ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

[Joe96]

Hello,

Originally I have h61m-s motherboard and I decided to buy new graphic card which is gigabyte radeon hd 7870 which requires PCi express 3.0 16x, however on my instruction it says that my motherboard have only pci express 2.0 16x, on the other hand; on the website it says that it have pci express 3.0 16x and now I'm confused if this graphic card will work or not, I saw couple of videos on youtube about asrock h61m-VS (similar motherboard like my) that radeon hd 7870 is working fine on it however VS have written on motherboard that it has pci 2.0 as well and now I would like to know what is going on, this mean; do I have pci 3.0 or 2.0 and even if its 2.0 so can I connect graphic card with 3.0?

I am looking for your answers guys

[- wardog -]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

Found on your MB's H61M-S Specifications page.

Expansion / Connectivity

Slots
- 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot (blue @ x16 mode)
- 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots

[COLOR="#FF0000"]*[/COLOR][B][U]PCIe Gen3 is supported on 3rd Generation of Intel� Core� i5 and Core� i7 CPUs.[/U][/B]

[Joe96]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

So you saying that if I will have 3rd generation i5 processor for example i5 3570, then I will be able to connect PCIe 3.0 16x Graphic Card (Radeon HD 7870)?

Please answer as I do not have good knowledge about this :(

[RazberyBandit]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

No. The CPU controls whether or not the card will run at PCIe Gen 2.0 or Gen 3.0 speeds.

The board has a PCIe 3.0 slot, and you can use any PCIe 3.0 card, or 2.1 card, or 2.0 card. However, when you install a PCIe 3.0 card, that card will only achieve PCIe 3.0 BUS speed while used in combination with a 3rd Generation Core i5 or i7 CPU -- Core i3's, Pentiums, and Celerons are limited to PCIe 2.0 speed. A PCIe 2.0 or 2.1 card would be limited to 2.0 speed no matter what CPU is installed.

Not that it'll make much difference whether the card runs at 2.0 or 3.0 speeds... I've yet to hear of any GPU fully saturating the PCIe 2.0 bus, let alone the 3.0 bus, which has twice the bandwidth of 2.0.

[- wardog -]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

The i5-3570 does have/support PCIe 3.0, so if that's your CPU you're good to go according to the ASRock Specs for the H61M-S

[Joe96]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

Thanks all stuff and members for answers, now I know that it's compatible and will work fine.

Greetings :)

(Thread can be closed)

[RazberyBandit]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

You kind of missed the specific question, wardog... He doesn't have to have a Core i5/i7 in order to use a PCIe 3.0 card. (In this case, an AMD HD7870.)

A 3.0 card used in conjunction with a 3.0-equipped CPU (Core i5/i7) will be capable of achieving the maximum throughput of the PCIe 3.0 bus, while a 3.0 card used with a 2.0-equipped CPU (Core i3, Pentium, Celeron) will only be capable of achieving the maximum throughput of the PCIe 2.0 bus.

The most simple way to clarify things might be to say the following: Socket 1155 CPUs have the PCIe controller built-in, thus the CPU controls the PCIe speed at which the GPU will operate. Core i5 and i7 Socket-1155 CPUs are capable of PCIe 3.0 speed, while all other Socket-1155 CPUs (i3, Pent, Celeron) are only capable of PCIe 2.0 speed.

Also worth mentioning, PCIe 3.0-equipped cards are backwards compatible with PCIe 2.0 slots.

[- wardog -]

Re: ASRock H61M-S graphic compilation

You kind of missed the specific question, wardog... He doesn't have to have a Core i5/i7 in order to use a PCIe 3.0 card. (In this case, an AMD HD7870.)

I read their first post right. In my post, #2, I was trying to coax out of them what CPU he had on the board. Or at least show him what the req's were and straighten his confusion out about whether the board can operate at 2.0 or 3.0. Hence my highlighting in post #2 of the quoted from the MB's specs. But thanks for posting the primer anyways.