Will a pcie 3.0 GPU work in a 2.0 slot?

SniffySnoo

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I've recently discovered AMD CPU's are considerably less in price than Intel CPU's and the AMD mobos that i am looking at don't have pcie 3.0 slots for GPU's like the Radeon series. All I need to know is, will the 3.0 GPU's work in a 2.0 slot on the mobo?
 
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Performance is the same. PCIe 2.0 x16 = PCIe 3.0 x8.

Andrew Buck

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Nope, you are fine with that card. I have the 270X and am running at x8 3.0 because of the Z97 chipset, which is equal to your PCI-E 2.0 x16, and my cards are both higher end and overclocked. Far. You are fine.
 

SniffySnoo

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How much less is the performance at x8 3.0?
 

Andrew Buck

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Performance is the same. PCIe 2.0 x16 = PCIe 3.0 x8.
 
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SniffySnoo

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So even the card I put a link to will work? And also could you give me a suggestion on a motherboard? I'm also using an AMD 6300 cpu -------> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286 so I need an AM3+ socket.
 

Andrew Buck

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Yes, the card will. What budget do you have for the mobo?
 

SniffySnoo

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I'm sorry I couldnt respond, I had to leave. Uhhhhh my mobo budget is about $120.
 

Andrew Buck

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The ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 is a good board, but has some little issues and bugs, I would go with the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3.
 

SniffySnoo

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So is this a good setup? CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514&cm_re=Gigabyte_990FXA-UD3-_-13-128-514-_-Product GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127769&ignorebbr=1 Or should i get a Nvidia GPU?
 

SniffySnoo

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I really thank you for all your help, like seriously, this is my first time building a pc and I just want it to be perfect. I might just go with the MSI GPU that I put because I have a budget, and I might also get one of the MSI Gaming series motherboards. But again, thank you for your help, I appreciate it.
 

Andrew Buck

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Alright, it is great. I have 2 of the 270x's from MSI, awesome performance.
 

marshal11

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Perfect for the price man. Nvidia GPUs are a bit overpriced at the moment for what they deliver. The only suggestion I would have is save up another 100$ and get a r9 280, but don't get a 270x, which is just a stupid product. The 270x is the exact same as a 270, it just has a very slight overclock. When both cards are overclocked to the limit, there isn't a single damn difference between the two. So the next step up would be a r9 280, such as this if you like the MSI one specifically: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127789&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-127-789-_-Product or this is you don't really care and want to save money: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121867&cm_re=r9_280-_-14-121-867-_-Product both are amazing cards. I have a MSI twinfrozr cooler myself on my GTX 680 Lightning, very awesome cooler, though the ASUS DCUII is just as good.

As for PCI, even the highest end GPUs, such as a 295x2 running on PCIe 2.0 x16 would only lose about 5% performance at most. A 780 would probably run on PCIe 2.0 x8 (3.0 x4) just fine.
 

Andrew Buck

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Not telling him to get a 270X, just saying I use them.
 

SniffySnoo

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I just have one more question. Will a 600w power supply be able to support all of this? If you don't know the answer that's ok but I just wanted to see if it will work. Thank you.
 

marshal11

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It's okay I wasn't accusing you of anything :) And as long as it isn't a cheap, crappy one, you're fine. It's not about the wattage, it's about how many amps on the 12v rail and how well the unit can live up to it. For a 6300 and r9 280/r7 270, it will take one damn crappy PSU to not be able to support even a r9 280x and a 8350. Just look for a not so pricey PSU around 600-650w that is 80+ bronze at least and has decent reviews on newegg. You don't by any means have to spend a ton of money on the top of the line 600W PSU either, just make sure it has decent reviews and isn't a crappy logisys or something like that. But even my system which is in my signature (bottom right of my comment) uses A LOT more power than your possible systems and it never pulls more than 550w from the wall, which is even less power for the PSU because of the AC to DC power conversion. You will be fine. I'm ranting now.

TL;DR: Don't get a crap PSU, and 600W will be more than enough to support your system even with crazy overclocks.