PCI-express ATI cards

[tiebird321]

first question is PCI expres refered to by mobo makers as PCI-X or is PCI-X different?

rest asumes they are one and the same

with the new PCI-express ati cards, are we going to be able to use them in an existing system that has PCI express slots? will the mobo support them nativly like a normal PCI or AGP card or are they going to require bios updates?
also have any dates been set for availability of the x600 with PCI-express, i'm putting together a workstation/dv editing/ game machine centered around the tyan Thunder K8QS (S4880)
http://www.tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8qs_spec.html

it does not have an AGP slot on it, but since it has dual independent PCI-X buses i figured it would do quite well with a X600pro/XT or an X800SE (if it ever exists)

gaming is going to be limited i more want the horse power of the quad processors to do dv compression.
i'm going to be running XP 64bit,
and when AMD releases the dual core chips i sudenly have an 8 way system

thoughts? responces?

 

[oVerCaffeinated]

first question is PCI expres refered to by mobo makers as PCI-X or is PCI-X different?

No, PCI-X is just a faster version of the normal PCI and comes in a 64bit flavour. I think it's mostly used in servers.

 

[Elledan]

PCI: 32-bit, 33 MHz parallel bus;
PCI-X: 64-bit, 66, 100 or 133 MHz parallel bus;
PCI-E(xpress): serial bus.

So basically, PCI-X is PCI on steroids, whereas PCI-E is something entirely different (at least from a form factor perspective). It's like comparing PATA with SATA.

 

[tranCendenZ]

Check this out, new article.

Yeh, I know its the inquirer but they have pics of the core

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16651

Looks like first gen PCI-Express on both Nvidia and ATI cards will be using AGP bridges and won't really benefit much over AGP 8x. So if you are interested because of a performance standpoint, not sure it is worth waiting, as you probably would get the same speed from an AGP system... By the time you want to upgrade past this year's graphics cards, there will probably be a new CPU socket or something else you want in a mobo

 

[gordon151]

Check this out, new article.

Yeh, I know its the inquirer but they have pics of the core

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16651

Looks like first gen PCI-Express on both Nvidia and ATI cards will be using AGP bridges and won't really benefit much over AGP 8x. So if you are interested because of a performance standpoint, not sure it is worth waiting, as you probably would get the same speed from an AGP system... By the time you want to upgrade past this year's graphics cards, there will probably be a new CPU socket or something else you want in a mobo

I'll put that up there with nVidia's claims that NV40 is cheaper to produce than R420.

 

[creedAMD]

FUD sucks

here's a post by Hanners at another forum that I think clears it up:

I had to register to comment on this, simply because I'm so shocked at the sheer quantity of FUD coming out of nVidia right now.

Let's get this straight - ATIs PCI Express products do not use a bridge chip. They are all designed with a native PCI Express interface.

What nVidia are probably looking at in their X-Rayed image (which begs a whole other question of why nVidia are X-raying ATI cores...) is a product of how ATI go about creating PCI Express and AGP variants of the same core - It is actually something that was touched on here.

Basically the part of the core that houses the interface to either the AGP or PCI Express bridge is a 'separate' unit - Thus, with a minor revision to the core an AGP bridge can be swapped out for a PCI Express one, and vice versa. That does not make it a bridge chip, simply a more elegant solution for creating AGP and PCI Express variants of what is otherwise the same core.

At the same time, NV45 is not a native PCI Express solution. It has a bridge chip included on the die, as has been captured on photographs by the likes of Anandtech.

By the way, if anybody has this document and feels that it needs a more public airing, then feel free to get in touch with me and I'll happily host it on my site.