PCIe 16x

cuylar said:

I'm in the process of of completing a $4,000 build and I need some advice.

I realize this is a motherboard question but it's directly related to the graphics cards.

I plan to be doing 1440p gaming with max settings and AA. I want my frame rates to be at least 120+. I've chosen the 780TI as my platform and I'll be doing SLI.

I think 2 cards at the moment will meet my needs.

My question relates to the PCIe slots.

Some boards like the Asus Rampage 4 Black can use 2 PCIe 3.0 slots at 16x... but other boards will only let you use one slot at 16x.... if you use 2 cards you will be limited to 8x.

How will the 16x in SLI vs the 8x in SLI matter to my frame rate?

Thank you in advance.

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tinytomlogan said:

I think the point here is 1440p - max settings 120FPS wont happen unless its crappy games - see the review below. So Id consider that before worrying about PCIE lanes.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/gainward_gtx780_ti_phantom_single_and_sli_review/1

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cuylar said:

Yikes... I guess I've been focusing on maximum fps in other articles read.

Ok... well thank you.

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Kaapstad said:

To answer your question using two cards on a RIVE BE @PCI-E 3.0 x16 compared to x8 gives very little difference in performance, less than 1%.

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cuylar said:

That must be a programming limitation though.... Or is it that the hardware isn't built to handle it?

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