Best Graphics Cards at Present and in the Future

[WITHTEETH]

This is the response I received from Asus Bok.

Will my Asus Commando P965 Motherboard be compatible with Graphic cards that use the PCI-E

Version 2.0 Specification?

 

What version PCI-E does the Asus commando have? (PCI-E 1.0, PCI-E 1.1a, or a PCI-E 2.0)

 

And if it is incompatible with PCI-E Version 2.0 then will Asus release a compatible BIOS, or will there

be an available fix to this problem? Any and all information related you can give me would be

appreciated.

 

Thanks for you time

-Stephen

The board supports first revision of PCI-E. PCI-E 2.0 is only compattible with the newest Intel Chipset.

 

Best Regards,

 

Rob

Level 3 Support Engineer

Asus Technology

Http://usa.asus.com

Phone: (812)-282-2787

RMA: (510)739-3777 opt. 2

 

 

Thank You for using our technical support deparment. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction from our valued customers. Please take just a moment to fill out our customer service survey. With these results we can improve our customer satisfaction and provide you with better service on your next call. Thank you for taking your time to complete this survey.

http://sip.asus.com/Survey/Questionnaire/S...7092785120.aspx

 

Im dissatisfied with there lack of answers to my questions.

 

Im still unsure at what level the 1.0 and 2.0 PCIE slots are incompatible. They will definitely require us to plug in a power connector unlike the people with 2.0 because 2.0 pushes about 150 Watts through the slot. SLI mode will not work with Intel chipsets. Other then that I am unsure... I just want to be able to plug a PCIE 2.0 card into a PCIE 16X 1.0 slot. The PCIE 16X bandwidth still has a lot of room to get filled in before it reaches its bandwidth limit.

Edited January 3, 2008 by WITHTEETH

[Bokishi]

Wow Asus tech support is just as bad as those BFG liars.

 

On a side note, this is pure BS if it is true

 

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html...W50aHVzaWFzdA==

[WITHTEETH]

Good thing Im patient, if I have to wait even longer to get a good graphic card I will.

 

I will not buy that monstrosity. Screw that double PCB design, give me a single PCB, smaller die shrink or nothing at all. I don't want heat, power or bad drivers. Im bitter now...

[Meshugger]

Wow Asus tech support is just as bad as those BFG liars.

 

On a side note, this is pure BS if it is true

 

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html...W50aHVzaWFzdA==

 

2 PCB's? And the suggested performance increase does not justify it either. The 8800GT or 3850HD (with crossfire) is the way to go at the moment.

[Magister Lajciak]

What is a PCB?

[samm]

It's an acronym for "printed circuit board" and is the green/red/blue/brown thing on which the chips, condensators etc are soldered (?). That the GF9800GX2 comes on 2 PCBs basically means that this one "card" is actually two cards connected but using only one PCI-E interface, using power and producing head equivalent to a SLI setup. ATI's version is solved slightly better imo because it consists only of one PCB containing both GPUs.

Edited January 16, 2008 by samm

[Magister Lajciak]

It's an acronym for "printed circuit board" and is the green/red/blue/brown thing on which the chips, condensators etc are soldered (?). That the GF9800GX2 comes on 2 PCBs basically means that this one "card" is actually two cards connected but using only one PCI-E interface, using power and producing head equivalent to a SLI setup. ATI's version is solved slightly better imo because it consists only of one PCB containing both GPUs.

 

Thank you! So if I understand it correctly, the PCI-E interface connection means the two cards cannot communicate as effectively as if they were on the same board and the whole setup is thus slower.

[samm]

Hm, not quite, I put it a bit strange there. The two cards of the GF9800GX2 are not connected via PCI-E, but with some other connection between the two PCBs. This is not necessarily slower than if they were on the same PCB where they could communicate via some internal connection. This connected "bundle" of cards then is put into one PCI-E slot.

The ATI version doesnt take up so much space vertically and probably uses less power (but this remains to see) because it's only one PCB, and the heat dissipation should be better. These are the points where I think ATI did a better job than nVidia. This dual-chip card also uses one PCI-E slot.

