We are starting to see the first graphics cards and motherboards hit the market that support the PCI-Express 2.0 standard. PCI-Express 2.0 increased the bandwidth significantly more than PCI-Express 1.1. From 250MB/s from PCI-Express 1.1 to 500MB/s in PCI-Express 2.0. There's no doubt that the PCIe2 solutions will be faster (faster front side bus, faster memory, more graphics bandwidth, more advanced CPU support), but with the new technology comes the need to match a motherboard correctly with the graphics card to reap the full rewards. Below is a short list to give buyers a head start in what to research when looking for fully compliant PCI-Express 2.0 solutions.
PCI Express 2.0 Graphics solutions as of 11/23/07:
(AMD/ATI) Radeon HD 3850 256mb 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready
(AMD/ATI) Radeon HD 3870 512mb 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready
(Nvidia) Geforce 8800GT 512mb 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready
Intel Based Motherboard solutions with PCI Express 2.0 support as of 11/23/07:
There are many manufacturers using the Intel X38 chipset which currently have support for PCI Express 2.0. Research based on the X38 chipset and you will find the motherboards that will make full use of the added bandwidth of PCI Express 2.0. Add to this feature the increased bus speeds up to 1600MHz and the use of DDR3 RAM.
AMD Based Motherboard solutions with PCI Express 2.0 support as of 11/23/07:
The AMD 790X chipset is the solution to check out when you are using the latest in high end AMD CPUs. This chipset is introducing motherboards with 2 PCI-Express 2.0 slots and 2 PCI-Express 1.1 slots for what is the foundation for what will be Quad Crossfire systems. They also provide 150-watts of power through the motherboard so graphics cards with 2 6-pin connectors only require 1 to be connected. On top of that, we are seeing 2000MHz Hyper Transport (4000MT/s) on the front side bus.
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