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Hi everyone,

I have an older gaming tower which I had custom-built back in November 2006 which has an Asus P5B-E motherboard, Core 2 Duo E6400 CPU, 2GB RAM and Windows XP SP3 (32-bit of course). I no longer connect this computer to the Internet and it serves mainly as my retro gaming box at this point. I upgraded it from a 7950GT to a 9600GT in the spring of 2008 and plan to keep this tower running for an indefinite period of time. Just in case the video card ever decides to die one day, I wanted to buy a replacement card before this tower gets too old and standards change (and keep the 9600GT as a back-up) and was wondering if I might experience any compatibility issues with my Asus P5B-E if I decided to go out and buy a 1GB GTX550 Ti card? I want something that performs at least as good as my 9600GT and I know the 550Ti would outperform it. I also wonder if compatibility with older games would be an issue too?

Thanks for any info and insight.

Nothing loses value faster than unused computer parts. if you're not going to put the new card in the machine right away, you're better off to wait.

To specifically answer your question, PCI-express 2.0 cards are 1.0 backwards-compatible. It should work just fine.

Personally I think smartphones lose value even faster, followed by digital cameras.

Well, OK, if your entire point is to just derail the thread...

Topic hijacking FTW! There are a lot of things that lose value quickly. I look at my Panasonic 42" plasma TV model TH-42PZ77U which I purchased in the spring of 2008 for $1500 plus tax as a prime example. I die anytime I go in the store to see what that same $1500 plus tax would get me now! However, on the flip side, I've had the enjoyment of my TV for more than three years too and it's a definite upgrade from my previous 24" tube TV.

But seriously, thanks for the input. I did not think there would be any compatibility issues but wanted to be sure. I could put off the purchase, we'll see.

Righto - if you use something, its depreciation is expected. If you buy something and don't use it, it hasn't done much good.

Still, good luck with it. Seems like a pretty modern setup for a "retro" box. I guess I think of Starfalcon's Riva TNT + Voodoo2 SLI box (stereotyping here, but this is the sort of system he'd have) for "retro".

Heh, I know what you mean DerFunk! I guess my definition of "retro" are games that are more than 4 years old, but I also run DOSBox on that computer and have a little treasure trove of games for it. But in my storage closet is an 11-year-old Celeron 433 tower with a Chaintech mobo, 128MB RAM, SB16 Vibra and an ATI Xpert 2000 32MB video card. I also think I still have a Voodoo3 3000 kicking around, what a great card for its time. Thanks for that little trip down memory lane!

I actually do have a voodoo2 SLI box But I have a i975 card in there, not a TNT. Got the whole Diamond multimeda thing going on in there, along with a SB AWE64 gold. All on a Abit BH6 with a Oced 300A and 256 MB PC-150 memory.

See guys that's what I'm talking about. I have a blue and white G3 Power Mac, but my wife kind of drew the line there. Old crusty PCs apparently aren't allowed in our home. I me wanty.