Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Running PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.0 cards in SLI...bottleneck???

Running PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.0 cards in SLI...bottleneck???

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Running PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.0 cards in SLI...bottleneck???

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Hey everyone...first post so be gentle...here's my dilemma...my board only has 1 PCIe 1.0/16x slot and 1 PCIe 1.0/1x slot, but it's SLI compatible. I'm currently running just a single PCIe 1.0/16x card (8600gt/256mb/128-bit) and I know I'm limited in my options since the board isn't PCIe 2.0. I'll be building a new comp next year some time, so I figued to increase performance for now I should buy an HD4870 and my old card in SLI together. Obvioulsy the HD4870 (512 mb/256-bit/PCIe 2.0) would be bottlenecked down to running at PCIe 1.0 speeds, and my old card would also be bottlenecked by running at PCIe 1.0/1x (as opposed to PCIe 1.0/16x). My question is, would I get better overall performance running the two together in SLI, or would my old card running at PCIe 1.0/1x be just an additional bottleneck? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me guys!

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First of all, you can't run an ATI and nVidia card in SLI. ATI's version of using two cards in tandem is called Crossfire, whilst nVidia's is SLI.
Most any card is bottlenecked at a PCI-E 1.0 x1. I don't know if it's possibly to bottleneck PhysX, however...
No, you would not see a performance gain. Your best bet is to sell the nVid card, then with the extra money buy an HD4890. That'll last you until you get your new system for quite some time.

------------------------------ "It could also be using the testicles of squirrels but until more is known it's all supposition and guess work, best to just sit back and wait."
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Reply to shadow187

rather get the best single graphics card you can and run that

Reply to obsidian86

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Running PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.0 cards in SLI...bottleneck???

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Running PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 1.0 cards in SLI...bottleneck???