PCI Express for AMD

[GNEP]

Things are starting to move forwards...

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2248

[GT98]

Hmmm thats interesting about the comment about 2 SLI 6800GT @ $200 out performing the equilvent single priced at $400 6800 vid card. Me have to look into that more when I build my next PC.

[High_Jumbllama]

Originally posted by GT98
Hmmm thats interesting about the comment about 2 SLI 6800GT @ $200 out performing the equilvent single priced at $400 6800 vid card. Me have to look into that more when I build my next PC.

You also have to consider how much more the motherboard costs.

[Mehen]

So what's going on with the Opterons? Any upcoming PCI-E boards for socket940 (and dual 940)? Or are Opterons gonna switch sockets? So far I haven't heard a thing.

[J1NG]

Opteron's are not switching sockets. They are 940 and will remain 940 pin. All the rest seem to be going to 939 however (fx and normal 64).

If you want a PCI-E board for the Opteron. You'll need to wait a little longer.

J1NG

[GT98]

Originally posted by High_Jumbllama
You also have to consider how much more the motherboard costs.

I see a dual PCI Express board going for no more then $200 bucks when they come out.

[Wulfman]

but dual 16 lane or dual 8 lane pci express sockets which you will need for your sli-combo are rare in this class, aren't they?

mfg
wulfman

[GNEP]

Not that rare I think - there are several in the works AFAIK.

Would they not have other uses than SLI though - eg using one for the graphics card and one for e.g. a video capture device? Because PCIe has bigger bandwidth up- and down-stream?

[Wombat]

Originally posted by Wulfman
but dual 16 lane or dual 8 lane pci express sockets which you will need for your sli-combo are rare in this class, aren't they?

mfg
wulfman

It doesn't need true dual 16s. It will work on a 16x and 4x.

[dZeus]

the nForce4 solution works with 2 8x slots. With one 4x and 1 16x slot, the 'SLI' tech has to compensate for both cards running at different rendering speeds. If they don't, the card in the 16x slot will perform as fast as the one in the 4x slot.

[Mehen]

yeah, like dZeus said,
PCI-E isnt capable of running true dual 16x (effectively 32x plus the other slots), but considering cards dont even use close to all of the bandwidth provided by 8xAGP, 2 8x PCI-E is plenty for SLI.

[Kurt]

Originally posted by GT98
Hmmm thats interesting about the comment about 2 SLI 6800GT @ $200 out performing the equilvent single priced at $400 6800 vid card. Me have to look into that more when I build my next PC.

beh, I checked the prices, it's actually 2*200$ is faster than 1x 400$...

The 6600GT costs slightly less than 200$ here...

[GT98]

Originally posted by Kurt
beh, I checked the prices, it's actually 2*200$ is faster than 1x 400$...

The 6600GT costs slightly less than 200$ here...

Thats what I ment

Was in rush typing it

[DC]

Originally posted by |Mehen|
So what's going on with the Opterons? Any upcoming PCI-E boards for socket940 (and dual 940)? Or are Opterons gonna switch sockets? So far I haven't heard a thing.

You can have a look into the Documentation of the SUN W1100Z / W2100Z System Architecture. This board does have PCI-E, but you can not use it atm.

DC

Link: arch-wp.pdf

[isochar]

Originally posted by dZeus
the nForce4 solution works with 2 8x slots. With one 4x and 1 16x slot, the 'SLI' tech has to compensate for both cards running at different rendering speeds. If they don't, the card in the 16x slot will perform as fast as the one in the 4x slot.

I was under the impression that there are two numbers to watch for when it comes to PCIe. The physical characteristic of the slot (16x, 8x, 4x) and the actual bandwidth it is capable of (ie. 16 lanes). With that said, shouldn't both slots be 16x , but have varying lanes? (ie. Supermicro Xeon boards have two 16x slots with 16 and 4 lanes, Tyan has an Opteron board with two 16x slots with 16 and 2 lanes)