Hope this claryfies it until the cards come out and we see what it all really means

Edited January 19, 2008 by samm

[mkreku]

http://www.dailytech.com/GeForce+9600GT+Be...rticle10397.htm

 

Early benchmark of a member of the ninth generation of GPU's. It sounds promising if this is just the mid-range card and it outscores the 8600 by 100%. The 9800 will probably be a monster..

[Magister Lajciak]

Hm, not quite, I put it a bit strange there. The two cards of the GF9800GX2 are not connected via PCI-E, but with some other connection between the two PCBs. This is not necessarily slower than if they were on the same PCB where they could communicate via some internal connection. This connected "bundle" of cards then is put into one PCI-E slot.

The ATI version doesnt take up so much space vertically and probably uses less power (but this remains to see) because it's only one PCB, and the heat dissipation should be better. These are the points where I think ATI did a better job than nVidia. This dual-chip card also uses one PCI-E slot.

Hope this claryfies it until the cards come out and we see what it all really means

 

OK, this does explain it. Thanks!

[Magister Lajciak]

http://www.dailytech.com/GeForce+9600GT+Be...rticle10397.htm

 

Early benchmark of a member of the ninth generation of GPU's. It sounds promising if this is just the mid-range card and it outscores the 8600 by 100%. The 9800 will probably be a monster..

 

That is pretty amazing! I must say that I am impressed.

[Pidesco]

The 8800GS, Nvidia's answer to the 3850 is out. Here in Portugal they are priced about the same, however, I've heard that ATI might lower the 3850's price a bit.

 

Review.

[mkreku]

It's here:

 

 

They have it in store at Komplett.se. Now let's see how this rather expensive beast reviews.

[Gorgon]

I would like to see them top Nvidia again, to bring on some real competion.

[samm]

Well, they do now with the 3870x2, sort of... I don't like Crossfire/SLI setups for their drawbacks though, so this card wouldn't be an option anyway until they release drivers that (among other things) offer the possibility to create profiles, evenly distribute frames to reduce the "fake high fps/micro-stuttering" problem, come up with ways do decrease input-lag... Plus, there's always horrendous power-consumption in 3D-mode.

[Gorgon]

mmm, I'm seriously considering forking out a respectable ammount for a new box, im still on AGPx8, maybe in a month or two there will be a viable product.

 

When is nvidia hitting back ?

[WITHTEETH]

mmm, I'm seriously considering forking out a respectable ammount for a new box, im still on AGPx8, maybe in a month or two there will be a viable product.

 

When is nvidia hitting back ?

well the 9800 GX2 should come out late february. I wouldn't touch it though. Id wait for the 9800GT that should come out in March.

[mkreku]

A small review of the 3870X2:

 

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_ra...x2_performance/

 

Looking pretty good in DX9 at least. Not so good for DX10, but then again.. No AMD/ATI card will until their sort out their DX10 driver issues.

[Janmanden]

How can the first 9 series card be a GX2? Is the 9-series GPU really that weak that they need two of them?

Yep.

 

 

 

 

Well... Maybe not, but I'm guessing that Nvidia plans to strike so hard at the first launch, that the thought of ATi ever in the lead with the 3870X2 will be completely obliterated. Besides it's likely that Nvidia wants to make a new crown, now that it has been tainted by ATi.. but erm, the new 'old' 8800GT/GTS, the 256bit 512MB versions are actually using the G92 (of the 9-series).. It's a (mega-)bit confusing.. and they too have been overthrown, so.. hm.. well.. GX2!!

[CoM_Solaufein]

Can DX10.x cards use DX9? WinXP is the only OS I will use until Microsoft comes out with a better OS.

[WITHTEETH]

Can DX10.x cards use DX9? WinXP is the only OS I will use until Microsoft comes out with a better OS.

Yes DX10 cards are compatible with DX9.

[WITHTEETH]

The 9600GT is out!

Its nearly as fast as my 8800GT but also nearly the same price. You can get a 8800GT for $220-260, the 9600GT's are selling for $210 at newegg. Might as well get the 8800GT.

[samm]

Yes, seems like a bad price considering the 8800GT and 3780...

[Magister Lajciak]

Can DX10.x cards use DX9? WinXP is the only OS I will use until Microsoft comes out with a better OS.

 

Can Windows XP be upgraded to DX10, or is DX10 exclusive to Windows Vista?

[Spider]

The latter.