Doubts with a FM2 processor and the PCI-E 3.0 slot.

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MOS_6502

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May 2, 2014
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Hello.

I have a A8-6500, and I want to use a discrete video card, but on the manual of this motherboard states that I have:


  • ■ 1 PCI Express x16 slot and it says that "PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 3.0 standard" and also says "To support PCI Express 3.0, you must install an FM2+ APU (I suppose that this is the PCI-E 3.0 slot?)
    ■ 1 PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) and also says "The PCIEX4 and PCI Express x1 slot conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard" (and on this one the PCIEX4 is the 2.0 one?)

My first doub: the first one of that list is the PCI-E 3.0 slot, and the second one is the 2.0 one? also, it says that PCIEX4 can accept x16 but it works at x4 speed, this is correct? If I throw on it a recent x16 card, it will work but at x4?

With that said, here are the main doubts: nowadays the cards sold in the market are PCI-E 3.0, and this motherboard, if I understand correctly, have one PCI-E 3.0 at X16 and another one at 2.0 and X4. The A8-6500 is a FM2 processor, and not an FM2+ one, then, it would be correct to use the X4 2.0 slot for a 3.0 card or can I use the 3.0 slot with this same processor?.

I say this because I don't know if the APU detects the 3.0 slot and "set it to 2.0" automatically or the card itself, as it should be backwards compatible, it will work even in this situation, but I don't know what will happen if I throw a PCI-E 3.0 card on the 3.0 slot using a FM2 processor.
 
Solution
Onus
Yes, the slot will be PCIe2.0. The performance difference between that and PCIe3.0 is very small, particularly since your APU would bottleneck a more powerful card anyway. A R7 260X is probably a decent match for that chip.
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Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
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The primary slot will be PCIe2.0 x16 with a FM2 APU like yours, and PCIe3.0 x16 with a FM2+ APU installed. The secondary one will be PCIe 2.0 x4 no matter what APU is used.
You will not want to run Crossfire with these slots. First, x16/x4 Crossfire is not optimal, and second your APU really doesn't have the horsepower to run a powerful Crossfire configuration; you'd do better with a single more powerful card in the x16 slot.
 
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M

MOS_6502

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May 2, 2014
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Hello, thanks for the response.

So, it's automatically done? With this FM2 processor already seated in the motherboard, the PCI-E 3.0 slot is now a 2.0 one?. By other hand, many thanks for the Crossfire hint (and with this info I will avoid future problems), but I was thinking on a R7 260X, or maybe other card with more power, I still have not decided
 
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Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
Yes, the slot will be PCIe2.0. The performance difference between that and PCIe3.0 is very small, particularly since your APU would bottleneck a more powerful card anyway. A R7 260X is probably a decent match for that chip.
 
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Solution
M

MOS_6502

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May 2, 2014
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I see, thanks. Yes, and I think that the R7 260X will be the one I will choose in the end, thanks again for the advice.

I picked your response as the solution. Thanks!.

 
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Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
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89,965
You're welcome! Enjoy it; my tests on an even more modest CPU (X4 5350) and comparable GPU (GTX750Ti) suggest that your setup should be reasonable capable (mine may turn out to be just "sufferable," in which case I might use a G3258 or i3-4130T with the same graphics card).
 
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