PCI paradox

[stets36]

:confused: I have a dell optiplex gx520 pc, and would like to purchase a high end graphics card for hardcore gaming. My motherboard however, only supports PCI, and not PCI Express x16. I called dell about it, and they said that there are no options for an upgrade(the problem was the size of the of the chasey, not the compatibilty) and that I would have to purchase a PCI graphics card.
My motherboard, strangley enough, appears to have a series of pegs and wires in the shape of a PCI Express x16 slot, only there is no slot. If this can be utilized in any way, someone tell me. It probly can't, but I'm looking for every possibility. I dont know much about computers, so I'm looking for someone with a good amount of knowledge for help.
THANKS!

[kiosk]

My motherboard however, only supports PCI, and not PCI Express x16.

These two are entirely unrelated technologies, despite the similar-sounding name.


I called dell about it, and they said that there are no options for an upgrade(the problem was the size of the of the chasey, not the compatibilty) and that I would have to purchase a PCI graphics card.

They probably meant something along the lines of a 1997-ish Matrox Millenium video card.


My motherboard, strangley enough, appears to have a series of pegs and wires in the shape of a PCI Express x16 slot, only there is no slot. If this can be utilized in any way, someone tell me.


It can't, because mainboard's chipset doesn't support it. Boards are often engineered in such a way that there is one "generic" layout, and by fitting various chipsets from the same family to this generic board layout, manufacturers easily create a whole range of mainboards with videly varying capabilities, from entry-level to power-user without the need to engineer each board separately. The empty solder pegs for PCIe 16x slot you see on the board would be populated with an actual slot if the board was a "power" version with a chipset that supported this interface.

Your board only has two PCI slots and one PCIe 1x slot, both of which are too slow for a serious gaming graphics card. I'm afraid your computer, despite the powerful processor, is worthless as a gaming machine. Buying a supermarket OEM vomit box is never a good idea, they are grossly overpriced and usually come with a nasty catch that's not apparent at first - non-upgradeability being the most common of all.