About PCI types

[Aerozord]

So I was looking at upgrading my graphics card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202043&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814202043&gclid=CjwKEAiA1JuyBRCogJLz4J71kj0SJADsd6QR16Lr8ZVU w6arZBBemP4jiV-M0-CKyskSMwOFSw0fKxoCexzw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds) but its a PCI 3.0 and my motherboard (https://www.google.com/shopping/product/14482080109968183678?q=960gm+u3s3+fx+asrock&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) has a PCI 2.0. Now I know it will "work" but I'm concerned I wont get as much out of it if I connect it. I dont want to blow over 200 bucks on a graphics card if I can only access a fraction of its processing power.

[phil_]

This article from 2013 (https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/) says, in a nutshell, that using PCI 2 or PCI 3 slot for your graphics card doesn't make a noticeable difference; not because PCI3 isn't faster but mostly because then current games and cards weren't able to utilize the extra bandwidth.

So that's a maybe, leaning towards it won't make a difference. Although, if your motherboard only has PCI 2 slots, isn't it getting a bit old? I've got a PCI-E 3 slot on my desktop, and that motherboard is old and cheap enough that they no longer make compatible RAM or CPU.

[Aerozord]

Replacing the motherboard essentially means rebuilding the entire thing. I normally save that for when I am ready to up my processor so I can make sure they are compatible.

Which I might still do, money is alot tighter than I thought lately this is more something for my Christmas list