PCI Express 3.0: On Motherboards By This Time Next Year?
Table of contents
- 1. PCI Express 3.0: An Update
- 2. PCI Express 3.0: The Timeline
- 3. PCI Express 3.0: Built For Speed
- 4. Analysis: Where We’ll Use PCI Express 3.0
After an unfortunate series of untimely delays, the folks behind PCI Express 3.0 believe they've worked out the kinks that have kept next-generation connectivity from achieving backwards compatibility with PCIe 2.0. We take a look at the tech to come.
Moore's Law states that the amount of transistors which can be placed on a chip will double every two years. This has often been misinterpreted as a statement that processor speed will double every two years. It’s a misinterpretation that the computer-buying general public has turned into an expectation of exponentially-scaling PC performance.
However, as you’ve undoubtedly noticed, shipping processors have been stuck between 3 GHz and 4 GHz for about six years now. So, the computer industry has had to find other ways to make data move faster. One of the most important of those ways has been maintaining balance between platform components using PCI Express, the open standard technology that enables high-speed graphics cards, expansion cards, and other onboard computer components. It’s at least arguable that PCI Express is as important to scalable performance as multi-core processors. Although dual-core, quad-core, and hexa-core CPUs can only be adequately used by applications optimized for threading, every program installed on your machine can and will touch components attached via PCI Express in some way.
Many industry observers originally expected motherboards and chipsets based on next-generation PCI Express 3.0 to appear in the first quarter of 2010. Unfortunately, problems with backward compatibility delayed the launch of PCI Express 3.0, and as we enter the second half of this year, we’ve been left waiting for official word on the new standard's release.
Finally, following a conference call with PCI-SIG (the Special Interest Group that oversees the PCI and PCI Express standards), we at last have some answers.
- 1 / 4
- Next
-
Latest Motherboards News
- 05/25 – Thunderbolt Will Become Key Motherboard Spec in 2H 2012
- 05/22 – Does Your AMD FX Platform BSOD with Steam? Read This.
- 05/04 – 54 Million Enthusiast and Performance PC Gamers Globally
- 05/01 – Intel's Next Unit of Computing Rivals Raspberry Pi in Size
- 04/10 – Intel P67 Express Chipset Begins Product Discontinuance Cycle
Latest Motherboards reviews
- 04/30 – Six $160-220 Z77 Motherboards, Benchmarked And Reviewed
- 04/23 – Video Teaser: Intel's DZ77GA-70K Motherboard
- 04/17 – Overclocking: Asus Rampage IV Extreme Versus EVGA X79 FTW
- 04/08 – Intel’s Z77 Express And Lucidlogix MVP: New Features...
- 02/27 – Six $200-$260 LGA 2011 Motherboards, Reviewed
-
Latest Intel News
- Intel Picks UK for Research Institute on Sustainable Cities
- Specs for Dell's Windows 8 Clover Trail Tablet Leaked
- Thunderbolt Will Become Key Motherboard Spec in 2H 2012
- AMD Backing Out of CPU Speed Wars Against Intel
- Intel Hopes New Batteries Can Reduce Ultrabook Cost
-
Latest Intel reviews
- Overclocking Core i7-3770K: Learning To Live With Compromise
- Core i5-3570K, -3550, -3550S, And -3570T: Ivy Bridge Efficiency
- Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: May 2012
- Intel SSD 330 Review: 60, 120, And 180 GB Models Benchmarked
- Core i7-3720QM: Ivy Bridge Makes Its Mark On Mobility
-
Latest Gigabyte News
- Does Your AMD FX Platform BSOD with Steam? Read This.
- Exclusive in TH Labs: Gigabyte GTX 680 OC WindForce 3X
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 Graphics Cards Vendor Roundup
- Reports Say Mobo Prices Going Up 10%; Gigabyte Says Nope
- Gigabyte Intros New Motherboards, Tech at CES
-
Latest Gigabyte reviews
- Five Radeon HD 7970 3 GB Cards, Overclocked And Benchmarked
- Six $160-220 Z77 Motherboards, Benchmarked And Reviewed
- System Builder Marathon, March 2012: System Value Compared
- System Builder Marathon, March 2012: $650 Gaming PC
- Seven $260-$320 X79 Express Motherboards, Reviewed


Good article with some nice teases. Seems us regular users of high end machines won't see a worth until 2012. Just in time for my next build!
What the..... pcie3 already devoloped & most games graphics are still of geforce 7 level thnk u consoles..
just got pci-e 2.0 last 2008 with my x58 ... time's flying
Good news to peoples like me who haven't spent any money on PCIE 2.0 DX11 card due to nVidia's delay in shipping GTX460.
Can't wait to see PCIE 3.0, native USB3/SATA3, DDR4, quad channel and faster&cheaper SSD next year.
In addition, I hate unreasonably priced buggy HDMI and would also like to see the Ethernet cable(cheap, fast and exceptional) based monitors as soon as possible.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/e [...] 10784.html
One more tech that I can't wait to see: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/s [...] 10961.html
WOW, so much new techs to be expected next year!
Processor speed *is* increasing exponentially! Even a 5% year-on-year increase is exponential.
I havent read this entire article but on a related note I was told that within the Sandy Bridge family, at least on the server side, the higher end products will get PCIe 3.0.
And if you think the Core i3/5/7 desktop naming is confusing now, wait till Intel starts releasing all their Sandy Bridge Server chips. Its going to be even worse I think.
And while we're talking about futures, 32GB DIMMs will be out for the server market most likely before the end of this year. If 3D Stacking and Load Reducing DIMMs remain on track, we could see 128GB on a single DIMM around 2013, which is when DDR4 is slated to come out as well.
It's nice to see the backwards compatibility and cost be key factors in the decision making. Especially considering that devices won't be able to saturate it for many years to come.
Even the graphics cards are getting bigger!
Even the graphics cards are getting bigger!
I believe that he meant gfx size per performance.
I believe that he meant gfx size per performance.
Still, the largest cards today are a bit too large! Aren't they!
NO!
I HATE YOU TECHNOLOGY!
lol
Even the graphics cards are getting bigger!
And thanks to NVidia, hotter.
"After an unfortunate series of untimely delays..."
A series of unfortunate events? That sounds familiar...
NVidia=Global Warming?
Very pleased with all this, looks like 2012 Q1/2 will be my new PC build, should all come together nicely then!
This article could have been written in a sentence. PCI-E 3.0 will be out in 2011 and will be faster.
Perhaps you could have explained why CUDA would benefit from this, or what type of apps that use it could. Fusion makes no sense to me, since the GPU and CPU will not be connected using PCI-Express, and be on the same die. Maybe you could explain why these things are going to benefit.
Also, according to the visual, latency will be lowered. Bandwidth is essentially irrelevant in many situations, since it's only rarely fully used, but latency could make itself felt in virtually anything.
You also could have included the extra power use this extra speed will take. It almost certainly will, all other things being equal. That's a huge consideration. If I have to add, say 15 watts to my motherboard, is it worth it for a technology that might not be relevant for many situations, in the relative near term? If it's one or two watts, it's a no brainer, but, if it's a lot higher (which I suspect it might be), people need to really ask if they need this technology, or if it's better to wait until the next purchase, when it might have more value.
And thanks to NVidia, hotter.
With a bit of help from ATi of course.
they should integrate Intel's new optic technology in to it give it twice the bandwidth on top of that 64 gb/s or more
finally.........