Is a GTX 660 on PCI 1.0 wasted?

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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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I want to upgrade the GPU to make one of my PCs more of a gaming rig.

Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2H ; E6500 3Ghz, 4GB DDR2, 1680x1050 native display; currently with GT240 GPU; 400w PSU

Would a GTX 660 be overkill (ie, bottle-necked by PCI 1.0, etc.)? My budget is about $200 and the GTX 660 looked reasonable.

Playing Skyrim, SC2, Civ V, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, Witcher 2
 
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iam2thecrowe
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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GPU-Z says PCI-E 1.1x16@4 and the user manual and site just say "1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x 4"
 
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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Thanks :D but am I going to see anything significantly better than the existing GT 240 or could I get a card for $50-$100 less that will be as good as the bottlenecked GT 660? I don't mind a bit of bottleneck but if I'm crippling the 660 which will then only be useful with a new mobo/cpu then I think I need to look at something lower powered (e.g., GT 640?).
 
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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I can't get at it right now to see the rev, but on the site they only show 1.0 and 1.3 and both appear to be PCIe 1.x.
 
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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The whole spec line says PCI-E 1.1x16@4. So the "x" part looks like 16. EDIT: OK, got it only 4 lanes are hooked up .... Ugh. Let me think about this whole thing a bit ...
 
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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Ok, this is similar to what I'd thought I had read elsewhere that the PCIe 1.1 might not be a huge limitation on the GPU. Then it would seem to come down to the CPU (as you indicated). Of course if I'm going to upgrade the CPU then might as well throw in a new mobo and I've now built a new system.

Is there any tool/technique for a given system to tell where the bottlenecks are (cpu, PCIe, gpu, memory, etc.)? Right now I just look at the WEI and if the numbers are all about the same, I figure the components are fairly matched as to performance. The system I'm trying to tweak up with a new GPU to a better gaming machine is win7: 6.4 6.4 6.6 6.6 5.9.
 
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iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

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Jul 4, 2010
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To determine a bottleneck, play a game at the native resolution of your monitor and the detail settings the way you want them and look at your performance. Now drop the only the resolution (not the in-game settings) to something really low like 800x600 to lower the load on your gpu. if performance increases dramatically, then you have a gpu bottleneck. If there isn't so much of a change, then your cpu is the problem.
 
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Bruce Benson

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May 11, 2013
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10,510
Thanks everyone. I'm may still get the 660 just to see how it does with pcie 1.1 and later upgrade the mobo. I did switch some equipment around so I now have a Core 2 Q6600 Quad on the PC, so my WEIs now look like 7.1 7.1 6.6 6.6 5.9 (the 660 reportedly gives a 7.8 for graphics). If I do get the 660 I'll post back here on what the actual performance looks like (passmark, game settings/fps).
 
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