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Hi, anyone using this card in a 4x slot (eg Asrock 4core DualVSTA or similar)? And what were the performance implications? Also, has anyone benchmarked the differences between 4x and 8/16x slots? I'd like to know how this stacks up against 8800GTS 512MiB on 4x as well...
Thanks for any pointers :)
I've been looking for a PCI-E 4x vs 16x article too but I cant find one anywhere.
I'll try and test this myself when I get my 3870 tomorrow if it will work when plugged into my 4x slot.
I'll bench it at stock in both my 16x and 4x slot for you, but you might have to wait a few days for me to finish :)
I wont have a 3870 X2, though the results from the 3870 should give you an idea of what to expect.
Hey, I have the tests done. Believe me, if you have a 4x PCI-E slot, you want to avoid putting a GFX card in it, even for a dual setup :p
Compared my card in both the 16x and 4x slot with my E8400 @ 4275 mhz, ram at 950 Mhz, FSB of 475 Mhz:
With 16x PCI-E -
3Dmark 01: 55841
3Dmark 03: 37996
In the 4x PCI-E slot -
3Dmark 01: 46975
3Dmark 03: 22799
4x PCI-E = terribad for your graphics card. I didnt need to bother wasting time with 05 and 06, this sums up the difference just perfectly.
Well done Bhavv, just what I was looking for! Well, not really, as I had hoped the results wouldn't be *that* bad for 4x :surprised: But it certainly makes sense... I have a X1950XT at the mo' that I was considering upgrading but it looks like a full mobo job (as plenty of people have advised)... Cheers!
Yea, I'm going to avoid crossfire now too. I'll just have to make do with a single 4870 when it gets released.
X38 and X48 motherboards are waaaay over my budget unfortunately :(
I just ordered the Abit X38 QuadGT from Yoyotech :D I couldnt resist.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhavv
If i was the OP i would go with the 8800GTS G92 and upgrade that motherboard as its a serious bottleneck.
You can save yourself £70 by doing that which is money well spent on the motherboard.
Is that slot directly off the same bridge that your 16x one is in? Anandtech (I think) did a great article where they provided that comparisons between 16x and 4x are worthless if your 4x slot is connected somewhere else down the board such as a slow southbridge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhavv
Im not really sure how they are connected, I just put the card into both slots and benched :pQuote:
Originally Posted by kalniel
I made sure on CPUZ that my CPU and Ram peeds were 4275 and 475 before benching. I'm modifying my screenshots atm and will post them in a while.
@ Blitzen what is the max FSB your Abit board runs at? Reviews I read says it only goes up to around 400 Mhz, which isnt too good if I'm running at 450 Mhz 24/7 and 475 for benchies on mine :p
If I was the OP I would get an X48 and a normal 3870.
No idea yet as it wont arrive until tomoorw morning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhavv
Then i have to re-install the OS and install the 100000000000 Vista updates.
Prolly have no idea until Friday/Saturday.
By all accounts i have read though, it will overclock as well as the P35's.
This Quad GO though is a bit roasty so i will limit it to 3.0ghz
On a side note, i ran the Quad GO in an AW9D-MAX.......for a while whilst i could......idle temps were up at around 50 odd degrees.
Even though it ran it, the 975x just wasnt up to it........hence the £140 shell out.
Very nice differences, but MSI P35 Neo 2 or Abit IP35 Dark Raider = £60-70, X38 = £150, X48 = £200+!
I'll wait for a future budget board with two 16x PCI-E 2.0 lanes....
Will there ever be one? :(
I definately woulnt buy an MSI P35 Premium or Abit IP35 pro now, I would rather spend an extra £30 for an X38. The P35 boards I mentioned that cost £60-70 are still very good for the money.
Photobucket is having issues, I still cant update new pictures :(
Thats exactly the way i looked at it.Quote:
I definately woulnt buy an MSI P35 Premium or Abit IP35 pro now, I would rather spend an extra £30 for an X38. The P35 boards I mentioned that cost £60-70 are still very good for the money.
A newer chipset, 1600fsb support, PCI-e 2.0.
Just seemed worth the extra £20 odd over the IP-35 Pro
I believe the asus p5n-d supports 2x 2.0 pci-e 16x, i have one and its perfect for me xD.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhavv
This was a rubbish article if I remember rightly - they compared slots which had different connections rendering the question of bandwidth null and void. Typical toms - nice idea for article, slightly dodgy execution and terrible conclusion :pQuote:
Originally Posted by BUFF
Yeah, that's SLi mate. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hicks12
Yea, I require crossfire :pQuote:
Originally Posted by this_is_gav
I went with the 3870 for its price over the Nvidia cards.
I'll just have to wait for a budget crossfire board of £100 max that does 2x 2.0 PCI-E lanes at 16x each.
I'm not paying £200+ for an X48. Hopefully they can make budget X38's, but i'm sure that X38's are just being phased out now.
It would be nice to have a board that can do both SLI and Crossfire so your not tied to either ATI or Nvidia then.