Regarding PCIe

[Raelz]

I've been really out of the loop recently, but I have a few questions and usually the H community has been the best to go to in times of need.

Basically, I have a box here that is running an Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA Motherboard. This board supports both AGP and PCIe. I cannot seem to find out whether it is PCIe x1 or x16. I am leaning toward it being x1, but I haven't been able to find out.

I tried going to: http://www.asrock.com/mb/vga.asp?Model=4CoreDual-VSTA , but it's still not clear whether I can use a x16 card, or just x1.

Does my motherboard support x16 PCIe or just x1?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RussianHAXOR]

Im trying to figure out what you're looking at right now... im pretty sure they did this for a reason.

This link says

"1 PCIe x 4"

and again "It can be clearly seen the difference in performance of a 4x PCIe vs 16x PCIe"


Thats a really weird board you've got there... its an intel board that supports a QX6700 with AGP on it as well as a 4X PCI-E SLOt.... very weird.

 

[Raelz]

Im trying to figure out what you're looking at right now... im pretty sure they did this for a reason.

This link says

"1 PCIe x 4"

and again "It can be clearly seen the difference in performance of a 4x PCIe vs 16x PCIe"


Thats a really weird board you've got there... its an intel board that supports a QX6700 with AGP on it as well as a 4X PCI-E SLOt.... very weird.

Yeah, purchased this board specifically due to financial constraits at the time. It allowed me to use my AGP video card, as well as my DDR Ram without issue, and allowed me to upgrade both when I was able.

I am aware of the PCIe 4x standard, but does that mean I cannot use a 16x card? I see barely any 4x cards, but I'm assuming 1x cards would work no problem?

Are 16x cards backwards compatible? In other words, if I got a 16x card, would it just lose the performance of a 16x and run akin to a 4x?

Any help is appreciated ^^

 

[Hazaro]

Yeah, purchased this board specifically due to financial constraits at the time. It allowed me to use my AGP video card, as well as my DDR Ram without issue, and allowed me to upgrade both when I was able.

I am aware of the PCIe 4x standard, but does that mean I cannot use a 16x card? I see barely any 4x cards, but I'm assuming 1x cards would work no problem?

Are 16x cards backwards compatible? In other words, if I got a 16x card, would it just lose the performance of a 16x and run akin to a 4x?

Any help is appreciated ^^

Yea, it's just not running at 16x bandwidth, it's running at 4x.

Your card is gonna be slowed down.

 

[Raelz]

Yea, it's just not running at 16x bandwidth, it's running at 4x.

Your card is gonna be slowed down.

Thanks! That is exactly what I wanted to know. Now, just one more thing if you don't mind? While this question may sound stupid, I am wondering if the 16x PCIe card will be significantly faster than my AGP 8x? I know it will be fast, but will the slowdown on the card adversely effect it's performance, aside from the obvious hardware limit of my motherboard?

 

[RussianHAXOR]

Depends on what AGP card you have in relation to your PCI-E card... if your PCIe card is a 6800 and your AGP card is a 7950gt AGP then your AGP will be faster. AGP doesnt have nearly the bandwidth that PCI-E does plain and simple, and it allows for much faster videocards.

 

[Raelz]

Depends on what AGP card you have in relation to your PCI-E card... if your PCIe card is a 6800 and your AGP card is a 7950gt AGP then your AGP will be faster. AGP doesnt have nearly the bandwidth that PCI-E does plain and simple, and it allows for much faster videocards.

Right, that's what I figured! Just...been awhile so, making sure I ask all the stupid questions possible. I have an x850 right now, going to upgrade to a 1950GT or possibly the 2k series for futureproofing. Right now I'm averaging very stable FPS in most games, with 2xAA and Mid-High on all texture and model resolution settings. I can't wait to see what I can do once I get the PCIe card.

Thanks guys, been a huge help