PCIe 16x 2.0 vs 1.0

[mrdardenjr]

Ive thumbed through these boards as well as others and have not been able to find a real answer to this question.

What is the performance increase from PCIe 16x 2.0 verses 1.0? Is it worth buying a newer mobo with 2.0 and buying a new 2.0 card?

Right now i am using an old system i build back in 1999 with RDRAM and am seriously needing to build a new one. The above question as well as trying to figure out if i should go ddr3 or not are my only real issues. As far as budget goes i would be looking about about $1200-$1500 for the whole system not including display and mouse/keyboard.

 

[godless]

the main difference between pcie 1.0 and 2.0 is bandwidth. 2.o has double of it. but it's only maximum bandwitdth. it doesn't mean that a card will actually use all of it. it's mostly a feature for future graphics cards. i's worth buying one for future upgrades. also the 2.o can supply more watts for the gpu. that means some cards might not have to have two 6pin plugs, one might be enough.

stick with ddr2 it's much cheaper plus it's only slightly slower than ddr3. simply overclock the ddr2.

 

[dirtmountain]

^
All 2.0 graphic cards are compatible with the 1.0 socket. The 2.0 just gives more bandwidth for the future.
Right at the moment go DDR2

 

[Zenthar]

PCI-E 1.0 and 2.0 are "cross compatible", you can put a 2.0 cars in a 1.0 slot ant a 1.0 card can also go in a 2.0 slot.

DDR3, not worth it; if you are still using a 1999 PC, PCI-E 2.0 is probably not worth it either (you probably are not a PC gamer).

As for future-proofing, I don't have much faith in that direction. From my experience, most rigs need complete overhaul every 2-3 years or else something will bottleneck any upgrades you put in it.

Depending on your needs, you can probably build something descent about 1000$ or even less. Better keep the difference and change the whole PC in 2 years.

 

[JonathanDeane]

Too add to what everyone else has said I believe that PCIe 2.0 also has power saving features built into it. I am guessing here is that its sort of like Intel's speed step thing in that when running your video card in 2D mode it can cut the amount of voltage to the video card and when it needs more it can take more.

Of course my brain is tired and this could all be a hallucination on my part, If it is please have mercy on me lol

 

[godless]

ati card do that. my hd3870 downclocks to 300mhz in 2d mode. it stays cool and very quiet at this setting. wasn't aware that ths was done through the pci 2.0 feature, thought it was ati and ccc.

 

[mrdardenjr]

As far as my 1999 rig. Thats going to be a media whore. I just going to stick all my mp3s and movied on that and share it through out the house. I will be building a new rig for gaming. Right now im still useing the 1999 for gaming, it works for mmorpgs alright on medium low settings untill something exciting happens then the fps drops to about 5-10 lol.

Thanks for the input, im going to go with pcie 1.0 and ddr2 for now. When the need for 2.0 arrives and ddr3 show better performance for the buck ill build another one.

 

[Zenthar]

You don't have to stick to PCI-E 1.0, just make sure you don't pay a lot more for something you might not really need.

When you have an idea of the rig you want, post the spec and I'm sure you will get a lot of recommendations.

 

[mrdardenjr]

Ok here is the rig i am thinking about buying tomarrow. If you have any input let me know. You all have been a great help already.

Case - XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower

Mobo - ASUS P5K PRO LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel
Im not realy sure about this board, there are 0 feedbacks on it. Is the P35 chipset alright?

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400

GPU - GA 640-P2-N829-AR GeForce 8800GTS SSC 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP

RAM - mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

HDD - (2x) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

PS - APEVIA ATX-AS520W-BK 520W ATX Power Supply
Is 520W enough now adays?

This all comes out to $890.

 

[Zenthar]

The P5K Pro seems to be a good board, not too pricy either.

For the CPU, if you plan on keeping you PC as long as your previous one, I suggest you look at the Q6600 (Quad instead of dual core).

For the GPU, get the 512MB version instead of the 640MB version, less memory, but newer technology (G92 instead of G80) and much better performance.

For the RAM, simply get DDR2-800, there is no real gain with anything above and some boards have trouble with them.

For the PSU, get a branded name like Corsair (I think even a 450VX should be enough for you).

 

[mrdardenjr]

Alright, how is this, ill call it rig version 2.0 lol

Case - XCLIO A380BK Fully Black High Gloss Finish SECC 1.0mm thickness ATXhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX Full Tower

Mobo - ASUS P5K PRO LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel
Im not realy sure about this board, there are 0 feedbacks on it. Is the P35 chipset alright?

CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775

GPU - MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported

RAM - mushkin XP 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
This is alittle bit more then the 1066 cause i went down to CAS 4.

HDD - (2x) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

PS - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0
I know Thermaltake and this PS has very good reviews.

Total Price went from $890 to $954.

 

[Zenthar]

Seems nice to me, still, post these specs in a separate "new build comment" thread to get a bit more visibility and other people's opinion.

 

[mrdardenjr]

my bad, figured it would be best in here so the poeple that commented already could just check back and see how this is going.

 

[Zenthar]

lol, you did nothing wrong, it's just that I noticed that "new build threads" gets much more attention than the current thread was getting. I suggested a new thread just so you would get more reviewers and comments.

 

[mrdardenjr]

Topic continues over at....

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/252458-31-need-assistance-range-gaming-build