PCI-e x 8 vs. PCI-e x 16

[SteveThePirate]

What would happen if I were to put a PCI-e x16 video card into a PCI-e x8 slot? Would it be just like plugging PC 4000 ram into PC 3200 ram slot? It would still work but would not run at the same speed? If that is the case, what happens to the speed? is 16 two times faster than 8? or is it 10^8 times faster?

 

[The_Other_One]

I remember there was a benchmark done a while back and it showed how there was almost no difference in performance between 8x and 16x. How realative that is today, I can't really say. It really depends on the GPU and somewhat the computer.

Also realize many earlier SLI boards would run 16x single or 8x and 8x in SLI

 

[CardboardSword]

Also realize many earlier SLI boards would run 16x single or 8x and 8x in SLI

An awful lot of the entry level new ones do as well. If you're running mid-low range cards, the difference is minimal at best, but if you have enough money for two high end cards, you have enough for a motherboard that can provide two PCI-E 16x slots as well