What is the correct GPU slot for my card?

RohitS · Oct 26, 2014

I am buying a GTX 970 for which nvidia website soecifies that we need a PCI-e 3.0 slot, so that means I need to buy a mobo with 3.0 slot? would 2.0 work? What is the difference?

barto · Oct 26, 2014

A PCIe 2.0 will work. The difference is simply 3.0 is the newer, faster version of PCIe. However, PCIe 2.0 hasn't really been fully utilized by a single GPU. You'll be fine with a 970 in a 2.0 slot.

Vexillarius · Oct 26, 2014

2.0 and 3.0 are fully compatible, in both directions. 3.0 has double the bandwidth, but there are (almost) no cards that max out even 2.0 @ x8, so that's nothing to worry about.

EDIT: Something to look at concerning the effect of PCIe lanes and bandwidth: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/

TheDualshock · Oct 26, 2014

PCIe 3.0 cards are backwards compatible with PCIe 2.0 slots. A 3.0 slot doubles the bandwidth of the previous generation and at the moment, PCIe 2.0 x16 isn't even saturated yet. PCIe 3.0 motherboards would obviously be future proofing but it is not necessary right now.

Guest · Oct 26, 2014

2.0 will work. it's all backwards compatible. although, PCIe 2.0 has about half the bandwidth of 3.0. BUT, with 1 single card it won't make a difference since, more than likely, you wont saturate the PCIe bus with 1 single card no matter what motherboard/CPU you have.

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What is the correct GPU slot for my card?

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