Has anyone installed a PCI-e 3.0 card on a PCI-e 1.x mobo?

[omoore28]

Hi there, new to the forum, but a long time reader of Anandtech .

My first post is one of near desperation! There seems to be so little information regarding this question.

I've read on many reputible websites that, yes, PCI-e is always/mostly backwards compatible.

However I'm considering purchasing a 7970. So I decided to email a few manufacturers regarding my concern. So far I have only heard back from Sapphire, that NO, this card will only work (at all) on a PCI-e 2.0 or above.

I am currently waiting on emails back from Asus, XFX and Gigabyte.

Note; this card/s will not be used for gaming purposes. In other words interconnective bandwidth isn't an issue for me.

Thanks.

 

[fixbsod]

It may but you could be wasting a lot of money.

 

[omoore28]

It may but you could be wasting a lot of money.

Hence the question.

To reiterate - bandwidth is not an issue, so the benefits of PCI-e 2.0 and 3.0 are completely redundant. It is simply a compatibility issue.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I put a water cooled 470 with a 1.x pent4 system and it was awful, but 3.0 is backward compatible in theory.

 

[nightspydk]

Okay here we go man.

All Pcie card are backward compatible except pci 1,0a also called 1,0, so yes every setup except that will work.

 

[omoore28]

I put a water cooled 470 with a 1.x pent4 system and it was awful, but 3.0 is backward compatible in theory.

It is a 2.0 card though am I correct? There seem to be no problems jumping ONE generation -> I.E. 2.0 card on 3.0, 1.0 on 2.0 etc.

 

[omoore28]

Okay here we go man.

All Pcie card are backward compatible except pci 1,0a also called 1,0, so yes every setup except that will work.

Right so basically it is very unlikely a 3.0 card will work in a 1.x slot?

thanks

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Yes 2.0, 3.0 should be no different.

 

[nightspydk]

No a 3,0 card might not work in a 1,0a slot and vice versa.

I've just had help on this very board from some ohmygood dudes in the same respect.

Then I had bios pci pipeline...

The point is it is not compatibel unless hacks, that is PCIe 1,0a and everythig else to be clear.

 

[omoore28]

No a 3,0 card might not work in a 1,0a slot and vice versa.

I've just had help on this very board from some ohmygood dudes in the same respect.

Then I had bios pci pipeline...

The point is it is not compatibel unless hacks, that is PCIe 1,0a and everythig else to be clear.

Is there a difference between 1.0 and 1.0a?

 

[nightspydk]

No it's just not really correct to call it 1,0. The right frase is 1,0a. 1,0 does not excist.

 

[omoore28]

No it's just not really correct to call it 1,0. The right frase is 1,0a. 1,0 does not excist.

Thanks you've been a great help. Looks like i'll have to update my mobo/cpu

 

[nightspydk]

Try your bios first.

You are welcome. I learn from the best.

To make it even more complicated. You will discover boards that do one card and not the next. That is especially apparent with 1,0a boards. So read and learn my friend. What cards do well what cards do not etc...

 

[omoore28]

Try your bios first.

You are welcome. I learn from the best.

To make it even more complicated. You will discover boards that do one card and not the next. That is especially apparent with 1,0a boards. So read and learn my friend. What cards do well what cards do not etc...

yeah, so try updating the mobo BIOS with the new card before buying a new system?

 

[Madpacket]

I'm running a 7770 (PCI 3.0) on an old Pentium Core 2 Duo e6300 / Asus board which I believe is 1.0 PCI for BTC mining. Works OK.

 

[omoore28]

I'm running a 7770 (PCI 3.0) on an old Pentium Core 2 Duo e6300 / Asus board which I believe is 1.0 PCI for BTC mining. Works OK.

Wow, interesting. What make is your card?

I have an Asus M2V motherboard, so i wonder if buying an Asus 7970 card would help my situation.

LTC mining is what I'm setting this rig up for, which is why interconnection bandwidth is irrelevant.

Did you have to update your motherboards BIOS?

