Hardware what should i do

[xcalibur]

let me tell you that this sint a poll about which graphic card i should get...

ive been meaning to buy a graphics card for a while now but i always put it off for various reasons
now there is nothing stopping me so im unsure of what to do

i have a starnge motherboard with a PCIE slot which runs at only 4x
im wondering if this would affect any graphics cards i put in?

\should i just wait untill i get a new computer to get a decent graphics card or should i go for it now?

my pc specs are okish, not highend but it suits my needs.
my dad bought this computer out of the cheapest parts possible so most of it is unnamed

1gig ram @ 533MHZ
80GB hard drive
17" CRT monitor
pentium 4 @ 3 GHZ with 1mb cache

and finally, the motherboard...
GA-8I945GZME-RH

here is a little excerpt from the products spec page

14.

Expansion Slots

 1. 1 PCI Express x 16 slot (x4 bandwidth)
 2. 3 PCI slots

im just wondering if having 4x less bandwith would affect gaming much?

tell me what you think







and no, im not going to get a new computer or the next year or so but i wont plan on spending any more time with this computer after that

 

[superkrm]

hell yeah it going to effect it
especially at high resolutions
but if u play at 1024x768 i think you should be ok
that is a very strange board

http://www.pcstats.com/ArtVNL.cfm?articleid=2027&page=11

 

[Sick Wario]

if it has PCIE an 8800GT is the beast deal going right now
Dell website has it for $200 USD

 

[ZeWarrior]

if it has PCIE an 8800GT is the beast deal going right now
Dell website has it for $200 USD

It would run at 1/4th of what it would normally, it's not worth it for his mobo imo.

 

[superkrm]

8800gt is definite overkill
more like a 2600 or 8600 family of cards would be good

 

[Cletebob]

I would personally get the fastest card compatible with what you have right now, and later upgrade the motherboard when you are able to. This way you can boost performance now, and then again when you get the motherboard. Just make sure you go to the Gigabyte website (I googled your motherboard model number) and make sure what you pick out is compatible now.

Or you could always wait just a bit and do the MB and graphics card together.