is this right???

Warmo161 · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:02

Hi, everyone
i was looking at a good board to pick for my build when i found this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-251-GI

but on the gigabyte website it says that the to PCIe slots are not both 16, but one is 16 and the other is 8:

Expansion Slots

1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) (Note 4)
2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8) (Note 4) 8

and on the OC shop: - Expasion slots: 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slots,

erm, is it me?

cmndr_andi · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:07

Nope, its not you. Electrically, the second slot is x8 speed - so when running a two graphics cards in Crossfire - they run at x8x8 speed as the main slot shares bandwidth with the second slot.

Technically, the second slot is a physcial x16 slot (ie same size as the main one) but it won't run at the same speed as those in a 890FX board (both electrically x16x16).

On OCUKs part, it doesn't seem the most useful way of advertising it tbh.

Warmo161 · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:10

ok, thanks

so what board could i pick then?

cmndr_andi · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:16

That board is still a good one. If you plan to run dual graphics cards, then the performance drop by using a x8x8 board compared to a x16x16 board is only a few %.

If you do plan to crossfire two expensive cards then you may as well spend the bit extra and get the x16x16 PCIe and the other extra features offered by a 890FX board such as this.

May I ask what you do plan to do with the system, and what other components you will be using?

Warmo161 · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:41

I was planning to run it with a 5770 and was going to buy a second card after i've had had the pc for a while.
How would the performance work when i get the second card?

cmndr_andi · 20 Sep 2010 at 18:46

In that case you will be fine with the board in your first post. The performance difference will be a few % compared to 890FX and you will have saved around £25.