PCI-E 16x but 8x/8x?

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bigstusexy

2[H]4U
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Jan 28, 2002
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I bought a new Video card but it isn't working to well in my motherboard and I think its because it is only PCI-E 2.0 4x So I'm looking for a new one. I'm kind of keeping a mind out for possible Crossfire possibility in the future and I wanted to know if what I'm seeing will be an issue.

I'm seeing lots of 2x PCI-E slots at Single x16 or dual x8/x8. Will that be an issue or do most cards function properly at x8 instead of x16?
 
The cards will function fine, but testing has shown that modern cards can be performance hindered at higher resolutions and graphical settings because of the restricted bandwidth.
 
Thanks, I was thinking as much but I wasn't sure, especially since I was looking at open box items and NewEgg has a ton of x16 or x8/x8 boards, I just know my current x4 doesn't play nice with my new card.

Most likely I'll never do crossfire but if I do I'll know what to expect. Thank You.
 
I haven't updated that in years sorry. Right now I'm running an

C2D E4500
ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2
With DDR 2

I created this system right after the one in the sig as a stepping system, the board was great, DDR and DDR2 APG and PCI-E except that the PCI-E 2.0 is only x4.

Just in case you are intrested these are what I'm looking at:
Single 1
Single 2

Dual 1
Dual 2
Dual 3

The card is a a 4670. All of this began as a cheap video card upgrade from a 9800 Pro so I could get HD video acceleration, while I'd love to go for a nice i7 920 the boards are just about as expensive not to mention new ram and I already plan to eventually retire this system as a media player/server in a year or so time.
 
For x16/x16, and since you're not interested in Core i7, I'd go for the X48 board (I don't trust Nvidia chipsets). If you're interested in something brand new and not open box, I spotted a Gigabyte X48 board on eWiz for a very nice price:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X48-DS5

Its only $30 more compared to the DFI (I'm a Gigabyte fanboy, so I'd prefer them over DFI anyway).

They also have a Foxconn X48 board for a similar price, also brand new:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X48
 
Thanks for the suggestions, have you ever ordered from superbiiz? I haven't checked their reseller ratings but I just saw that the foxconn you suggested is $199 at the Egg, doh DDR3

I think I'll try a power search and see what I get, I was leaning towards the x48 chipset if I went for two PCI-E slots the that foxconn was DDR2 and the same price I'd be sold. Thanks for all your help and suggestions.
 
cripes. 190 bucks for an x48 board that will depreciate faster than gm stock. buy a p35/p45 board if you want to overclock that e4500, or a super cheap matx board of the g31 variety if you just want the 16x pci-e slot. an x48 for a card like the hd 4670 doesn't make much sense.
 
If its PCI-E 2.0 8x/8x.... You wont see much of a slow down. I have two 4890's in crossfire in 8x/8x and runs just fine.
 
I'd just save the money and buy a $80-100 P45 single slot PIC-E mobo. Putting the saved money towards a new single video card is usually a better option at the rate video cards crease in performance and reduce in price. Crossfire HD4670 would run great on a 8x/8x PCI-E bus though, but most of the time your better off with a single video card anyway.

The only real time I see crossfire or SLI being useful is when using two near top of the line video card. So unless you plan to spend ~$300+ on video cards I would not bother with Crossfire or SLI.
 
with current games you wont see any slow down running x8/x8.. theres arent any games out there that can push a card to the bandwidth requirements for pci-e x16/x16.. heck they even showed what little difference there was running triple sli @ x16/x16/x16 on the P6T6 WS revolution..
 
Thanks everyone, I had ordered the Gigabyte board shortly after posting it as I wanted it quickly, its almost here actually. The only good thing about it is that I know I have the room for future upgrades. If I can drive 3 or more monitors+ on this that will be great for its retirement as a media center PC and with all its SATA ports and raid I'll fell better about using this board.

The way I justified the 180 price is that it comes with 4GB of ram which I wanted more anyway and I can tell the old PSU board and memory as a set.

I really wish I had time to read into all this stuff again.
 
what kind of memory does it come with. 4 gig of cas 4 ddr800 name brand memory with heat spreaders cost $50 these days. you might get 4 gig of ddr667 value memory which really isn't worth anything.
 
This is the ram, its listed on the page and if you put it into the cart it will show you.

Took me forever to get it in because its just so darned hot and no AC but once I got it in and on I was up in no time. I forgot to turn on AHCI but I'll do this when I think about it and the next blue moon I restart or shutdown.
 
that's a decent kit. i've bought several before. with a good cooler and a slight voltage bump to 1.35v your cpu should be able to achieve a 333mhz fsb for 3.6ghz.
 
That sounds very tempting, I might try it if I can ever get the darn card to stop crashing >.<

Perhaps its just the monumental heat in my room but AHHh
 
What about in the case of say a 4870x2 and AMD motherboards that clock down to 8x/8x.
Would the 4870x2 run at full 16x or clock down to 8x/8x since the 4870x2 is basically two cards?
 
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