PCIe 2.0 compatibility with PCIe 3.0

[Interloper11]

I currently have an "ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard" in my PC, and I am purchasing a "SAPPHIRE 100352-2L Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card" to replace an old 4870 graphics card.

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131404
graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006


Question: the motherboard has a PCIe 2.0 x 16 slot, but the new graphics card is PCIe 3.0 x 16. Will there be compatibility issues or will the motherboard just bottleneck the graphics card?

 

[ViRGE]

You will be fine. PCIe is backwards compatible, so a 3.0 card would work just fine in a 2.0 slot.

As for whether you see any bottlenecking, it's unlikely. PCIe 3.0 is far enough ahead of the curve that if anything bottlenecks you it will be the CPU rather than the bus.

 

[Interloper11]

Many Thanks ViRGE! Good to know it will work. Now I just need to turn on my patience and wait the 2-3 days for it to arrive.....