PCIe x16 vs PCIe 2.0 x16

disinfertention · 06-16-2008, 03:02 PM

I know 2.0 is better then regular PCIe x16 as it doubles the amount of data transfered... or something along those lines =p

My question is this. I have 2 x16 slots on my Motherboard, or at least one due to having a 7800GTX in there right now. I read that they are forward and backward compatible. So if I buy a PCIe 2.0 x16 video card and install it on my computer it should work correctly? Or am I better off getting a card that is made for x16?

I know it doesn't matter unless I get a new board, but will the performance difference be significant compared to a 2.0 slot?

I'm figuring that if I just buy a 2.0 card if I happen to update my board/processor sometime in the near future my card will be ready to go for it.

Here are the specs for my current system.

ASUS A8N-SLI N-FORCE 4
ATHLON 64X2 3800
Nvidia 7800GTX
650Watt Power Supply
MS XP SP2

Thanks for your help in advance.

disinfertention · 06-16-2008, 05:18 PM

I ended up finding my answers. If anyone has anything to recommend, go ahead =)

Thanks! I'm sure I'll be back.

**Aus_Karlos** · 06-17-2008, 12:49 AM

At this time you will get the same performance from a PCI-E 2.0 card if it was in either slot. They havn't got a card that is able to utilize the potential bandwidth 2.0 has to offer.
Im running a 9800GX2 in a PCI-E x16 slot and ive had no problems nor performance issues.
I think the bandwidth on both slots are almost the same.

06-16-2008, 03:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
disinfertention Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP SP2	PCIe x16 vs PCIe 2.0 x16 I know 2.0 is better then regular PCIe x16 as it doubles the amount of data transfered... or something along those lines =p My question is this. I have 2 x16 slots on my Motherboard, or at least one due to having a 7800GTX in there right now. I read that they are forward and backward compatible. So if I buy a PCIe 2.0 x16 video card and install it on my computer it should work correctly? Or am I better off getting a card that is made for x16? I know it doesn't matter unless I get a new board, but will the performance difference be significant compared to a 2.0 slot? I'm figuring that if I just buy a 2.0 card if I happen to update my board/processor sometime in the near future my card will be ready to go for it. Here are the specs for my current system. ASUS A8N-SLI N-FORCE 4 ATHLON 64X2 3800 Nvidia 7800GTX 650Watt Power Supply MS XP SP2 Thanks for your help in advance.

06-16-2008, 05:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
disinfertention Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP SP2	Re: PCIe x16 vs PCIe 2.0 x16 I ended up finding my answers. If anyone has anything to recommend, go ahead =) Thanks! I'm sure I'll be back.

06-17-2008, 12:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 1,803 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit My System	Re: PCIe x16 vs PCIe 2.0 x16 At this time you will get the same performance from a PCI-E 2.0 card if it was in either slot. They havn't got a card that is able to utilize the potential bandwidth 2.0 has to offer. Im running a 9800GX2 in a PCI-E x16 slot and ive had no problems nor performance issues. I think the bandwidth on both slots are almost the same. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest