[thingie2]

On all the motherboards I have been looking at say they have "PCIE x16" slots, however most of the Gfx cards I have been looking at say they can use "PCIE 2.0" or "PCIE 2.0 x16" slots, are these the same or do I need to be looking at more expensive motherboards for the PCIE 2.0 slots?

May sound a little stupid and obvious, but I want to make sure

Thanks

[Macmac508]

PCI 2.0 is designed for the latest graphics adapters, but your card will only run with marginally better performance in a PCI 2.0 than a PCI x16.

They are both the same size slot, the difference is PCI 2.0 offers more bandwidth. A PCI x16 isn't going to affect your gaming performance by a noticeable amount.

[thingie2]

Even for me new Nvidia cards coming out? because I will probably get one of those with my new build

[Macmac508]

Well, unless i'm wrong, there arent a full list of specs out for the 9000 series card, but seeing as PCI2.0 is a fairly new advance i'm assuming x16 will not hinder your performance much. The PCI x16 has more than enough bandwidth for these cards, you may find and increase in performance but it won't be substantial.

Don't blow your budget on a PCI2.0 board if you dont have to is my advice.

[thingie2]

ok, well I'll take a look at price differences

[thingie2]

truens out they are over twice the price I was going to pay, so I think I'll stick with PCIE x16

[link590o]

the difference with PCI-E 2.0 and PCI-E 16x is that 2.0 doubles the bandwidth, and increases the voltages running through the slot. this actually WILL make a noticeable difference. technically if it is a 2.0, it will be running at twice the speed in that type of a slot than in a 16x.

my suggestion? see if you can balance the price of your build out enough to allow for a 2.0 card.

[thingie2]

Wrong topic

[Carbon]

The best thing about 2.0 boards is that you know that you'll have two x16 lanes, period. No "x16 and second slot in x4 or x8" BS. It saves a lot of time looking for SLI boards.

running at twice the speed in that type of a slot than in a 16x

Not exactly - can video cards even saturate x16?

[Klunk]

lol. Of course they can. But all the same, Get the 2.0 Board for the reason Carbon specified. It angers me so much that x16 boards are generally only ONE x16 slot. =/

[link590o]

weird issues like that sometimes make you wonder what the designers were thinking.

they're already trying to appeal somewhat to gamers. so why make a design that limits performance?

i'm glad they finally found it in their heart to eliminate that crap. but it's not like it makes a difference for most because 90% of users aren't going to go sli because the benefits are outweighed by the specifics need to obtain them. a monitor that supports high resolutions, 2 of the same moderately expensive card, a motherboard to hold them and run them both at 16x, cooling good enough to keep them from exploding, a beast of a power supply...too costly for minimal gains.

[thingie2]

Originally Posted by link590o but it's not like it makes a difference for most because 90% of users aren't going to go sli because the benefits are outweighed by the specifics need to obtain them. a monitor that supports high resolutions, 2 of the same moderately expensive card, a motherboard to hold them and run them both at 16x, cooling good enough to keep them from exploding, a beast of a power supply...too costly for minimal gains.

that's why i won't be going SLI Costs to much and I only have a 19" and a 17" monitor (a little strange having 2 different sized monitors for a duel monitor set up, but I have got used to it) and if i did go SLI, I would need an 800W PSU atleast, and the one I will be getting for my new build will only be 620W and costs enough with the rest of my build. Can't afford to spend £100+ on a PSU