How do I get to know the PCIe version on my Motherboard?

Question

The motherboard doesn't have anything written. Are there any alternative methods to find which version of PCI-Express my slot supports?

I am looking for an upgrade and I want to add a PCIE gfx card

Solution

The support page you linked in the comments doesn't specify the PCIe version number, only the format (x16). Any PCIe graphics card will fit in there (see also this question) as the different PCIe versions are backwards compatible. Looking at the age of the motherboard, this is most likely PCI Express version 1.0 or maybe 1.1.

You can read about the differences between them on this wikipedia article.

Should you decide to upgrade, make sure you check:

1. If your computer's power supply can handle the new graphics card in terms of power and power cables.
2. The new card will fit in your computer case, as some of the new mid- to high end cards tend to be quite big.

But to answer the question: check the product's manual. There is no other way to physically detect the PCIe version, although some manufacturers might print the version number on the board itself.

Comments

[Ramhound]

You would have to base it on the physical appearence of the PCIe slot itself. Unless you provide us information about the motherboard this cannot be solved by anyone except you.

[Siddhartha Sinha]

@Ramhound bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/… ( about 90 % sure ) .... otherwise Motherboard -Manufacturer ECS -Model Alhena5 -Chipset Vendor ATI -Chipset Model RS400/RC400/RC410 -Chipset Revision 01 -Southbridge Vendor ATI -Southbridge Model SB600 -Southbridge Revision 00 -BIOS -Brand American Megatrends Inc. -Version 5.14 -Date 04/11/2007

[Siddhartha Sinha]

and i didnt understand ur point of knowing it from the physical appearance

[Siddhartha Sinha]

it is actually 16 x that i can confirm of..... but what is the pcie version 1.0 , 1.1 , 2.0 ....?

[Siddhartha Sinha]

any way to confirm this??..... actually i was looking for ATI 5000 series cards /// and they are all 2.1 .. and i have seen threads where it causes problems with 1.0 or 1.1 ..unfortunately there are no bios updates for the mobo

[pleinolijf]

The motherboard is not very recent, as you still have regular PCI expansion slots. This, together with the fact that HP's support page doesn't list the version, leads me to believe that the PCI Express slot will be one of the first generations. Some manufacturers print the PCIe version on the board itself, maybe you can check that ?

[pleinolijf]

Well, looking at the PCIe history, you can deduct which (major) version it is by looking at the year you bought the board. If it's before 2007, it most definitely is v1.x

[Siddhartha Sinha]

thnk u for ur help...yes it was bought in between 2006 - 2007 ...it most probably has 1.0 or 1.1!