So Ive been trying to decide if i should make another AMD system (processor wise) or Intel and ive become a bit concerned with the mobo
intel mobos support pcie 3.0
while most amd mobos only have pcie 2.0
so im wondering how much of a difference does pcie 3.0 make ?
is it noticeable while gaming ?
will it affect the longevity of a system ?(how long will it take for gpu to be only compatible with 3.0)
feedback is needed and very appreciated
I think it doesn't really make a difference since most cards are backwards compatible. If you put a 290x (ex.) in a PCI-e 2.0 it will still work. I'm also pretty sure that it doesn't bottleneck your card much if not at all. As for longevity of a system I don't think it affects the life span of your hardware.
I found a very good and short video explaining PCI-e 3.0 if you want to check it out.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSHuMHbCWo
At the moment, PCIE 3.0 is pretty much a marketing gimmick. No GPU can fully take advantage of the bandwidth offered by PCIE 3.0. In fact, I'm pretty sure most cards don't even take advantage of the bandwidth offered by PCIE 2.0 x16 and won't suffer any ill effects even if run at PCIE 2,0 x8. So don't worry. For the moment and foreseeable future, PCIE 3.0 won't be necessary.
They are fully compatible with each other. Almost all GPUs now are PCIE 3.0 but work fine in PCIE 2.0 slots.
No video card to date can use 100% of the pci-e 2 bandwidth. Not a Gtx 780 ti, R9 290x or Gtx 690 will be bottlenecked. The R9 290x is getting very close, but not 100% yet. We may see it become relevant in the next generation of Amd cards because they are going to now only use the pci-e lanes to crossfire. The 290 and 290x now use the pci-e lanes to crossfire. They no longer have a crossfire connector on the top of the card.
some notes:
though nothing can currently saturate 2.0 graphics cards will run better in 3.0 (probably noticable, but not anything dealbreaking, will try to add source later otherwise google)
if you ever go dual gpu both z87 and 990fx will run at the same speed, half speed 3.0 on z87 and full speed 2.0 on 990fx, if you want full speed 3.0 you'd need server/ws parts
Great article on exactly this topic: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/18/pci_express_20_vs_30_gpu_gaming_performance_review/1#.UuHawrTn-M8
The newest generation cards are probably going to see a little more difference, but probably not all that much. Like thecaveman said, next generation will probably be the first time it really becomes noticeable. If you want to be sure you'll be okay for next gen, get PCIe 3.0.
also on this note
why is it that PCIe 3.0 amd mobos are so hard to find ?
well atleast for socket am3+
Because AMD refuses to get with the times.
Amd released a update to the 990fx chipset but ASUS was the only one to ever put it on a motherboard.
because the processors don't support it anyway
well asus designed that sabertooth gen3 board with pci-e 3.0 support, generated by a PLX chip or something, but for some reason Asus seems to have the board disconteniud. i think to expensive to produce, with basicly no benefits.
Maybe AMD didn't like it?
I think AMD want to kill AM3+, by making irrelevant long term they can focus on making (cooler) APU style solutions- I for one am interested to see exactly what they can do with HUMA and HSA even with a discrete grade GPU.
The Asus Sabbertooth 990Fx Gen3 board was actually a limited edition run of boards. (says so on the box...) Which is why there not being made any longer. PCI 3.0 isn't really needed or completely adopted with cards yet so it shouldn't be a real deciding factor.
Wow no... The 290 is 1. 4gb only 2. 780's are 3gb cards 3. no graphics card can max pci-e 2,0 yet. There have been tests to prove so. if you ran 2 290's on a pci-e 3 or 2 board, they would perform the same.
Also how the hell does running at 1440p require more pci-e lanes? Do you know the basics of cx/sli? They don't take any more bandwidth for running at higher resolutions.
cf/sli on hasswell is pci-e 3.0 pointless, because pci-e 3.0 on hasswell is basicly a bit of marketing bullshit, since hasswell lacks on pci-lanes only 20, you are only able to run a cf/sli setup at 8X pci-e 3.0. This means that its basicly the same speed as a cf/sli setup on an AMD 990FX because 990FX chipsets have 40 pci-e 2.0 lanes, so you are able to run a cf/sli on 16X pci-e 2.0 and thats completely the same. Vram has totaly nothing to do with it.
pci-e 3.0 theoreticly only matters if you use ivybridge-E. Because ivy-E supports 40 pci-e 3.0 lanes. And the realy highend socket 2011 boards, contain plx chips to generate even more lanes.
Grtz Angel ☺
not true, Piledriver has the PCI-E 3.0 string, they put it in the chip without really making it all too public. ASUS has the Sabertooth R2.0 3.0 board if you find one, very rare. I do hear that Asrock 990fx Fatal1ty Killer has PCI-E 3.0.
the fatality killer does not have pci-e 3.0 ☺ only the limited sabertooth had it.