does mobo limits choice of gpu? (2024)

...another dumb question from a ignorant noob LOL

in general, does a mobo limit the choice of a new gpu?
if mobo runs an intel cpu or amd cpu, does it need a specific gpu?
what database must i look at, on my mobo before chosing a gpu?
what is Gddr4, 5, 6, 6X ? is it related to my ram DDR4? thanks!

soundzen said:

in general, does a mobo limit the choice of a new gpu?

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in general. not really. vast majority of GPUs will be x16, and much much less often some lower spec GPUs will be x8. This value is how many PCIe lanes they utilize electronically. However, every GPU I know of is physically x16. That means their "blade" (likely not the correct technical term) is always sized the same, but electronically, some only use 8 lanes instead of all 16 available to that PCIe slot. any motherboard you would be buying as a consumer would have at least one x16 slot so fits any GPU really

the brand of CPU does not impact what GPU you can use

soundzen said:

what is Gddr4, 5, 6, 6X ? is it related to my ram DDR4? thanks!

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a PC has system RAM, which if buying new now-a-days, the latest and greatest is DDR5 but many motherboards are still being sold with DDR4 RAM slots too.
if you're talking about VRAM, video RAM, that is the RAM on your GPU. they normally will have faster RAM compared to your system RAM, so it's fine to have a motherboard with DDR4 and a GPU with GDDR6X.
so no GDDR4, 5, 6, and 6X is not related to system RAM like DDR4. they are different components, on different pieces of hardware that make up your system. though they both serve similar purposes. one is RAM for your system, what the OS and processes running will utilize, the other is RAM exclusively used by the GPU

soundzen said:

...another dumb question from a ignorant noob LOL

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A question is only dumb if you never actually ask it!

soundzen said:

in general, does a mobo limit the choice of a new gpu?

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In general, no.
Only specific application motherboards might have slots that could condition your choice, but in the general sense, no.

soundzen said:

if mobo runs an intel cpu or amd cpu, does it need a specific gpu?

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It does not. It's actually the other way around, some AMD or Intel CPUs actually require an additional GPU, because those lack integrated GPUs.
The old notion that you had to match AMD with AMD/ATi Radeon, and Intel with nVidia was based on early-internet misinformation.
Much like the comparison that a Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.2GHz had the same performance as a Pentium 4 running at 4.4GHz.

soundzen said:

what database must i look at, on my mobo before chosing a gpu?

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Just the specification sheet in detail. If it lists a PCI-e slot with the width of x16 (or 16 lanes), you're good to go for the great majority of the graphics cards on the market.
If it is less, check if it is the case for the physical slot as it might be smaller and only some cards will fit. However in most cases, it will be physically x16, but electrically x8 or less.
That is more the case for expansion cards (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Sound, etc.), though.

W1zzard did a good brief explanation of it here, as well 'scaling' which matters for performance: PCI-e Express scaling

(EDIT: Also, not to confuse you, but some graphics cards on the market might show a full PCI-e slot physically, and actually be configured for 8 or less lanes, meaning electrically x8. So nothing beats reading specifications sheets for all the hardware you're looking for, to be honest.)

soundzen said:

what is Gddr4, 5, 6, 6X ? is it related to my ram DDR4? thanks!

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That would be the "iteration" of the DDR standard for Graphics Memory and while it follows a similar reasoning to regular DDR RAM, both are not related in any other way.

Well, if you hadn't started your thread by acknowledging that you are a noob, my response may have been somewhat critical....

However, since you did & I wasn't, I'll just say that the only DUMB questions are the ones you DON'T ask....and the answers skizzo & Jp gave are spot on !

And FWIW, EVERYONE was a noob at one time, so the learning process of building/buying a computer and/or becoming familiar with it's inner workings is one that demands curiosity, as well as a little technical know-how, and the only way to gain that is through practical experience, so therefore: WELCOME THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF the PEECEE, heeheehee, and ask away... if 1 person here doesn't have an answer, someone else will..

It can.

Pairing RTX 3xxx with processor/mobo/chipset before 10th or 11th gen Intel can be BIOS limitation you won't overcome. Even then it might not be possible to get resizable BAR working.

nomdeplume said:

It can.

Pairing RTX 3xxx with processor/mobo/chipset before 10th or 11th gen Intel can be BIOS limitation you won't overcome. Even then it might not be possible to get resizable BAR working.

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That does not limit the choice. It limits the performance which, in turn, limits the desired outcome if it was to be the full potential.
But nothing stops you from doing that combo, which is a choice.

_JP_ said:

That does not limit the choice. It limits the performance which, in turn, limits the desired outcome if it was to be the full potential.
But nothing stops you from doing that combo, which is a choice.

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I'm not entirely sure if Z270/Z370 mobo can. H370 cannot.

nomdeplume said:

I'm not entirely sure if Z270/Z370 mobo can. H370 cannot.

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Z170 can run 30 series cards. Pretty sure z97 can too.

Edit, yes they can. You can go onto 3DMark results and look up pairings that people ran.

nomdeplume said:

It can.

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The question was, does it limit the "choice". The answer is no AS LONG AS there are no physical limitations due to size. Some µATX motherboards may have components mounted in such a way as to interfere with very long graphics cards. If the µATX board is mounted in a SFF (small form factor) case, even the case may be a problem for a very large card.

The bigger concern, typically, is power. Many cards are very power hungry, even more so than CPUs.

This is a pretty good read on the subject: Graphics Card Compatibility – Here’s How To Check [Easy Guide] (gpumag.com)

soundzen said:

does a mobo limit the choice of a new gpu?

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So long as the motherboard has a full x16 PCIe slot, no.

soundzen said:

if mobo runs an intel cpu or amd cpu, does it need a specific gpu?

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No, choosing either AMD or Intel doesn't impact GPU compatibility.

soundzen said:

what is Gddr4, 5, 6, 6X ? is it related to my ram DDR4? thanks!

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GDDR is similar to DDR memory but optimized for graphics workloads. GDDR is a type of VRAM located directly on the GPU. DDR4 is a type of RAM that's used as main system memory. The easiest way to think about it is GDDR = GPU memory, DDR = system memory.

_JP_ said:

That does not limit the choice. It limits the performance which, in turn, limits the desired outcome if it was to be the full potential.
But nothing stops you from doing that combo, which is a choice.

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Yep, I feel it's unnecessary to confuse a beginner with a bunch of edge cases anyways.