PCIe 2.0 and 3.0

[PC Beginner]

I am confused with these slots. My question is, in order to use PCIe 2.0 or even 3.0, do i need a CPU that supports it? or do i just need a motherboard and GPU that supports it and not the CPU? Also, Does a system with a GPU, CPU, and Motherboard support of PCIe 2.0 fully use the x16 slot at 16gb/s transfer rate or is only using x8?

 

[gary1]

I am confused with these slots. My question is, in order to use PCIe 2.0 or even 3.0, do i need a CPU that supports it? or do i just need a motherboard and GPU that supports it and not the CPU? Also, Does a system with a GPU, CPU, and Motherboard support of PCIe 2.0 fully use the x16 slot at 16gb/s transfer rate or is only using x8?

The motherboard and CPU combination need to support it. For example, I have PCIe 3.0 on my board, however, since I have Sandy Bridge, I am still limited to PCIe 2.0 speeds.

Nothing uses 16gb/s yet, I don't think even 7970CFX or 680SLI can even get that yet. So don't even worry about it.

 

[unksol]

Nothing uses 16gb/s yet, I don't think even 7970CFX or 680SLI can even get that yet. So don't even worry about it.

PCIE 2.0 is 16GB/S for 16 lanes. A 680 or 7970 can approach this limit.

PCIE 3.0 is 32GB/s for 16 lanes. this will be useful in crossfire/SLI which can often reduce each GPU to 8 lanes. this would allow each GPU to still have 16GB/s. You don't really need PCIE 3.0 yet, but it may have a use when running several GPUs as the CPU only supports so many lanes.

 

[PC Beginner]

PCIE 2.0 is 16GB/S for 16 lanes. A 680 or 7970 can approach this limit.

PCIE 3.0 is 32GB/s for 16 lanes. this will be useful in crossfire/SLI which can often reduce each GPU to 8 lanes. this would allow each GPU to still have 16GB/s. You don't really need PCIE 3.0 yet, but it may have a use when running several GPUs as the CPU only supports so many lanes.

So does crossfire/sli in PCIe 2.0 also reduce the lanes of each GPU to 8x?

 

[gary1]

So does crossfire/sli in PCIe 2.0 also reduce the lanes of each GPU to 8x?

Depends on the motherboard. Higher end boards will be able to do x16/x16, while most boards are x8/x8.

 

[PC Beginner]

Depends on the motherboard. Higher end boards will be able to do x16/x16, while most boards are x8/x8.

Oh, Ok. I thank both of you for answering my questions.

 

[PC Beginner]

Best answer selected by PC Beginner.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey