Why buy a PCI-E 2.0 x16 GPU if not supported?

[PCNewb]

I currently have a Shuttle SP35P2-Pro which only supports standard PCI Express x16, not 2.0.

I'm forcefully in the market for a new video card, going from an Asus EN9600GT. I used this card to run games on high resolutions and it did fairly well.

I started looking at the Asus ENGTS250 model, but realized why buy such a high end card if the Shuttle's motherboard doesn't support it. Should I even bother with a 9600? or 3870 / equivalent?

Looks like I'd be back pedaling to the 9400 series 128bit cards for the "high end" supported GPU.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Sylvanas]

PCI-E 2.0 cards will work in a 1.0 motherboard- the same is true for 1.0 cards in a 2.0 motherboard.

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
PCI-E 2.0 cards will work in a 1.0 motherboard- the same is true for 1.0 cards in a 2.0 motherboard.

Yes. Don't worry about PCI-E 1.0 vs 2.0.

 

[PCNewb]

Thanks, I'm not so much worried about compatibility - its more of how much is the performance hindered if I buy a 2.0 capable GPU but is only utilizing 1.0. Does the performance of the GPU cut in half? Which I guess is why I was asking why buy a more expensive card, if you can only perform so high on 1.0.

Not sure if I worded that right :/ Thanks for the responses though.

 

[Stumps]

current PCI-E 2.0 cards aren't performance limited by a PCI-E 1.0 x16 slot, but the time is fast approching where they will be....much like the old days of PCI vs AGP etc.

the simple fact is every new Video card is PCI-E 2.0 complaint so you really don't have much say in the matter.

 

[brblx]

it's pretty much a non-issue. maybe with a 4890 or higher, i've never seen a high-end card benchmarked on pcie1.0. it's still going to be very far from a 50% reduction, though.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: brblx
it's pretty much a non-issue. maybe with a 4890 or higher, i've never seen a high-end card benchmarked on pcie1.0. it's still going to be very far from a 50% reduction, though.

maybe the high end dual GPU card's like a 4870X2 or 295 might have a slight performance penalty, but a single GPU card like the 4890 should be fine.

 

[PCNewb]

Good to hear, guess I shouldn't hold back on it then. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[dguy6789]

There's some website around somewhere that has benchmarks comparing 2.0 to 1.0. I think it was something like babelfish.com I don't remember exactly. Performance isn't impacted by much yet.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
There's some website around somewhere that has benchmarks comparing 2.0 to 1.0. I think it was something like babelfish.com I don't remember exactly. Performance isn't impacted by much yet.

You're probably thinking alienbabeltech. apoppin compared PCIe 1.0/1.1 to PCIe 2.0.
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=2249
(babelfish is yahoo's translator)

 

[error8]

You could have used the search option on these forums and find thousands of threads discussing this same thing over and over again.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: error8
You could have used the search option on these forums and find thousands of threads discussing this same thing over and over again.

I seriously doubt it....:laugh: