8800GT & PCI express 2.0 Mobo

weenerdog

Junior Member
Jun 1, 2005
15
0
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I'm ready for a new system build and am leaning toward an AMD X2 processor (socket AM2) and the 8800GT. The GT sports that fancy new PCIe 2.0. It seems like it would be prudent to pair it with a PCIe 2.0 MB, but now I'm reading that only Intel has a PCIe 2.0 chipsets , and I was thinking a NForce chipset might lead to better, uh, 'karma'. I'm surprised this isn't discussed in any of the 8800GT reviews; they slam 'em in a system and benchmark 'em.

If PCIe 2.0 isn't really required for bandwidth, why put it on the card and, presumably, increase the cost for no technical benefit (well, maybe the marketing dept won)?

So, any definitive links / answers on 2.0?

Thanks!
 

AnotherGuy

Senior member
Dec 9, 2003
678
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I think PCI-E 2.0 is only a higher bandwith link nothing else... so if a pci-e card will need higher bandwith than yes it will benefit but right now I dont think we are close to the limit of pci-e 1.1 or even 1.0...so there should be no difference at all between a pci-e 2.0 and a regular Pci-e 1.1 motherboard.
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
There's no reason to opt for an Nvidia chipset for an Nvidia GPU. Suppose you choose to replace the GPU in the future and at that time you prefer an AMD or Intel GPU? Oh noes bad karma. Anyway, if expecting to replace the GPU at all within a few years then it would be better to have PCIe 2.0.

PCIe 1.x was not required outside of the niche multi-card market which has not exactly been flawless. In any case, it was a transitional spec to get the industry converted for the future. The future starts now with PCIe 2.0 ;)
 

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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IIRC, a while back nVidia announced that their chipsets had some kind of new feature whereby the PCI-E bus would automatically be overclocked when an appropriate nVidia video card was installed. Anandtech may have written a short article on this. I don't think this "feature" actually improved performance by a noticable amount, and I certainly don't know if it still exists (and works). IMO it was just a marketing gimmick.
 

sutahz

Golden Member
Dec 14, 2007
1,300
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My opinion is that a single card solution is better then a dual card solution. If you got 1.8x or so boost, awesome, but you don't. But that does'nt address the OPs question.

No, PCI-e 2.0 is as much marketing as SATA-II/300. OK, no data drive (HDD/SSD) can even saturate 133MB/s, let alone 150MB/s or even an unheard of 300MB/s. RAID0 you say... thats acutally only useful in some specific applications, but thats off topic. Nothing is limited by PCI-e 1.x, at least no video card report that i've read. PCI-E 2/3.0 is future planning which is good, but not req'd right now.
I read an article sometime ago that paired AMD video cards w/ nVidia chipsets and nVidia video cards w/ AMD (and Intel?) chipsets. There was no penalty for using the "other guys" video card. I have a 8800GT on a P35 mobo, and my scores are on par w/ everyone elses... So if you think pairing a nVidia video card w/ a nVidia chipset will give 'good karma' then you also believe in SLi certified hardware(RAM!!!) and a RaptorX certified case... ...
Yes PCI-E 2.0 isnt req'd, but its on the card for the same reason hdd's are sata-II, because 'THEY CAN', and ppl like to see hardware sporting the newest technology. Like retards who complain raptors (which are a complete ripoff) arent SATA-II, like it f'n matters.
Im babbling, slap that 8800GT on whichever mobo you choose!
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Yes, PCI-E 2.0 is better than 1.0 because, uh, because 2 is a bigger number than 1, DUH!

Lower end SLI is still on PCI-E 8x and lower end Crossfire has one card on PCI-E 4x. I don't think PCI-E 2.0 will add much in the near future except for potentially doing away with SLI/Crossfire bridges.