Do I have PCI e?
 

I need a new graphics card to work with a new monitor, LG Flatron L226W 22" LCD.)

I'm thinking ofr an nVidia XFX GeForce 8500 GT
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=P450-8666

The minimum requirements are:
* PCI Express x16 Slot
* 512MB System Memory
* Intel: Pentium 4/Celeron/Duo
* AMD: Athlon/Athlon XP/AM2/939/940
* PCIe: Compliant Motherboard: Intel/AMD Certified
* Minimum 350 Watt or greater power supply

I think I'm covered except that I don't know what PCI Express is and whether my motherboard has this.
It has PCI slots of course, but I don't know about PCIe.
How can I determine this?

What motherboard do you have? You should be able to google the specs and find out if it has a PCI-express x16 slot for graphics.

But generally, a PCI-E x16 graphics slot is at the top of the PCI slots and will be a little bit longer than a PCI slot. There may also be a couple of really short "PCI" slots. Those would be PCI-E x1 (most likely).

Anyway, I'd try to figure out what motherboard you have before spending any money on the graphics card.

So it would have just one PCIe slot and the others would be just regular PCI?
(ie not all PCI slots would be PCIe?)
Sounds like a stupid question, but if all the PCI slots look the same then it doesn't have PCIe.

Your board could have mixed PCI and PCI-e slots, but they wouldn't look the same. And chances are all the bottom slots would be PCI, and the PCI-e slots would be at the top. There's also AGP slots, which are an older standard. Some boards with onboard graphics don't have any extra video slots. That's why I said you need to figure out your motherboard. I think if you boot a linux live CD, you can try the command lshw and it should have your motherboard model #.

I think you should get to know your specifications clearly also , if especially the slot , if you do got a pcie slot then that card should be ok to you .

As pjvaldez asks, the answer to this question will determine whether or not a PCIe graphics card is compatible with your PC

See here for photo of the motherboard.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickeydog/1861805605/
The card at the bottom is the ethernet.
Then 2 PCI slots above that.
Then a black slot above those (graphics card removed).
Is this PCIe or AGP?

You have an AGP board so PCI-e is out for upgrading.

thank you ---------------------