GTX 280 on PCIe 1.0 8x

[MatexShip]

Hello,

I was wondering if a PCe 1.0 8x slot would be capable of handling an Nvidia GTX 280 without bottleneck? If not, how much of a bottleneck would I likely see? (Running @ 1920x1200)

I ask this because I recently purchased a Dell XPS 630 (same as an XPS 630i) which has two PCIe 16x slots, however they both run at 8x. The chipset is an Nvidia 650i which would normally allow 16x speed in single GPU mode and only 8x in SLI, however Dell found the need to lock this at 8x over two slots constantly as they modified the board for some reason.

If anyone could run their GTX 280 in 8x on a PCIe 1.0 board and show some comparasim figures, I would be greatful.


Other noteable system specifications:

Intel Quad-Core Q6600 OC to 3.2Ghz
4GB 800Mhz DDR2 RAM
750W PS


Thanks in advance,
MatexShip

 

[spathotan]

Thats gonna be a preety hefty choke. Espically at that resolution where more video memory is needed.

 

[dos1986]

Go to dell community forums, this question comes up alot there.

From what I know, you may be chocked with that card a bit, but earlier generation of cards like 8800gt shows little effects between by x8 and x16, especially in sli.

Pauldh posted a good few examples of this, showing no difference at all between 8800gt sli with x8 slots on 650i board and x 16 slots on a 780i board.

 

[spotless]

9600Gt SLI?

 

[MatexShip]

Would anyone be able to run a real world test for me by dropping down to 8x? I would really appreciate it. If the figures are bad, I'll be sending the machine back.

Only other soloution I can think of would be replaceing the mobo, however im not sure what Dell have in there and if I would even be able to find a compatable one.

 

[invisik]

well the bottleneck shouldnt be to much maybe around 5-8fps. Its possible increasing the pcie frequency will help ease the bottleneck.

 

[MatexShip]

I will be playing games like, Unreal Tournament 2008, COD4 etc @ 1920x1200. I would be happy with around the 60-70 fps mark. Is that achievable? Again, if anyone could confirm with a real world tests how big a bottleneck we are talking, I would be grateful.

 

[dos1986]

Like I said earlier very little difference between dual 8x and 16x, even with 8800GTX SLI.

http://www.techspot.com/review/45-nvidia-nforce-650i-sli-vs-680i-sli/page4.html

Gtx 280 will run like a dream on your setup and if you are really worried about performance bottleneck why not get 2 x 9800gtx and overclock the **** out of them.

You have a nice setup.

 

[MatexShip]

dos1986, thank you for your input, you have put my mind to rest. An Nvidia GTX 280 is on its way. When it arrives (hopefully by the end of the week) I shall post my findings for others in similar situations to view.

Hopefully I will see a drop of 10% at the very most. If not, I'll look into new motherboards or even a new system.


Thanks for everyones input,
MatexShip