Hello, like many I’m contemplating a GPU upgrade…likely the 16GB 4080 will be the sweet spot but I’ve also been known to make impulsive purchases so if I actually find a 4090 in stock I might become interested.

My question is with a GPU upgrade are there generally any compatibility issues with older motherboards?  My specs are in my signature but it’s a Z490 motherboard.  I think it mainly comes down to PSU and available space (I have a full size case but would need to do some measurements) but would I have anything to worry about in terms of the motherboard?  I’d rather not go full rebuild just yet if I can separately upgrade the GPU.

Thanks

Keep in mind that your MB only supports PCI 3.0. While PCI 4.0 is compatible with PCI3.0, you won't get the same performance.

Thanks for the quick response, any thoughts on whether I’d be looking at a major degradation using PCI 3.0?

Otherwise though no compatibility concerns?

I could end up doing a full upgrade in the not too distant future but to be honest I had such an absolutely miserable time building my current system (with a length help thread on these forums to prove it 🙂 ), tracking down bizarre issues that I’m not keen on doing the full build anytime soon.

Edited October 13, 20223 yr by regis9

To answer my own question, here’s a comparison video, luckily the difference in performance doesn’t seem huge

 

1 hour ago, pgde said:

Keep in mind that your MB only supports PCI 3.0. While PCI 4.0 is compatible with PCI3.0, you won't get the same performance.

Thats not necessarily true, the difference is likely negligible 

On 10/13/2022 at 6:23 PM, regis9 said:

Thanks for the quick response, any thoughts on whether I’d be looking at a major degradation using PCI 3.0?

Otherwise though no compatibility concerns?

I could end up doing a full upgrade in the not too distant future but to be honest I had such an absolutely miserable time building my current system (with a length help thread on these forums to prove it 🙂 ), tracking down bizarre issues that I’m not keen on doing the full build anytime soon.

Just curious.  What ended up being the issues on the build?  I'm about to do a rebuild.  So it might be something I want to put in the back of my mind. 

On 10/14/2022 at 12:49 AM, Pilot53 said:

Thats not necessarily true, the difference is likely negligible 

Indeed.

3 hours ago, micstatic said:

Just curious.  What ended up being the issues on the build?  I'm about to do a rebuild.  So it might be something I want to put in the back of my mind. 

It was a bit of a mystery that I never quite figured out.  It seemed like when I powered the computer up for the first time the motherboard would become fried…some sort of electrical gremlin or short?  Luckily I bought the two damaged motherboards from Amazon so they were generous on the returns.

In the end I bought a new case, a new power supply and a different motherboard as I couldn’t be sure what the culprit was.  I’ve built several PCs over the years and this was the first time I had issues at this scale.

Here’s the thread from that build:

 

Edited October 15, 20223 yr by regis9

Have to say I was fixated on having enough space to accommodate the length of a 4090 but it looks like my actual issue would be the width…wow it’s big and I’m not sure it will fit in my case.  It looks like the 4080 is similar in dimensions to my 2080ti so that alone might push me to patiently wait for the 4080.