PCIe 2.0 x8 + x8 versus x16 + x16

[BBloke]

Well I came across an article and thought I would post it here just for your info.

It seems to me as though currently PCIe2.0 is as much as twice the speed as was AGP x4 to x8.

It'll be nice to see what happens over time with this change of interface.

[BBloke]

Well it may not seem like much but whilst discussing motherboards and crossfire configs with Quazi the other night.

[BBloke]

Quazi.

[Klinger]

That Intel DX38BT mobo is a tasty bit of kit BB. Do you think Xfire (or SLi, for that matter) is the way to go?

It seems like a lot of hassle to set up. Is there a great improvement in IL2 with it?

I've heard of cards soon to be introduced, with 2 GPUs. Would that be a better solution for the average gamer?

Is there any benifit from PCIe 2.0 to the single card user?

Cheers.

[BBloke]

I would say at the moment it's all very new and certainly difficult to say how things will help anyone in the long run.

As most things are doubling up its not just 2 x GPU's on one card it's 2 x GPU's on one card running in Crossfire (4 GPU's) and as things are just getting bigger I've found myself concerned not just with graphics capability but what is needed to push those 22", 24" and even 27" screens.

I've not really paid much attention on the FPS figures between XFire and single card running albeit in a recent batch of tests it just seemed as though no matter what I threw at it the FPS stayed relatively consistent where IL2 was concerned.

Google Spreadsheet FPS Benches

What I did notice during my awful time with Stalker and some nasty yellow triangles was that 2 cards were better than one.

[BBloke]

As far as IL2 goes I get the following:

Single card @ 1280 x 1024 2xAA, 16xAF: 39 avg fps

Double card @ 1280 x 1024 2xAA, 16xAF: 46 avg fps

As soon as I know how to bench stalker and post em up.

[Blairgowrie]

I am afraid you are just confirming my opinion about dual cards Chris. I still think it is a marketing scam for the video card vendors to double up on their sales.

A gain of 7 fps won't even be detectable in the graphics. I'd rather spend the extra money on a better video card or a second Raptor.

[BBloke]

But then surely the same can be said about dual CPU's for gaming.

[Blairgowrie]

If you had to buy two separate CPU's, I might agree with you. But you don't! You buy a single dual core or quad at a similar

[BBloke]

With IL2 I agree there is little benefit but that for me is not all I play and new games do grab my attention.

[BBloke]

Just did a small amount of testing to see what happens where (mainly with refresh rate and VSync).

Here are some figures:

1400 x 1050 x 32 bit - Water 2, Effects 1, 2xAA, 16xAF - V-Sync Off - CrossFire

2008-02-09 21:54:14 - il2fb

Frames: 5269 - Time: 120000ms - Avg: 43.908 - Min: 23 - Max: 121

1400 x 1050 x 32 bit - Water 2, Effects 1, 2xAA, 16xAF - V-Sync On - Refresh Rate 60Hz - CrossFire (x8 x8)

2008-02-09 22:16:07 - il2fb

Frames: 4128 - Time: 120000ms - Avg: 34.400 - Min: 18 - Max: 62

1400 x 1050 x 32 bit - Water 2, Effects 1, 2xAA, 16xAF - V-Sync On - Refresh Rate 60Hz - Single Card

2008-02-09 22:20:46 - il2fb

Frames: 3498 - Time: 120000ms - Avg: 29.150 - Min: 8 - Max: 62

Notice the minimum FPS and total Frames rendered drops significantly.