We have an emachine w3400 and need and new video card but don't know if it is PCI standard or PCI express how do i find out?

Check the sound card to see if it says it is PCI or PCI Express. If its PCO Express you will need a PCI Express port on you motherboard to use this card. Unfortunately you cannot add a PCI Express port to the motherboard. If you don't have you you will need to upgrade your motherboard to use this card.

Your system supports PCI Express x16. So look for a compatible video card which should atleast have 512mb of video memory.

This is eMachines Support, and the specifications page for the eMachines C6535 desktop computer,

http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=Desktops&subcat=C%20Series&model=C6535

Scroll down the list until you come to the Video heading.

You'll see - PCI Express (PCI-E x16) slot available

This means you have a PCI Express x16 graphics slot on the motherboard, and it is open, and available.

You can use a PCI Express graphics card.

Two things I would like to note.

1) You need to check the System Requirements of the PCI Express graphics card you're going to buy, and see if your System Resources are able to support it.

The main thing you need to look for here, is what power is required for the graphics card.

Does your Power Supply have the necessary Wattage?

Not only does your Power Supply have to be able to deliver the necessary power for the computer system resources (Processor, Ram Memory, etc), it also has to be able to deliver enough power for THAT graphics card.

Since eMachines Support doesn't list the power of the Power Supply, I searched online for a Power Supply replacement for the C6535.

Seems the C6535 comes with a 300 Watt power supply.
Problem is, back in the day the C6535 was made, power supply manufacturers were 'Fudging' the true maximum Wattage, that their power supply's were truly able to deliver.

A more realistic figure, is 70 percent of the maximum rated Wattage stated.
This would be 210 Watts.

Therefore, you're going to need a better power supply, to support any of the really decent PCI Express graphics cards out there.

2) PCI Express came out in 2004.
PCI Express is a technology.

The PCI Express technology has gone through three major changes, or upgrades, since it came out.

A) PCI Express 1.0 version
B) PCI Express 1.1 version
C) PCI Express 2.0 version

PCI Express graphics cards now, are made in the PCI Express 2.0 version.

You can use a PCI Express 2.0 graphics card in a computer with PCI Express 1.1 technology.

PCI Express 2.0 is Backward Compatible with the PCI Express 1.1 technology.

Your computer uses the PCI Express 1.1 technology.

If you use a PCI Express 2.0 graphics card in a computer with PCI Express 1.1 technology, you won't get the full capability of the PCI Express 2.0 graphics card.

Will you notice?
NO
We haven't begun to fully use all the bandwidth of the PCI Express 1.1 technology yet, much less PCI Express 2.0

(PCI Express 3.0 technology is just around the corner, and getting ready to be used on newer graphic cards. Marketing strategy)

Have any further questions concerning this, please post in a Comment.
JCV

Information on PCI Express,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

The Peripheral Component Interconnect or more commonly known as PCI is a standard for connecting a lot of devices inside your computer to extend its capabilities. Devices like sound cards, modems, NIC, TV Tuners, and some video cards have at some point or another have used the PCI port.
PCI express ( PCI-E ) is a much improved version in terms of speed. PCIe uses a serial interface instead of the old parallel interface used by PCI. It also utilizes individual buses for each of the devices connected to it instead of a shared one like what PCI uses. The difference in speed is quite huge when comparing the standard PCI slot which runs at 133MB/s to a 16 slot PCIe that can send or receive up to 16GB/s.

The most common use for PCIe nowadays is with graphics cards which benefits hugely from the huge bandwidth provided by the interface.
1. PCIe is much faster compared to PCI.
2. PCIe uses a serial interface while PCI uses a parallel interface.
3. PCIe speed is classified into lanes, each capable of delivering up to 1GB/s data transfer.
4. PCI slots are standardized while PCIe slots vary depending on the number of lanes the slot is intended for.
5. Despite PCIe superiority, most manufacturers still use the PCI standard for their devices.

Unlike PCI slots which are the same size for all devices, PCIe slots can differ depending on which form factor it accepts. The longest would be the 16 lane slot and understandably, the shortest is for the x1 devices.

I hope this much information is enough for you to understand the difference between both of them. If you need any more help let me know.. !

1. check your video card it may not be seated in the pci slot provided on the mother board or it may have lost the driver set. This will require a re-install of the video card. If the video card is on the mother board this will require another video graphic card to be install via the pci slot or pci express graphics slot compatible with your PC.

yes you can use a AGP or PCI video card install the driver and enable the monitor in your video settings, also ensure you remember to enable the tv setting in your video card properties.

go to the system set up usually F2 or F10. it will state it as soon as it starts up. check in onboard devices. I don't know exactly how your system setup looks like but I know to disable it it in their.

No it does not have an agp port. IT has a PCI Express Port for video cards. Its much better and faster.
Details on your machine and what it has can be found at this link. Hope it helps.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2912877&CatId=2643

That particular model has PCI-Express slot for optional upgrades. So if you decide to upgrade the graphics look for anything with a PCI-E label or PCI-Ex16. If you do get a new card make sure to disable the onboard graphics in the system BIOS prior to installing new card. Instructions can be found via google search

The 5260 has differant types of motherboards.
You can read about the differances below: If your sure its a PCI slot that you want than this should make a differance - Visiontek Radeon X1300 Video Card -256MB GDDR3 Lifetime Warranty!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2467314&body=WARRANTY#tabs

Info about the Emachine 5260
http://www.gennersales.co.uk/recovery/emachineupgrades.htm#eMachines_5260_Computer_Upgrades