Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > HD3850 Looking to buy question, PCI Express 2.0?

HD3850 Looking to buy question, PCI Express 2.0?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - HD3850 Looking to buy question, PCI Express 2.0?

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
cbarsenal   12-21-2007 at 10:54:46 AM

Hi,
I built my first machine in september 06 with the following specification below. Im looking at upgrading some of the components one being the graphics card. Looking at the HD3850 some of the manufacturers state this as PCI Express 2.0. I have a ASUS M2N-E motherboard which in the manual states 1 PCI Express slot X16 it doesn't state the exact specifcation. Can someone please tell me if this card runs in a normal PCI express X16 slot or if there is anyway i can check if my slot is PCI Express slot is 2.0 compatiable. I've checked the ASUS site etc but can't find nothing.

AMD AM2 X2 4200 prcoessor
1GB (533MHZ) DDR2 Ram
550W Power supply
Nvidia Geforce 7600 GT
160GB Sata II Hard Disk
16X NEC DVD Burner.

Also although i will look at VGA charts does anyone think the performance difference from 7600GT to HD3850 will be a massive leap in fps on games such as Call of Duty 4, Crysis etc?

Many Thanks For your help.

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
cfvh600   12-21-2007 at 11:33:23 AM
- 0 +

Your HD3850 will be backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.
Quote from Wikipedia:

Quote :

PCIe 2.0 is completely backward compatible with PCIe v1.x, so graphic cards and motherboards designed for v2.0 will be able to work with v1.0 and vice versa.[5] According to Anandtech:

The transition to PCIe 2.0 won't be anything like the move from AGP to PCIe. The cards and motherboards are backwards and forwards compatible. PCIe 1.0 and 1.1 compliant cards can be plugged into a PCIe 2.0 motherboard, and PCIe 2.0 cards can be plugged into older motherboards. This leaves us with zero impact on the consumer due to PCIe 2.0, in more ways than one.

------------------------------ AMD4200+X2 S939,Albatron KM51G,2 x Corsair CMX1024-3500LLPRO,8800GT 512MB,Thermaltake TR-2 500,WD 250GB SATAII 16MB,Soundblaster Live! 24-bit
 Reply to cfvh600
jaydeejohn   12-21-2007 at 11:47:12 AM
- 0 +

The contacts on the PCI slot doesnt vary from PCI1 to PCI2, just the bandwidth. All PCI cards will fit in ANY PCI (4X or greater ) slot. Any PCI2 card will work with a PCI1 board/slot.

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
 Reply to jaydeejohn
systemlord   12-21-2007 at 02:14:47 PM
- 0 +

PCI-E 2.0 has double the bandwidth from 8GB to 16GB between the CPU and also doubles the power draw from 75 watts to 150 watts. Even the mighty 8800Ultra doesn't come close to using all the bandwidth of PCI-E 1.0, its more to do with power to the graphics card. I don't believe that even the so called 9800GTX could utilise all of the bandwidth of PCI-E 1.0. Its better to have these new standards in place for when the technology becomes avalible.

------------------------------ Intel C2D E6600 @ 3.2GHz * Asus P5E * 2x1 GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers * Raptor X * EVGA Geforce 8800GTX 768MB 651MHz/1525MHz/2100MHz * X-FI Fatal1ty Pro * Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU * Creative THX5.1 * Tuniq Tower 120
Silverstone TJ09 * Windows XP
 Reply to systemlord
aznstriker92   12-21-2007 at 06:39:55 PM
- 0 +

Yes you will have a Huge leap in performance from a 7600GT. Maybe about 2X.
The card gets around 50-60 fps maxed out @ 1280 1024.
Check out the reviews @ anandtech.

Reply to aznstriker92
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > HD3850 Looking to buy question, PCI Express 2.0?
Go to:

There are 1159 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.376 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them