PCI 16x and 8x wtf?

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by kingy1213, Jul 30, 2008.

  1. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    i have a GA-M559SLI-S5 it has two pci express 16x and one 8x now im goin 2 sli my g card

    - do i use the 2 16x speed slots

    - wot can i do with the 8x speed slot can i ad a physics card?
     
  2. goodswipe

    goodswipe Guest

    What is that, a mb? I googled it and nothing came up. I'd use the 16x slots. Why use the the 8x slots which would give you a slower speed?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 30, 2008
  3. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    No, it's two 16x slots, but they're only 16x when you use one. If you use both, they both run at 8x, limitation of the chipset.

    Also, don't add a physics card, they're completely useless.
     
  5. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    sam,
    2 PCI Express x 16 slots
    1 PCI Express x 8 slot
    2 PCI Express x 1 slots
    2 PCI slots
     
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Ah, my mistake, forgot about that motherboard.
     
  7. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    sry about the typeo

    Should i SLI my Galaxy GeForce 9600GT? because if it slows it down 2 8x i dont like the soud of that?

    Wot can i do with the other 8x slot?
     
  8. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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  9. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    No, I was thinking of a different board. In all honesty though, if you want more graphics power, you would be better off selling the 9600GT and buying something faster like an HD4850, it alone would be faster than the pair of 9600s.
     
  10. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    would that b better value?
     
  11. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Yes, the HD4850 is an incredibly fast card.
     
  12. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    my card and the hd4850 are both 512mb

    GPU
    - Galaxy GeForce 9600GT 650/1800MHz AU $125

    - Hightech ATI HD4850 1986/625Mz AU $200

    it does no look like its worth it?
     
  13. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    There's more to graphics cards than memory. Since the 9600GT costs $125, you can probably sell your existing one for around $100 I'd say. That puts you only $100 down to upgrade from a 9600GT to an HD4850, the latter is actually as fast as two 8800GTs, let alone lowly 9600s.
     
  14. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    wot about a Leadtek Winfast PX8800GT ZL its $200

    - than i can sli it later

    is there a web site that tests Gcards

    wots PCI Express 2.0? does my MoBo have this? GA-M59SLI-S5
     
  15. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The HD4850 is not far off twice as fast as the 8800GT, and is equal in performance to TWO 8800GTs in SLI.

    Here's a chart I posted:
    On this list the 8800GT combination scores 878 in SLI titles, and the 9600GT combination scores 774 in SLI titles. You might think the HD4850 is therefore hardly worth bothering with, but bear in mind SLI only gives you performance benefits in the games that support it, and that isn't every title out there, far from it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2008
  16. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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  17. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    PCI express 2.0 is a new version of PCI express that offers even higher bandwidth than the previous 16x slot. It can only be made use of by brand new graphics cards like the HD4000 series and GTX200 series, but doesn't yet offer very significant gains. As long as you have a 16x slot that runs at that speed (not 8x or 4x) you will be fine, even if it isn't PCI express 2.0 compatible.
     
  18. kingy1213

    kingy1213 Regular member

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    ok dude u have convinced me 2 buy a HD4850
     

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