Stumped with installing a new video card.

[Steve_Az]

Hi, I have a question about installing a specific Video card.

I am trying to install an MSI GEFORCE 8600 GTS in my ASRock 775Dual-880Pro ATX Intel Motherboard. I think I either have purchased an incompatible video card (as it is a powered board and I cannot find a place to plug in the 3 prong plug) or I need to upgrade my motherboard so that I have one to support a powered video card....?

Is there any work around solution, or is am I simply missing/failing to understand something??

I would be grateful for any help I can get.

Board specs/pictures are at the following link: ASRock Motherboard - Product - 775Dual-880Pro - Overview

Video card can be found Here:MSI Computer Corp. - Product

If I can get some help with this, it would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[[t..o..m]]

Well your motherboard supports both AGP and PCI-E which would suggest that it is quite old, but there shouldn't be a problem with installing this card. Make sure that your putting the card in the PCI-E slot and not the AGP slot

I notice that the slot only supports x4 which might be a problem as it would significatly decrease your video card speed (normal PCI-E slots are x16)

I think it would be time to upgrade your motherboard (all you would need is a low to mid range one) which would be better in the long run

 

[peterhuang913]

Well your motherboard supports both AGP and PCI-E which would suggest that it is quite old, but there shouldn't be a problem with installing this card. Make sure that your putting the card in the PCI-E slot and not the AGP slot

I notice that the slot only supports x4 which might be a problem as it would significatly decrease your video card speed (normal PCI-E slots are x16)

I think it would be time to upgrade your motherboard (all you would need is a low to mid range one) which would be better in the long run

Not significantly...

 

[Steve_Az]

I'm putting the card in the PCI Express slot so that's not a problem and it mounts fine, but the card wont boot up properly.. I get a warning that it is a powered card and it boots into the lowest possible setting to avoid damage to the hardware.

Is there is some way to connect that three prong power plug?

 

[Steve_Az]

If this helps... here is a better look at the board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=13-157-080-02.jpg&Image=13-157-080-01.jpg%2c13-157-080-02.jpg%2c13-157-080-03.jpg%2c13-157-080-04.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16813157080&Depa=0&Description=ASRock+775Dual-880Pro+ATX+Intel+Motherboard

 

[Steve_Az]

Also, if I need a new Mother board, what would you suggest?

I'm running a Intel P4 3.0GHZ Prescott single core processor
80 GIG Western Digital SATA HDD
You know my video card, a dvd drive, cd burner, and ye olde floppy disk drive. wireless card... thats about it, 2 gigs corsair ddr2 mem.
430 Watt PS.

 

[ricanflow]

You need to connect a molex plug into the card, it wont run without it. If you dont have any availible, you either need an adapter or you can buy a new power supply.

 

[Steve_Az]

You need to connect a molex plug into the card, it wont run without it. If you dont have any availible, you either need an adapter or you can buy a new power supply.

Thanks Ricanflow! So if I understood correctly, I don't necessarily need to power the card from the motherboard, I can simply get a 4 pin male molex adapter, attach that to one of the 4 pin plugs coming from the PSU, and on the other end have a 3 pin fan sized male adapter to connect to the 3 pin female plug coming from the video card and that should be an appropriate connection to power my video card. Correct?

 

[Trotter]

Yep, or whatever adapter you need for the card's power connection. A powered card requires additional power over and above that furnished through the motherboard's graphic slot.

 

[Steve_Az]

Ack, I'm an idiot. It was the 6 hole connection on the side of the card that was needed for power, just like any other newer video card...

I'm still not sure what that tiny connection is for, maybe for connecting to another video card if I run two of them in an SLI format?

could also be a fan regulator or something, but I don't mind if the fan runs full speed, as noise isn't an issue for me.

Either way, it is working now. I feel like a tool. I'm just not going to bother with the small connection..

P.s. tommy_boy_07, you're right, my motherboard does bottleneck my video card a bit because it only supports a max of x4 in the PCI express slot, but it still performs better than my previous card... I wasn't really wanting to spend the money to upgrade my board yet as I'm only a casual gamer and don't use any extremely resource intensive apps or games. Plus, I'm kind of nervous about moving my processor, as I'm not sure about compatibility and also would have concerns about damage, as I've never done that before. This computer was my first build.