Can every Graphics card fit in any Motherboard?
Maybe, you want to fit your new graphics card into your old PC, or you are building a new PC. But, you are not sure that what graphics card will fit in the motherboard. So, do every graphics card fit in any motherboard? Not all, but most of the latest graphics cards can fit in almost every motherboard, and an older graphics card can fit in a new motherboard. But, in what cases GPU can’t fit in a motherboard.
So, in this article, we’ll see what graphics card will fit in the motherboard.
Look for the PCIe x16 Slot in the motherboard
First, you have to check if there is a PCI Express x16 slot or not. There are many PCI express slots in the motherboard, such as PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8 But in which we fit the graphics card is the PCIe x16 slot. Every graphics card will fit in the PCIe x16. In the image below, you can have an idea how a PCI express x16 slot looks like.
If you can’t open your PC case or you can’t check the motherboard, then how can you check if there is the PCI Express x16 slot or not?
You can easily check it by software like CPU-Z
How to Check PCIe X 16 slot with GPU-Z
1. Install “CPU-Z” software in the system in which you want to check the slot.
2. Open “CPU-Z” and select the Mainboard menu, and in the graphic interface section, check the Link Width and Max supported; if it is “x16,” then it means your motherboard has a PCI Express x16 slot.
Who to check PCIe x16 slot without installing any software
1. In the Windows search menu, search “System Information.”
2. Check the “Baseboard product and manufacturer.”
3. Search the Specs of your motherboard on the internet For example our motherboard model is ASUS B85M-E, So I’ll search “ASUS B85M-E PCI Slots” on the browser or you can check complete specs.
4. In the Specs, check if there is a PCIe x16 slot or not.
5. Some motherboards have two or more PCIe X 16 slots, So if it says 2x or 3x PCI express X 16 slots, then it means your motherboard has more than 1 PCIe x16 slot.
What is the most accurate method?
The most accurate method is to check the motherboard and see if there is any PCIe x16 slot. I found this method more easy and accurate. I only use the methods mentioned above when I can’t find the tools to open the PC Case. If you are okay with downloading CPU-Z software then you can also check other things too Like the PCIe version, Link speed, Motherboard model, etc.
Do all graphics cards fit in the PCIe x16 slot
Yes, all graphics cards can run with the PCIe x16 slot, But if your motherboard is very old and comes with a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, but the graphics card that you want to fit in the motherboard requires PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, then there will be some drawbacks. Because the latest graphics card like RTX 3060 or 3070 requires PCIe 4.0 x 16 slot.
What happens if we fit a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface GPU with a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot motherboard
If you pair that GPU with a motherboard that has PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, then the graphics card can’t provide its full power.
To check the GPU bus interface, just search your GPU specs and look for Bus interface; if it says PCI 4.0 x16, then it means you need a motherboard that should have a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.
Reason
The speed of the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot is 5 GHz, and it can’t transfer data that fast and can only handle 8 GB/s total bandwidth. Now, what does that means? If a graphics card like Nvidia RTX 3060 or RTX 3070 that requires a PCIe 4.0 x16, then the motherboard can’t handle the power of these graphics cards, and you’ll notice frame drop. Pairing motherboard with PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with a PCIe 4.0 GPU will cause almost 4% performance loss, less or more in some games. You can expect more frames drop when paired with a PCIe 2.0 motherboard.
The PCIe 2.0 is twice faster than PCIe 1.0, and the PCIe 2.0 is twice slower than PCIe 3.0; you can have the idea.
It is recommended to use the required PCIe x16 slot with a graphics card To have the best experience.
Conclusion
Yes, you can fit any graphics card in every motherboard if the motherboard has a PCI Express x 16 slot. If the motherboard doesn’t have PCIe x16 slot, then you can’t fit GPU in it.
If you’ll pair the old motherboard with a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot with a new graphics card with a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, it may limit the graphics card’s performance. So, It is suggested to use the recommended motherboard with the graphics card.
