PCI-E 2.0 x16 Vs. PCI-E x16

[Rit]

So I'm trying to figure this out and I keep getting all sorts of weird findings. I have a PCI-E x16 slot on my motherboard that of course I want to throw a video card in.

Some sites say that a PCI-E 2.0 x16 is backwards compatible. So I could get THIS CARD and it will work.

But my question is, would it work better than if I just got the equivilant but that only supports PCI-E x16??

 

[spynoodle]

So I'm trying to figure this out and I keep getting all sorts of weird findings. I have a PCI-E x16 slot on my motherboard that of course I want to throw a video card in.

Some sites say that a PCI-E 2.0 x16 is backwards compatible. So I could get THIS CARD and it will work.

But my question is, would it work better than if I just got the equivilant but that only supports PCI-E x16??

Yes, it will work, but what do you mean by "equivalent"? Is there a version of the card designed for the older bus? I don't think it will make a difference if you get a version that's marked PCIe 1.0 or one that's marked PCI-e 2.0. You'll get the same bandwidth out of your bus either way. The only differences I know between the two are the fact that PCIe 2.0 is twice as fast, and can supply more power. This doesn't mean, though, that your card will run at half its speed.

 

[Rit]

That's what I was wondering. If it would be like having a quad core and running Windows 95, where it would run, but you wouldn't use the full potential of the quad cores.

 

[spynoodle]

That's what I was wondering. If it would be like having a quad core and running Windows 95, where it would run, but you wouldn't use the full potential of the quad cores.

But I'm pretty sure it won't make as much of a difference as running a Quad Core on Windows 95 would. I don't think it will be that much of a big deal. Since you're getting a card with an external power plug it should be fine. I just realized, though, that if you had gotten the Geforce 9600 GSO that I listed that didn't have a power plug you would have been in trouble, since your PCIe 1.0 slot doesn't have enough power output to power it without an external plug. Whoops...hehe...

EDIT: As long as your slot is still x16, it's pretty much like running your card in a PCIe 2.0 x8 slot, which also gets half the bandwidth of PCIe 2.0 x16. I read somewhere once, though, that halving the bandwidth doesn't usually make such a big difference. It's only when you get down to x4 and x1 bandwidth that it's that bad.