PCIe x16 2.0 device question?

Question

Hey I'm looking at getting a new graphics card for my desktop computer since I do a lot of full HD video editing with Sony Vegas Pro 10, and I have a question about the interface. When I look at video cards on eBay, many of the cards I like say the interface is PCIe x16 2.0. Now I know my computer has a PCIe x16 slot, but I don't know if it's 2.0 or not. SO, if I but a card that has the 2.0 but my slot is not 2.0, will the video card still work? I know it wouldn't work to its full potential but would it even work at all and would it work just as well or worse than the old (not 2.0) PCIe x16 cards? In other words, would I be better off buying a non 2.0 card if my computer does not have the 2.0 slot or would it not make any difference?

Answer 1

Yes, any card works as long as it's PCI-E x16. Whether it's 2.0, 2.1, 1.1 or just says x16 without a number doesn't matter, they're all backwards-compatible. Whichever is the lower specification supported by the card or slot, that's the level at which the pair operates.



As for performance differences between the versions, there usually isn't any. Version 2.0 doubled the maximum bandwidth the slot could handle, but at the time no existing graphics cards were anywhere near reaching the limits of the 1.0 slots. Even today, no single cards under $250 are fast enough to exceed the capacity of the original PCI-E x16 slot. Where the extra bandwidth provided by version 2.0 and 2.1 comes into play is with very high-end cards, especially when running SLI and Crossfire.



By the way, there's no speed difference between 2.0 and 2.1- version 2.1 just added support for new diagnostic and management features that won't be fully implemented until PCI-E x16 version 3.0.

Answer 2

More than likely if your Motherboard is fairly new the new GDDR should work. Most Graphics cards are Backwards Compatible. You should find out what Motherboard you have and check it out on the Manufactures Home page. To find out what specs you have I would recommend SIW. It's free and very good.

Answer 3

buy which goes best with your current configuration ... and it will work fine