How to Check if Your Motherboard Works With a New GPU?

Your ability to play newer game titles often depends on having a newer-generation graphics card (or GPU, short for graphics processing unit) to support them. However, if your current PC is a bit older, it’s unlikely you’re going to be able to an old graphic card with the best graphic cards out there.

Here’s how to check for motherboard and GPU compatibility so you don’t make an expensive mistake when ordering new PC parts.

Motherboard and GPU Compatibility With PCI Express

In general, the PCI Express standard, which was created all the way back in 2003, means that most modern motherboards and GPUs use standardized connection system – the PCIe. Particularly, the PCIe x16 slot is important here, as it’s the largest slot that’s become a mainstay of contemporary GPU design.

So long as your graphics card has a PCIe x16 slot, it should theoretically be able to accept any new card, regardless of the manufacturer and model. Specifically, the PCIe x16 slot running on the PCI 3.0 or 4.0 standard should have no difficulties accepting most cards, but older motherboards might run into performance issues when paired with newer GPUs.

For best results, check both the GPU’s and the motherboard’s specifications pages for matching PCI standards. The PCI 4.0 standard was released in 2017 and was adopted by AMD and both its motherboard and GPU products in 2019, soon followed by Intel implementations. Some of the newest graphics cards (at the time of writing) like the RTX 5090 use PCI 5.0 instead, but the theoretical output of the PCI 4.0 or even the 3.0 standard means that it will comfortably run on older cards so long it has an PCIe x16 slot to fit it in.

However, things start breaking down a bit if a card doesn’t use the x16 slot. For example, a card designed for PCI 4.0 x8 could start experiencing issues if the motherboard only has PCI 3.0 due to the halved throughput (as it doubles with each generation and slot size). Similarly, a motherboard might have a slot that physically looks like it’s x16, but it’s only wired for x4 or x8. This is common on older motherboards to allow them to accept larger cards, but can severely lower their speed.

Motherboard and GPU Compatibility Checker

If you want to be absolutely sure that your PC parts will match each other, you can use an online service for that. There are two great picks: PCPartPicker and PCBuilder.

Whichever option you choose, you can use the “Build a PC” service to insert the exact make and model of your PC parts, and the platform will provide a detailed response on possible compatibility standards. For the PCPartPicker, the platform will also display which slot is the most likely to accept the card.

Motherboard and GPU Compatibility – Other Parts

In more cases, however, the issue with the motherboard won’t be that it doesn’t accept the card, but that the card won’t fit into the case you have. Newer cards have gotten larger and larger, and PC cases needed to keep up with that despite the same connectivity standards.

To get the best estimate, check your case’s manual. In the much likelier scenario where you threw that away, use a tape measure. Check the maximum length of a card starting from the edge of the PCI slot you need to use and extend it to the first obstacle that a rectangular card might encounter. Then, subtract around 20 millimeters just to be sure and look into the GPU’s specifications to see if the size will fit.

Additionally, don’t forget to check if your power supply can handle the added load of a new graphics card. If your PC was built before 2015, its power supply likely lacks 8-pin PCI Express Graphics (PEG) connectors, which are required for many modern high-performance graphics cards. While a somewhat old PSU might be able to provide power to a PC with a brand new card in theory, this could only be true at a lighter load. For the best results, it’s recommended to get a PSU that has at least twice the capacity of the entire system’s power requirements.

Typically, when you’re trying to upgrade a PC, avoid having components that are more than five to seven years apart from one another, as it minimizes compatibility and power issues.