[masterm]

I have read that SATA 3 will use bandwidth from the PCI Express 16.0 lane and this will reduce the graphics to 8X.

Does this hold true for the X58 chipset on the R3E or only on the P55 motheboards? Will a SLI setup force one or both of the cards to now run at 8x

This is what I found on one of the forums. Is this true?

.I believe it's something to do with X58 chipsets having an extra PCI-e 16x lane, so there won't be any bandwidth issues. Apparently SATA III/USB 3.0 use some PCI-e lanes on P55 motherboards, and you need a specific controller or more lanes to overcome the P55 board from having to lower the bandwidth or disable its PCI-e lanes

Also how can you tell what the lanes are running at? I have sli setup with a 2X card in the last slot. According to what I understand I should get 16x 8x 8x. But GPU Z show still shows 16X for both graphics cards

 

[Senator]

Well that was a rambling post. Let's see what we can do to organize and answer your questions.

1. Does the Sata3 controller limit PCI-E pathways if I am utilizing it? If so, how much does it reduce the PCI-E lane?

-Yes in some cases and no in others. It depends on the PCI-E layout of the motherboard in question. For example on my Rampage III Extreme (X58), my USB 3.0 and Sata3 controller do share one PCI-E lane IIRC. However my motherboard still supports x16x16x16 or x8x8x8x8.

2. Is this something specific to a particular chipset like the X58? Or does it affect P55 as well. I

-It actually affects the 1156 platform more than the X58. There are less available PCI-E lanes on on the P55 platform than there is on the older X58. Though there are solutions like the NF200 chip that utilize PCI-E lanes more effectively I think.

3. How can I tell how many PCI-E lanes are available to me for a given PCI-E slot?

- That's dependent on your motherboard. Somewhere between x4 and x16 though.

4. Should I be getting X16 X8 X8 for my GPU lanes or less/more? GPU-Z always shows X16.

- Then it may very well be a x16 lane. Fill in your system specs for us to help you more specifically. LINK

 

[Sin0822]

the ICH has its own PCI-E lanes that the SATA6G controller can attach too, but most of the time they use the IOH's PCI-E lanes. The IOH actually has 36 PCI-E lanes, but only 32 are used for GPUs.

 

[masterm]

@Senator I have updated my system specs. If I understand you correctly that SATA 3 ports will run on one of the the 16X. So this will deduce on of my graphics card lanes.

I want to add an SSD to the SATA 3 controller. But not at the expense of my graphics since I run surround.

 

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by masterm;14133160
@Senator I have updated my system specs. If I understand you correctly that SATA 3 ports will run on one of the the 16X. So this will deduce on of my graphics card lanes.

I want to add an SSD to the SATA 3 controller. But not at the expense of my graphics since I run surround.

No no. Your fine man. It just takes up one of the PCI-E lanes. Not one of the GPU dedicated PCI-E lanes. I utilize my sata 3 ports and still run 3 GPU's at X16. Your good to go man!

 

[masterm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator;14139283
No no. Your fine man. It just takes up one of the PCI-E lanes. Not one of the GPU dedicated PCI-E lanes. I utilize my sata 3 ports and still run 3 GPU's at X16. Your good to go man!

Oh ok. Cool Thats a relief. What drive are you running on the Marvell controler? Would it be faster than running two sata 2 drives in raid0