Whats the Difference PCIe and PCIe 2.0

MattrichardsUK · 19th Nov 2008, 09:28 PM

Hi Im new to the forum and this is my first post so im sure that somewhere this question may have already been answered.
I am looking to upgrade my system at home with and will be purchasing a new graphics card. I am a liitle confused however. I notice that some specs list the interface as PCI Express and others list as PCI Express 2.0 not to mention PCI Express x16. How can i be sure that my desktop board will be compatible with the graphics card. I am looking to by an 8800GTS card. I know there are a lot on the market but i dont want to come unstuck and find that its not compatible.
My mother board is an ASUS P5B-VM.
thanks in advance
Matt

Trinity · 19th Nov 2008, 09:58 PM

Since you have a micro atx mobo, Just be sure your new card will fit in you case. And be sure your psu is up to spec. Otherwise, your good to go.

Adrian Wong · 19th Nov 2008, 09:59 PM

PCI Express 2.0 is a newer version, which supports a higher throughput. It is backward compatible with PCI Express 1.x so you need not worry too much about it.

The x16 in PCI Express x16 refers to the number of lanes. Both PCI Express 1.x and 2.0 support the same range of lanes, so both can have x16 lanes.

Ischemia24 · 19th Nov 2008, 10:04 PM

PCI-Express 1.1 (if it's just listed as PCI-Express, it's 1.1) supports transfers of 250 MB per second, per lane. That's 4 GB per second for PCI-Express x16. PCI-E 2.0 brings that number up to 8 GB per second. But in all probability, you'll never run into the limitation of PCI-E 1.1. Not with the current generation of video cards, anyway.
PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MattrichardsUK · 19th Nov 2008, 11:15 PM

Thanks for all your responses and valuable info. looks like im 'Good to go' then
Matt

MattrichardsUK · 20th Nov 2008, 08:19 PM

When you say its backwards compatible, what would happen if i put a GeForce 8600 GTS card which specifies a PCIe interface into a regular PCI interface. Or would it not fit?

Ischemia24 · 20th Nov 2008, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattrichardsUK

When you say its backwards compatible, what would happen if i put a GeForce 8600 GTS card which specifies a PCIe interface into a regular PCI interface. Or would it not fit?

It would not fit. A PCI-Express x16 slot would be required.

slugbug · 21st Nov 2008, 01:53 AM

Backwards compatible means a Pci Express 2.0 motherboard can also accept Pci Express 1.0 graphics cards. You can also install a pci express 1x device into a pci express 4x, 8x, or 16x slot and it will work just fine. PCI slots are exclusively for PCI devices.

Adrian Wong · 22nd Nov 2008, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattrichardsUK

When you say its backwards compatible, what would happen if i put a GeForce 8600 GTS card which specifies a PCIe interface into a regular PCI interface. Or would it not fit?

It's backward compatible with previous PCI Express standards - v1.0 and v1.1.

PCI Express is COMPLETELY different from PCI. They may have quite a similar name but they are as different as duck and chicken.

Like Ischaemia24 said though, you won't be able to fit a PCI Express card into a PCI slot. They intentionally designed it that way so that no one would ever make the mistake.

jolly · 1st Dec 2008, 05:45 PM

eventhough you buy PCIe X16 2.0 graphic card but your graphic performance can only perform up to only PCIe performance so i think you better install GeForce 8600 GTS graphic card

19th Nov 2008, 09:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
MattrichardsUK Newbie Join Date: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 3 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Whats the Difference PCIe and PCIe 2.0 Hi Im new to the forum and this is my first post so im sure that somewhere this question may have already been answered. I am looking to upgrade my system at home with and will be purchasing a new graphics card. I am a liitle confused however. I notice that some specs list the interface as PCI Express and others list as PCI Express 2.0 not to mention PCI Express x16. How can i be sure that my desktop board will be compatible with the graphics card. I am looking to by an 8800GTS card. I know there are a lot on the market but i dont want to come unstuck and find that its not compatible. My mother board is an ASUS P5B-VM. thanks in advance Matt

19th Nov 2008, 09:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trinity Little Kiki Join Date: 5 Jan 2003 Location: Ohio,usa Posts: 7,249 Reputation: 6033 Rep Power: 75	Since you have a micro atx mobo, Just be sure your new card will fit in you case. And be sure your psu is up to spec. Otherwise, your good to go. __________________ (\__/) (-. - ) (> < )

19th Nov 2008, 09:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 33,143 Reputation: 3730 Rep Power: 78	PCI Express 2.0 is a newer version, which supports a higher throughput. It is backward compatible with PCI Express 1.x so you need not worry too much about it. The x16 in PCI Express x16 refers to the number of lanes. Both PCI Express 1.x and 2.0 support the same range of lanes, so both can have x16 lanes. __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

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Ischemia24 Just Started Join Date: 11 Oct 2008 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 55 Reputation: 104 Rep Power: 0	PCI-Express 1.1 (if it's just listed as PCI-Express, it's 1.1) supports transfers of 250 MB per second, per lane. That's 4 GB per second for PCI-Express x16. PCI-E 2.0 brings that number up to 8 GB per second. But in all probability, you'll never run into the limitation of PCI-E 1.1. Not with the current generation of video cards, anyway. PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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MattrichardsUK Newbie Join Date: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 3 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for all your responses and valuable info. looks like im 'Good to go' then Matt

20th Nov 2008, 08:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
MattrichardsUK Newbie Join Date: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 3 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	When you say its backwards compatible, what would happen if i put a GeForce 8600 GTS card which specifies a PCIe interface into a regular PCI interface. Or would it not fit?

21st Nov 2008, 01:53 AM	#8 (permalink)
slugbug Warming up Join Date: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 112 Reputation: 106 Rep Power: 5	Backwards compatible means a Pci Express 2.0 motherboard can also accept Pci Express 1.0 graphics cards. You can also install a pci express 1x device into a pci express 4x, 8x, or 16x slot and it will work just fine. PCI slots are exclusively for PCI devices.

1st Dec 2008, 05:45 PM	#10 (permalink)
jolly Newbie Join Date: 1 Dec 2008 Location: ALOR STAR Posts: 4 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	eventhough you buy PCIe X16 2.0 graphic card but your graphic performance can only perform up to only PCIe performance so i think you better install GeForce 8600 GTS graphic card