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ATI 4870x2 performance on PCIe 1.0 vs PCIe 2.0

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - ATI 4870x2 performance on PCIe 1.0 vs PCIe 2.0

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fidoboy   01-17-2009 at 03:15:33 AM

Hi all,

I've a ATI 4870x2 on a motherboard with P35 chipset so it only has PCI Express 1.0. So i'm thinking that i'm not having all the power that this card can bring. Could i have a noticeable improvement on using P45 chipset with PCI Express 2.0 bus? I'm a bit confused and i'm not sure if i must replace my motherboard or not... Please, give any tip or links with comparisons using this specific video card (i know that using other less powerful video cards there is no noticeable difference)

best regards,

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B-Unit   01-17-2009 at 03:33:25 AM

So long as your board has an x16 1.0 link, you will be fine. x8 will not be able to keep up.

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fidoboy   01-17-2009 at 03:37:07 AM

Thanks for answering so fast. But are you sure about this? My PCIe bus is x16, but i can't find any performance comparison on using this card on PCIe 1.0 vs PCIe 2.0. As far as i know PICe 2.0 doubles the bandwith for the 1.0 so it's possible that PCIe 1.0 bus is bottlenecking my 4870x2 card... i just want to be sure before switch my motherboard.

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michaelmk86   01-17-2009 at 10:18:51 PM

There is no point to upgrade to P45 chipset as the performance deferens will be 5%-10% in same games and 0% in most games.

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fidoboy   01-17-2009 at 10:23:32 PM

Thanks michaelmk86 but as far as i know that it's true for other graphic cards (this card does crossfirex internally, so it has two GPUs in one card). All reviews and test that i've readed are for other cards there is no info about this card... That's why i'm asking for info here. ;)

regards,

Reply to fidoboy
Trent555   02-09-2009 at 10:18:58 PM

Im in the exact same boat as the author. I have a 4870x2 residing in a PCI Ex 1.0 slot. The card runs exceptionally fast in the 1.0 slot, however, im wondering if i can harness the full power of the card by upgrading to a PCI Ex 2.0 complaint motherboard. From what i have read, there isnt much of a performance gain from migrating to a 2.0 mobo. Would love to see some comparisons as well.

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fidoboy   02-09-2009 at 10:23:01 PM

Hi Trent555!

I've now changed my motherboard and i'm now using PCIe 2.0. I could say that now i'm getting better performance, it's not VERY noticeable, but you can notice it using some games like Stalker or Crysis where i'm getting more stable FPS levels (i'm having now a higher min FPS rate).

regards,

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Trent555   02-09-2009 at 11:05:13 PM

Hey Fido,

Im contemplating whether to get a newer mobo with PCI Ex 2.0 compliance with Crossfire support (2 x 16.0 lanes). I was offered a 4870 1 gig for a decent price which got me thinking a possible Trifire set up with the X2 which got me to thinking about the whole PCI Ex 2.0 vs. 1.0 setup as my older mobo supports crossfire, but only at the 1.0. Obviously, if i try this trifire setup, im gonna have to upgrade the mobo anyways. Did that make sense...haha

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Bripoge   07-28-2009 at 04:54:26 PM

I think when it comes to bandwith as long the pci-e 1.0 x16 is not maxing out(bottleneck) with the 4870x2 in terms of bandwith. Then there will be no difference with the pci-e 2.0. The only benefit of having a high end p45 chips is having the ability to better oc your system and being capable of using ddr3(future) but only a few high end mobo's and additional sockets like firewire eSata and stuff

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Bripoge on 07-28-2009 at 04:55:52 PM
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fidoboy   07-28-2009 at 06:12:42 PM

Bripoge wrote :

I think when it comes to bandwith as long the pci-e 1.0 x16 is not maxing out(bottleneck) with the 4870x2 in terms of bandwith. Then there will be no difference with the pci-e 2.0. The only benefit of having a high end p45 chips is having the ability to better oc your system and being capable of using ddr3(future) but only a few high end mobo's and additional sockets like firewire eSata and stuff



You are wrong, i've tested both motherboards with my graphic card and there is a diference for sure. Test it, please.

regards,

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to fidoboy
bildo123   07-28-2009 at 06:38:51 PM

fidoboy wrote :

You are wrong, i've tested both motherboards with my graphic card and there is a diference for sure. Test it, please.

regards,




Hello,

Would you mind please posting the difference, in FPS or by any other means. I'm interested myself as I have a 4870 OC a good amount running on a P35 chipset as well. I now get better frames compared to my old 8800GT, but I was expecting more. Thanks.

Reply to bildo123
fidoboy   07-28-2009 at 07:36:10 PM

Like i've posted before: "...I could say that now i'm getting better performance, it's not VERY noticeable, but you can notice it using some games like Stalker or Crysis where i'm getting more stable FPS levels (i'm having now a higher min FPS rate)... "

So it's not VERY noticeable but when using high end games, there is some difference and all goes more smoothly...

regards,

Reply to fidoboy
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