Flallen

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I have a question regarding the PCI Express 2.0 x16 interface. I searched this forum, but all I found was part of the answer I seek.

My mobo only has PCI Express x16 slot. Most of the 8800GTS cards are PCI Express 2.0 x16.

My first question was Will the card work in a mob that doesn't have 2.0 slot? and several threads here already answer that yes, it will.

My second question was What am I giving up (performance wise) by not having a mobo with a 2.0 slot?
 

sabot00

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It will work but the performance will be reduced. Make sure you have a PCI-express 2.0 compatible motherboard to fully enjoy the 8800GTS's capabilities.
 

invisik

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yes there backward compatible so u can use a 8800gts on a pcie x16. I dont see y u would use pcie 2.0 its bandwidth advantage is barely being used with a 8800gts, but if ur looking for a new mobo try finding one with pcie 2.0 if not a pcie x16 is more then enough. pcie 2.0 r a little expensive just get a x16 and spend more money on a better graphic card rather spend more money on a pcie 2.0.
 
It will work but the performance will be reduced by up to 7%. I wouldn't worry about that, but it's still better to get a mobo with PCI 2.0. Your next video card will be more powerful than the 8800GTS and will lose a lot more in a PCI-E 1 slot.
 

dagger

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Yep. People get x38/48 for the higher fsb for ocing, not the pcie2.0. Graphics cards today aren't powerful enough to make old pcie1.1 a bottleneck. In a few years, it may change though.
 

B-Unit

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bull**** on a stick http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-2-0,1915-10.html

If you have an SLi setup that gets limited to 1.1 8x per slot, you MIGHT see some bottlenecking. If you intend to only run a single card, PCI-E 1.1 will do just fine for the foreseeable future.
 
@OP: OK, let's compare the GA-P35-DS3L and the GA-X38-DS4 for example. The price difference is about $120. Paying that much more just for PCI-E 2.0 is not worth it IMO. But, on the other hand, the GA-EX38-DS4 gives you more SATA ports and two video card slots and RAID, i.e. it's much more future-proof. You also get FireWire, eSATA, more cables, etc. Consider all the features before you decide, OK?
 

dagger

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Faster fsb is the main reason. Everything else is secondary. :p