# Can you use PCIe 3.0 card with i5 2500K ?



## blabla21 (Aug 8, 2015)

Im wondering can you use PCIe 3.0 card with an i5 2500k which only supports PCIe 2.0 and will there be any performance hit ?

Im asking this because I just bought GTX 980 Ti and to save myself money and not but Skylake + new mobo + DDR4 RAM


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## Aquinus (Aug 8, 2015)

Nah, you won't lose performance because you're running at PCI-E 2.0. If you were to run SLI, 2.0 @ 8x might start showing a little bit, but in reality, probably not a whole lot. It will work without a problem.

Another way to look at it is that I got my 390 without any expectation that my 3820 was going to do PCI-E 3.0. To my amazement my 3820 does 3.0 (some do, some don't,) but I didn't feel any tangible difference because of it. I would say that if you want a 980 Ti, go for it. You don't have a huge CPU bottleneck. Will an upgraded platform help? Sure. Is it worth it? Probably not yet.


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## RejZoR (Aug 8, 2015)

I'm using GTX 980 with PCIe 3.0 on Intel X58 platform which even predates your X/Z6x series chipset. You'll be fine...


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## TheGuruStud (Aug 8, 2015)

2500k is still better than the new stuff LOL. 5 ghz on air?


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## Agreemenot (Aug 8, 2015)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_980_PCI-Express_Scaling/


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## dorsetknob (Aug 8, 2015)

RejZoR said:


> I'm using GTX 980 with PCIe 3.0 on Intel X58 platform which even predates your X/Z6x series chipset. You'll be fine...



As above  
I run a HD 7850 (PCIx3 Card ) in a X58 system ( PCIx2 slots )

you Asked


blabla21 said:


> Im wondering can you use PCIe 3.0 card with an i5 2500k which only supports PCIe 2.0 and will there be any performance hit ?



well  for sure your not get the Full Performance that Could come from running your card in a PCIx3 slot but that's not what your asking

there will be no performance hit for you because you have not had the full performance from the card
In my opinion a performance hit is when you have had the full performance and then lost some   thats a performance hit

If you had a PCIx3 Capable motherboard and the card was installed   AND then you Downgraded to a PCIx2 Motherboard  then you would expect a performance hit 

You cannot lose what you never had


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## Hugis (Aug 8, 2015)

Used a gtx 680 in a p35 (intel 775)and got great frame rates, so yes your good to go


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## RejZoR (Aug 8, 2015)

Imagine PCIe versions the same as AGP versions in the past. There were differences, but very tiny. AGP 2x or AGP 8x, the difference was minimal in 99% of cases. Same for PCIe 1.0 and PCIe 3.0. You only start seeing anything noticeable when you're running a tri or quad SLi/CrossfireX setups where every MB/s counts. For single card, I don't think even benchmarks will show anything outside of margin of error.


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## Bill_Bright (Aug 8, 2015)

blabla21 said:


> Im wondering can you use PCIe 3.0 card with an i5 2500k which only supports PCIe 2.0 and will there be any performance hit ?


PCIe 3.0 is backwards compatible so yes, you can use it.

While 2.0 will not allow full potential, I am assuming this card is an upgrade from your previous card so clearly, you will see a performance boost.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 8, 2015)

PCIe 2.0 is still not fully utilized for single GPU situations, so no, there is no problem continuing to use a 2500K and a PCIe 3.0 card.


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## blabla21 (Aug 8, 2015)

I have to say my mobo is AsRock Z77 Extreme4 so there are PCI-E 3.0 slots, only problem is i5 2500k supports 2.0.


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## vega22 (Aug 8, 2015)

nvidia do not max out pcie2. 

you will be fine 

amd have issues with latest cards on 2 as they need the bandwidth of the gen 3 slot for cross card com in multi card setups.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 8, 2015)

blabla21 said:


> I have to say my mobo is AsRock Z77 Extreme4 so there are PCI-E 3.0 slots, only problem is i5 2500k supports 2.0.


 
It's not a problem at all.  The GPU will run at PCIe 2.0 as long as you have a Sandy in there, and that is no problem at all.  PCIe 2.0 speeds for a single GPU are still fine.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2015)

From my Z68X PCI3.0 motherboard. "To support PCI Express 3.0, you must install an Intel 22nm CPU." so no you will not get 3.0 with a 2500K you need a 3xxx series CPU


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