 

[nightspydk]

yeah, so try updating the mobo BIOS with the new card before buying a new system?

Yep and listen to those guys who got the same board. That's all you can do right and send me a beer.

 

[taq8ojh]

I once heard 1.1 might be incompatible in specific cases due to some power supply problem from the slot or something... In theory 3.0 should be fully compatible, but you never know

 

[Madpacket]

I'm such a newb I can't get LTC mining working and I know it's around 3X the payout of BTC right now (not for long). Anyway, the motherboard is an Asus P5LD2 (http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5LD2/) which I got for free. In fact this entire rig cost me around 60 bucks. I didn't bother with a BIOS upgrade. Running Windows 7 64 bit with 4GB (3.2 shows up in the BIOS) of RAM.

I'm running a MSI 7770 video card running@ 1150mhz I got for super cheap after rebate and sold off the included bundle, cost me like 50 bucks.

Can you help me with getting LTC working?

Wow, interesting. What make is your card?

I have an Asus M2V motherboard, so i wonder if buying an Asus 7970 card would help my situation.

LTC mining is what I'm setting this rig up for, which is why interconnection bandwidth is irrelevant.

Did you have to update your motherboards BIOS?

 

[omoore28]

I'm such a newb I can't get LTC mining working and I know it's around 3X the payout of BTC right now (not for long). Anyway, the motherboard is an Asus P5LD2 (http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5LD2/) which I got for free. In fact this entire rig cost me around 60 bucks. I didn't bother with a BIOS upgrade. Running Windows 7 64 bit with 4GB (3.2 shows up in the BIOS) of RAM.

I'm running a MSI 7770 video card running@ 1150mhz I got for super cheap after rebate and sold off the included bundle, cost me like 50 bucks.

Can you help me with getting LTC working?

This is a great place to start for a complete newbie

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83371.0

it details solo mining, but once you get the grasp of it, pool mining is much easier.

basically you want the scryptwriter GUI (r10 if you can find it) then head on over to a pool mining site

for example http://pool-x.eu

sign up to them, on the top of the page click "Getting Started". they will provide you with the details you then put into the scryptwriter, ip/username(the same as on the site with a .1 after it) and a password, in pool-x i think it is "x".

then hit begin mining on the GUI and youre away! may take a minute or two to connect.

****also if using pool-x.eu, when putting their URL into the IP box in scryptminer, remove the "/" following the URL.

good luck and thanks for the little bit of confidence regarding the gcard.

BTW what Mhash/s do you get with that setup?

Also, there are other miners available, CGminer for example, which is cmd based. they can be a bit trickier to set up, but there are plenty of tutorials to start you off in bitcointalk.

 

[omoore28]

oh, and youll also need an LTC wallet, i havent got a link for it, but search around for litecoin-qt wallet

 

[Madpacket]

oh, and youll also need an LTC wallet, i havent got a link for it, but search around for litecoin-qt wallet

Thanks soo much, I just haven't had the best luck searching for LTC newbie guides. Much appreciated. I get around 170MH/s with Windows 8 and the latest Catalyst drivers installed for BTC on my 7770. I know with older drivers and windows 7 I was able to achieve around 230 MH/S so I'm hoping to use this rig for LTC mining.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I did and it worked. Used a GTX 670 on my Abit IP-35 Pro which was PCIe 1.0a

 

[omoore28]

I did and it worked. Used a GTX 670 on my Abit IP-35 Pro which was PCIe 1.0a

Good to know, thanks. Any update to your motherboard's BIOS?

Think I'm just going to go ahead and buy the card, if it doesn't work the rest of the rig is only another £80.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Good to know, thanks. Any update to your motherboard's BIOS?

Think I'm just going to go ahead and buy the card, if it doesn't work the rest of the rig is only another £80.

The last update was like 4 years ago or more. Abit doesn't exist currently. PCIe was designed to be fully backwards compatible. So 3.0 works in 1.0 and 1.0 works in 3.0 etc