P35 and PCIe 2.0?

JLV2k5

Active Member
Lets get to the bottom of the disagreement. Does the P35 chipset support PCIe 2.0 cards? Any experiences advice and knowledge will be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I'm running the P5K Premium P35 and a 8800GTS 512mb ( G92 ) with no issues whatsoever. I have my system clocked at 3.6 and running stable.
 
The P35 does not have the PCI-E 2.0 bus standard, however AFAIK it does support PCI-E 2.0 video cards.
 
hang on...
I have a similar question regarding PCIe 2.0 and P35 motherboards. I am looking to buy a new computer very soon and am considering either the P35 or X38 chipset. The determining factor between the two will be the ADVANTAGE of having PCIe 2.0.
Now I know the X38 supports PCIe 2.0 and (at present) the P35 doesn't utilize PCIe 2.0 but as stated above, it is compatible.
My question is, what are the actual benefits of having PCIe 2.0? From what it seems, the only benefit seems to arise out of having two graphics cards working in Crossfire/SLI mode.
You can buy graphics cards at the moment like the 8800GT and new 8800GTS that support PCIe 2.0 but does this mean that in order to make use of the additional bandwidth that PCIe 2.0 allows, you need two graphics cards?
I.e. will I get the benefits of PCIe 2.0 with only ONE 8800GTS (512MB) graphics card????
I have searched high and low on the internet and read pages and pages about PCIe 2.0 but nothing has been able to answer this question for me.
 
You can buy graphics cards at the moment like the 8800GT and new 8800GTS that support PCIe 2.0 but does this mean that in order to make use of the additional bandwidth that PCIe 2.0 allows, you need two graphics cards?
I.e. will I get the benefits of PCIe 2.0 with only ONE 8800GTS (512MB) graphics card????
I have searched high and low on the internet and read pages and pages about PCIe 2.0 but nothing has been able to answer this question for me.
You will get the benefit of PCI-E 2.0 with only one video card, however you wont gain much if any performance because PCI-E x16 isn't considered a real bottleneck yet when it comes to performance.
 
Ok thanks...but I'm not too sure what you mean when you say I will get the benefit of PCI-E 2.0 but not gain much if any performance. Wouldn't performance = benefit?
I guess what I'm basically asking is will I get the same performance out of a SINGLE PCI-E 2.0 graphics card using a P35 chipset as I will using an X38?
 
Ok thanks...but I'm not too sure what you mean when you say I will get the benefit of PCI-E 2.0 but not gain much if any performance. Wouldn't performance = benefit?
I guess what I'm basically asking is will I get the same performance out of a SINGLE PCI-E 2.0 graphics card using a P35 chipset as I will using an X38?
What I mean is, you still get the benefit of having a PCI-E 2.0 video card and motherboard, HOWEVER the current video cards don't show much if any improvement when using PCI-E 2.0 x16 vs the traditional PCI-E x16 bus, although that will change as higher end cards come out.
 
OK thanks - I get it now. Why then do these new graphics cards advertise themselves as being PCI-E 2.0?
I assume it's more for compatibility reasons with newer PCI-E 2.0 motherboards and not necessarily for performance reasons AT THE MOMENT.
If this is the case then I would probably be leaning towards using the P35 chipset as I am not a frequent upgrader and would not, for the life of me, ever consider putting two graphics cards in my PC.
I guess now my main concern is will a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card like the 8800GTS 512MB have any compatibility issues with a NON PCI-E 2.0 motherboard?
I have read that PCI-SIG assure users that they are backward compatible but I have also heard some problems with this on other forums.
Anything to put my mind at rest would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
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