Need some help about PCI-E 2.0

[MisterE12]

I currently have a Asus Maximus Formula motherboard and run a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. I just recently purchased a EVGA GTX-280 and noticed that it runs PCI-E 2.0 spec. I can not find anything about my motherboard running PCI-E 2.0 so I assume it runs 1.1 or whatever the first spec is. Would I benefit from upgrading to a motherboard that can run 2.0 spec? Probably something likehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284

Next question is about memory. I run Vista 32bit and know there is a 4gb memory limit. I run 4gb of ram, (2x2gb) and the video card is 1gb. I am assuming windows is only using 3gb of memory, correct? Would 64bit Vista be a viable option from here on out?

Thanks for the help.

 

[bigdogchris]

As long as it's in an PCI-E 8x slot, you're fine. No cards are bottle necked by a 1.1 bus. That won't happen for another couple years. However, they can be bottlenecked on a 2 or 4x interface.

 

[cornelious0_0]

even 4x heavily bottlenecks a GTX2xx card.

PCI-E 2.0 8x is the rough bandwidth equivalent to PCI-E 1.0 16x so you don't really have to worry, the big thing with PCI-E 2.0 is allowing more bandwidth through to multicard setups with todays hardware being more and more bandwidth hungry.

My DFI Lanparty Jr P45 mATX board for example only runs at 8x, but it's a 2.0 slot so there's no issues bandwidth-wise.

People aren't right to complain if their motherboard does 1 card @ 16x and 2 cards @ 8x if they are 2.0 slots, as they're losing no real performance.

 

[Zero82z]

I currently have a Asus Maximus Formula motherboard and run a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. I just recently purchased a EVGA GTX-280 and noticed that it runs PCI-E 2.0 spec. I can not find anything about my motherboard running PCI-E 2.0 so I assume it runs 1.1 or whatever the first spec is. Would I benefit from upgrading to a motherboard that can run 2.0 spec? Probably something likehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284

Next question is about memory. I run Vista 32bit and know there is a 4gb memory limit. I run 4gb of ram, (2x2gb) and the video card is 1gb. I am assuming windows is only using 3gb of memory, correct? Would 64bit Vista be a viable option from here on out?

Thanks for the help.

First question: PCI-E 2.0 is fully backwards-compatible with PCI-E 1.1 at this point, so a PCI-E 2.0 card will work fine in a PCI-E 1.1 board and vice-versa without experiencing any performance deficits. With that said, the Maximus Formula is in fact a PCI-E 2.0 board, so you're good either way.

Second question: Yes, the fact that you have a video card with 1GB of memory will reduce the amount of system memory the OS can draw on. Vista x64 would certainly be a good option for you. I personally switched over with my latest build and I haven't had any compatibility issues, in addition to the fact that the OS is overall more responsive and I have access to all of my RAM.