Motherboard options: PCIe 16, 8x or 16, 4x
in [Home Built PC]
|
Prev: AMD TK-53 mobile
Next: Help with USB speeds
From: CCR on 4 Jan 2010 23:07 Paul wrote:: : On the P55, the "good" PCI Express interfaces are on the processor : itself. The rest come from the Southbridge chip. Make sure you : understand the limitations of a P55 (LGA1156) implementation before : buying. Download the P55 motherboard manual, and read about any : restrictions on usage. : : The X58 has the PCI Express lanes on the Northbridge, and there are : more of them to work with. There are a few more options as to how : they can : be distributed to the motherboard. : : http://media.bestofmicro.com/3/T/166025/original/X58-blockdiagram.gif : : The fun begins on the P55, when they try to run the Southbridge lanes : at PCI Express Rev.2 rates. Some boards do that, to help an onboard : USB3 or SATA3 chip. : : http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/medium/2009/09/P55-blockdiagram.gif : : If you're concerned about future proofing, you really have to do a : lot of careful analysis for yourself. Do the lane counts add up ? : Is the board cutting corners somewhere ? It isn't something you : get an answer to in 30 seconds. An advert on Newegg isn't enough to : figure it all out. The manual is a bit more informative. Thanks Paul. I havent had a chance to look at all this info. The "lanes" are a little over the top for me. I know what they are, but I wouldn't necessarily know how to decipher the info in the manuals. Would you suggest the X58 chipset over the P55 then?
From: CCR on 4 Jan 2010 23:10 peter wrote: : Have you looked at the Asus versions of that chipset with SATA3 and : USB3 They took a different route and left the PCIe alone I really would rather avoid Asus. I haven't had very good luck with them. Mostly due to weird anomolies including RAM incompatibilities with name brand memory sticks and USB flakiness.
From: Paul on 4 Jan 2010 23:56 CCR wrote: > > Thanks Paul. I havent had a chance to look at all this info. The > "lanes" are a little over the top for me. I know what they are, but I > wouldn't necessarily know how to decipher the info in the manuals. > > Would you suggest the X58 chipset over the P55 then? > If you needed a motherboard with more potential bandwidth for add-in cards, then the X58 would handle that. The P55 is a little bit cramped, with respect to future proofing. It all depends on your vision of what you expect to do with the system. Most buyers are price sensitive, even if they don't state that in a posting. I recommend you price out both options. Plan a system based on X58. Plan a system based on P55. Say the price difference is $200. How many years do you plan to keep the system ? Is throwing $200 into the picture, to remove a minor limitation, important to you ? At the very least, you should be looking at a picture of the motherboard, and look at the slot plan. Some motherboards have a nice collection of slots, but the designer places them in such an order, that half of them can't be used. (The video card may cover more than one slot.) So even if you don't check all the details on the slot wiring, at least you should imagine how the cards will fit, how they'll get cooling air, and what slots will never be able to be used. There have been some systems, where people aren't able to fit their old PCI sound card, because of poor slot layout. (Many people like to reuse their expensive sound cards, for gaming.) On my current motherboard, the two high performance slots are right next to one another. If one is occupied, I can't use the other one, due to the heat sink getting in the way. It is kinda annoying looking at that slot and not being able to use it. But the motherboard was $65, so I have to live with it. Paul
From: Bill on 5 Jan 2010 01:34 "Paul" <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote in message news:hhugpm$bdm$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > CCR wrote: >> >> Thanks Paul. I havent had a chance to look at all this info. The >> "lanes" are a little over the top for me. I know what they are, but I >> wouldn't necessarily know how to decipher the info in the manuals. >> CCR, IMO, it makes alot more sense to read the manuals now than after you've bought the hardware. They are made to be easy to read and are just a download away. It's not like reading the specifications for a chipset. I want to spend the $200 (more) I could spend on the X58 on the Intel X-25M SSD instead. That's where I feel I'll get the most "bang for my buck". I am not a gamer. Good luck with your system! Bill
From: CCR on 5 Jan 2010 01:43
Paul wrote: : Most buyers are price sensitive, even if they don't state : that in a posting. I recommend you price out both options. : Plan a system based on X58. Plan a system based on P55. : Say the price difference is $200. How many years do you : plan to keep the system ? Is throwing $200 into the picture, : to remove a minor limitation, important to you ? In my neck of the woods, the price for both are comparable but overall, there is a slight advantage given to the i5/750 and i7/860 in terms of the *combined* mobo, cpu, and ram cost. I don't want to shell out an additional $200 for a slight performance boost or to remove a minor limitation. I rather focus on trying to "future proof" as much as possible as I dont intend to upgrade for 3 years. But I dont intend to keep it any longer before giving it to someone else or using it as a server. I'm even considering USB 3 and SATA 3 mobos. : : At the very least, you should be looking at a picture of the : motherboard, and look at the slot plan. Some motherboards : have a nice collection of slots, but the designer places : them in such an order, that half of them can't be used. : (The video card may cover more than one slot.) So even : if you don't check all the details on the slot wiring, : at least you should imagine how the cards will fit, : how they'll get cooling air, and what slots will never : be able to be used. There have been some systems, : where people aren't able to fit their old PCI sound card, : because of poor slot layout. (Many people like to reuse : their expensive sound cards, for gaming.) That's a fantastic reminder,. Just before Xmas, I bought (and a day later returned) a prefab Acer Quad 8200 E9232. Everythng but the HD was proprietary. I could open the case but that was it. It was ridiculously cramped. The same thing can be said about a prefab Dell Vostro which I was considering. I had to rely on the reviews of the Dell to realize that SATA adapters were hard to access to. I have a very difficult time visualizing how things would be be just by looking at the manual to determine how cramped the board is. The only way I really would know is when it was too late: after I bought the mobo and the cards. My experience with the Acer and the the bad reviews of the Dell systems solidified the fact that I need to go for a custom build configuration. I really have to rely on the forums or usenet for feedback. In my decision, I also look at the values for "Windows Experience index". Someone said that i7 860 had a Windows Experience Index of 7.5 while my lousy Acer Quad Core 8200 2.33 had a CPU index of 7.1. That does not seem right. I think it should be in the 8s? I continuously seek and appreciate any guidance and feedback people such as yourself can offer. This would be my first complete custom build in over 12 years. |