onboard graphics are poor, but to be quite honest, the GT610 is a 20 euro card (if you buy online...probably paid 70 in Pc World) that is not designed for gaming, and his performance is going to the exact same, if not worse. If you want to game, you need to buy a decent card.

What you need is something like these (be sure to check that any card you buy includes a low profile bracket, it is not enough for the card itself to be low profile, some ridiculous vendors do not include the LP bracket which is a joke)

http://www.dabs.ie/products/sapphire-technology-ati-radeon-hd-6670-hd-1gb-pci-express-hdmi-low-profile-84X9.html?q=low%20profile&src=16

http://www.dabs.ie/products/best-value-vtx3d-amd-radeon-7750-hd-800mhz-1gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-8Z7J.html?q=low%20profile&src=16

http://www.dabs.ie/products/xfx-amd-radeon-r7-250-1050mhz-1gb-gddr5-pci-e-3-0-hdmi-low-profile-91CC.html?q=low%20profile&src=16

Get him to return that GT610, total waste of money altogether. Low profile machines do not make great gaming machines, because low profile cards have a bad price to performance ratio and there is not a wide range of them. If he's really looking to play games, you'd be best off in the long run selling that machine and building a new one. The cards I've linked there are low end cards in the gaming hierarchy, but as low profile cards go they are respectable, and big improvement on the onboard graphics of an i3.

justsomebloke

due to your PCIe 16x slot being second nearly all dual slot cards won't fit in your machine