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Best GPU for my limited PCIe 1.0 interface

Tags:
  • GPUs
  • Bandwidth
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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November 18, 2013 1:13:36 PM

I've been trying to hunt down some GPU PCIe bandwidth specs but have been coming up short. I have a laptop from '09 (sager NP9280) with a GeForce 280M, its good enough... however I need 3 monitors and the matrox triplehead2go doesn't work well with it (no dual link dvi or vga, so adapters make the display blurry and unusable) My next step is a vidock which allows me to use my expresscard 1.0 slot with a desktop GPU. the max bandwidth on this slot is 2.5Gbits... so pretty much every card out there is going to be overkill... what I'm looking for is something on par or better than the 280M I have but with the ability to drive three 1920x 1080 monitors... anyone know how much stress an nvidia GTX 480 does to the PCIe bus? My other question would be, can I use my 280M with a different desktop GPU (like the 480) for multiscreen gaming? or do I need to stick to one GPU outputting to all 3 monitors for that to work?

More about : gpu limited pcie interface

November 18, 2013 1:42:21 PM

Well using that Slot you should be able to use any GPU you want but the higher GPU you go you will lose some performance from the card.. Also using 3 Screens is going to really beat up that GPU so I would go for a higher end GPU like a 570+, 660+, or a mid range 700 Series Card. You might be able to use the 480 with 3 Screens but for gaming I wouldnt think it would to well since your Laptop is going to be the bottleneck of it all...
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November 18, 2013 1:42:43 PM

Using a GTX480 through an expresscard slot is a total waste of a GTX480.

2.5Gbits = 320MB/s

PCIE 1.0 X16 has 4GB/s = 4096MB/s

4096 / 320 = 12.8

So that 320MB/s is 12.8 times less bandwidth than a PCIE 1.0 X16 slot has. A GTX480 can oversaturate a PCIE 1.0 X16 slot.

There is simply not enough bandwidth for any card worth a crap to function correctly over expresscard.

For multi display, you could use some type of USB video out to drive one screen while the laptop drives the other two.

For multiscreen gaming, you need a new system.
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November 18, 2013 4:41:41 PM

ish416 said:
There is simply not enough bandwidth for any card worth a crap to function correctly over expresscard.

For multi display, you could use some type of USB video out to drive one screen while the laptop drives the other two.

For multiscreen gaming, you need a new system.


yeah I understand I'm pretty limited, expresscard would be slightly better than USB 2.0, so lets say I do go the expresscard option with something small, like a GeForce 9400... is it possible to run something not intensive like kerbal space program in a window across 3 monitors? or does the dissimilar video card on that one monitor prevent that option?
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November 18, 2013 5:14:06 PM

In games each display must share the same graphics card. For Windows desktop, it doesn't really matter.

Also, you have to have a GTX260 or better for triple monitor gaming on one card wit Nvidia - http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/3dvision-sur...

Or an AMD 5400/6400 or better - http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/amd-eyefini...
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November 18, 2013 6:18:30 PM

ish416 said:
In games each display must share the same graphics card. For Windows desktop, it doesn't really matter.

Also, you have to have a GTX260 or better for triple monitor gaming on one card wit Nvidia - http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/3dvision-sur...

Or an AMD 5400/6400 or better - http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/amd-eyefini...


ish thanks... it looks like some variant of the 295 GTX can support 3 monitors by turning off internal SLI... still trying to google around to see if that is the case... my aim is 3 monitors at 1920x1080 for my desktop res...
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