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pci express x8 vs x16

B

beginner99

Diamond Member
Hi,

regarding the Lynnfield article I asked my self wether to go for an i7 or the cheaper lynnfield plattform. Since the Lynnfield chipset only supports x8 mode in SLI/crossfire I was wondering what the performance difference is in modern cards between x8 and x16 mode.

Another Question is regarding the dual-gpu cards. In what mode do they run? always x16 or depending on mobo/chipset.
Or always in x8 since they share 1 slot?
 
In Lynnfield (i5) they will run x8/x8 and for Bloomfield (i7) they run x16/x16. It will matter with the GTX 280/4870x2 and above. Check this link in CPU's. http://forums.anandtech.com/me...erthread=y&STARTPAGE=8

Dual GPU cards share the lanes for the slot yes. You could buy i5 and use a dual GPU card and have the same bandwidth as i7. Or you can have 2 cards with i7, or 4 of course. 🙂 Dual GPU cards have a price premium over 2 of the regular cards. 295 vs. 260 SLI is maybe 10% speed difference yet 260 SLI is $150 cheaper, which you can use to pay for the motherboard. 260 SLI might use a little more power and you need enough power connectors-- the only drawbacks.

That's how I see it anyways. Plus the dual GPU card will run out of bandwidth more quickly since it shares lanes instead of having dedicated lanes for each card. So I think i7 is a better value if you ever consider going XFire/SLI. If they make a G300 GX2 one slot won't have enough bandwidth, depending on the game of course, especially at 2560, and to a lesser extent, at 1920.
 
keep in mind they are pci-e 2.0 slots.

so x8 pci-e 2.0 is like x16 pci-e 1.0.

I doubt it will be a noticeable difference on i5, unless say you tried to run dual 4870x2s.
 
Originally posted by: hans007
keep in mind they are pci-e 2.0 slots.

so x8 pci-e 2.0 is like x16 pci-e 1.0.

I doubt it will be a noticeable difference on i5, unless say you tried to run dual 4870x2s.
Click to expand...

This. Unless you're running very hungry dual-GPU cards, I don't think you will saturate even x8 link width with PCI-e 2.0, so the difference will be negligible.
 
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