GTX 1080 PCI-e 2.0 vs PCI-e 3.0

[j03h4gLund]

I just bought a GTX 1080 to go into my system(see signature.) I also just realized however that my motherboard is only able to use PCI-e 2.0 with my i5 2500k. I could upgrade to an 3rd gen Ivy bridge to unlock the PCI-e 3.0 feature but is it worth it? How much of a performance loss will I have if I stay with the overclocked 2500k versus upgrading to a 3rd gen Ivy bridge?

This is a gaming rig, with primary games being GTA V and Ark:Survival Evolved.

Thanks in advance!

 

[nathanddrews]

The differences between PCIe slots are typically within the margin of error and not worth it. The difference between your 4.5GHz 2500K and a 3770K with a good OC, on the other hand, would be much more significant.

 

[LTC8K6]

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/#Conclusion

Conclusion
Our testing has pretty clearly shown that for gaming using either PCI-E 2.0 or PCI-E 3.0 will give you nearly identical performance. Oddly, in some benchmarks PCI-E 2.0 was actually faster than PCI-E 3.0. At the same time, x16 was not consistently faster than x8.

 

[j03h4gLund]

Please don't hijack this thread and turn it into an Intel vs AMD fanboy pissing contest. Thanks

 

[Phynaz]

^Huh?

Do you mean LTC8K6's signature?

 

[maddie]

A lot of games tested. Any improvement will come from the CPU upgrade.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080_PCI_Express_Scaling/

 

[j03h4gLund]

Awesome, thank you guys and yes sorry for thinking his signature was a flaming AMD fanboy's response XD My bad!

I'll deal with the 4-5% performance drop and squeeze as much as I can from this rig before splurging on a new one. This i5 2500k has got to be the most legendary CPU ever though... it's lasted forever... and I remember when you could get these chips for $50 like 7-8 years ago. Ironic how theyre priced at around $75 today. XD Thanks again for the replies!

 

[Carfax83]

As people have said, PCIe 2.0 16x isn't much slower than PCIe 3.0 16x, so no worries there. Your CPU and platform will definitely bottleneck your GTX 1080 though. As you said, the i5 2500K is a legendary CPU, but every dog has its day. Your 1080 will never reach its full potential with that system, compared to a more modern and powerful platform like the Z170.

 

[Jalseng]

What resolution are you playing at? 1080p or 1440p? If your fps are over 60 then don't worry about it, because the main factor now is your cpu.

 

[Smoblikat]

The differences between PCIe slots are typically within the margin of error and not worth it. The difference between your 4.5GHz 2500K and a 3770K with a good OC, on the other hand, would be much more significant.

By "much more significant" you really mean "actually noticeable at all in any way", I made the jump from a 2500K to a 3770K and noticed nothing from game to game, though I can run more in the background. If you already have a 2500K its not really worth it to buy anything else form intel at the moment.

 

[nathanddrews]

By "much more significant" you really mean "actually noticeable at all in any way", I made the jump from a 2500K to a 3770K and noticed nothing from game to game, though I can run more in the background. If you already have a 2500K its not really worth it to buy anything else form intel at the moment.

So you noticed nothing, except that you can do more at once. I'll see your anecdote and raise you real world data. ;-)

That said, the 3770K is going for about $150-200 used and closer to $250 new in some places. That's a hard pill to swallow for me - as a 3570K OC user - to swallow.

 

[Ranulf]

The only issue you might have is if your motherboard and video card don't talk to each other well. I've had issues with some older mobos running newer cards. My 2500k setup (in asrock p67 mobo) wasn't one of them though.

 

[Smoblikat]

So you noticed nothing, except that you can do more at once. I'll see your anecdote and raise you real world data. ;-)

That said, the 3770K is going for about $150-200 used and closer to $250 new in some places. That's a hard pill to swallow for me - as a 3570K OC user - to swallow.

Just because I could doesnt mean I ever do. As soon as I bought the chip I played around with running a bunch of servers, media encoding jobs, games, programs etc. at once to see what the extra 4 threads could do, after that I havent really done much that I couldnt do on my 2500K.

 

[nathanddrews]

Just because I could doesnt mean I ever do. As soon as I bought the chip I played around with running a bunch of servers, media encoding jobs, games, programs etc. at once to see what the extra 4 threads could do, after that I havent really done much that I couldnt do on my 2500K.

To each his own, I suppose. How much extra threadpower the OP needs, I have no idea.

 

[cbn]

I also just realized however that my motherboard is only able to use PCI-e 2.0 with my i5 2500k. I could upgrade to an 3rd gen Ivy bridge to unlock the PCI-e 3.0 feature but is it worth it?

Only 1% difference for PCIe 3.0 x 16 vs. PCIe 2.0 x 16 at 1080p:

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080_PCI_Express_Scaling/24.html