Knowns
Specs:
Monitor- Planar PJ19W 18.5" wide 1366 x 766 (16:9) VGA input
Motherboard: G41M4-F from MSI
CPU: Pentium E 6500
RAM: DDR2-800, two DIMMS each with 2GBs for 4GBs total
PSU: 750 Watt Power Supply from Ultra (I know, not as efficient as other, but i see no reason to ditch it since it has worked for me)
Case: HAF 912 Plus from CoolerMaster
I have omitted storage since It is irrelevant to the scope of the discussion.
Unknowns
"GTX 650" refers to any of the possible GTX 650 cards sold by various manufacturers since i still haven't made a decision on one
1- Since i use a PCl-e 1.0 motherboard slot, and I decide to opt for an GTX 650 card which uses PCl-e 3.0, what level of certainty i am guaranteed that it will work?
2- Will this GTX 650 card be able to run at high settings games like Total War: Medieval II and Total War: Empire?
3- What kind of performance hit will the card take given that it is plugged into a PCl-e 1.0 slot, and will be noticeable enough to not warrant such buy?
4- Since I have a Pentium Dual Core from a dead 775 platform, and I am gaming in such a relative small resolution, how much will the CPU hold the card back?
5- What card would you recommend for such casual gamer as me with a budget of 150 dollars since i am not looking to play the most recent games but games that are 2-3 years old?
Acknowledgements
Thank you for all your time and effort in advance for such poor soul as me. P;
No good deed goes unpunished.