PCI-SIG releases the PCIe 2.0 spec

[iwod]

Could someone explain.
I have heard there was a 1.1a PCI Express Spec that allow 150W power from the Slot. But it isn't widely used or implemented.

So will the proposed 225W/300W usage be available direct from the slot? ( It seems to me an awful amount of electricity going through my motherbroad. Is that even possible / feasible? )

Or will it be 150W from the slot and a PCIe 2.0 Extension Cable for the extra 150W power?

And the most important question is why so much as 300W?

If i remember correctly Anandtech did a test and a Core 2 Duo with 8800 GTX only uses 180W at idle and uses up to 280 when on load.
Theinquirer also tested a overclocked Quad Core CPU with Water Cooling and 8800 GTX SLI with a 500W Power Supply.

So 280W for the whole system with a 8800GTX and highest recorded usage for 8800GTX SLI was 430W.

280W and 430W are the figure for the WHOLE system.

Why all of a sudden we need / preparing 300W ONLY for Graphics Card just seems scary to me

Not to mention these graphics monster uses huge amount of power even @ idle. ( But that is another topic )

 

[Albuquerque]

actually i've looked around for fun and havent found many actually in stock (only noticed 2 brands, sapphire and i think the other was power color), and the ones i have located were quite expensive. $250-$280.

Could it be because they're selling so well? Or do you suppose it's just because they really aren't making that many and gouging for what they can? (Honestly, I don't know...)

I have one of the scant few Gainward Bliss 7800 GS+ AGP cards from the UK (24-pipe G71 with 512mb GDDR3). Cost me a bit too much, but I still love it It's basically a 7900GT with 512mb of ram and an AGP bus; everything is so CPU limited now that essentially every game I play can use huge amounts of AA and AF "for free."

Probably either the end of this year or beginning of next I'll bite the bullet and completely overhaul my rig.

 

[SugarCoat]

Could it be because they're selling so well? Or do you suppose it's just because they really aren't making that many and gouging for what they can? (Honestly, I don't know...)

I have one of the scant few Gainward Bliss 7800 GS+ AGP cards from the UK (24-pipe G71 with 512mb GDDR3). Cost me a bit too much, but I still love it It's basically a 7900GT with 512mb of ram and an AGP bus; everything is so CPU limited now that essentially every game I play can use huge amounts of AA and AF "for free."

Probably either the end of this year or beginning of next I'll bite the bullet and completely overhaul my rig.

i dont think they're making many.

 

[Albuquerque]

i dont think they're making many.

Might well be possible, but suppose there's any way to actually verify? At that price point, I'm wishing I had waited on my own video upgrade. The 1950Pro and 7900GT are within the same general performance envelope on PCI-E, give or take. I think my card does a bit better on AGP, but it's still close enough that it might as well be a tie.

I can't be the only person on the planet with a decent rig that just so happens to be AGP-equipped. At this price and this performance, I'd wager a free cup of coffee that they sell whatever quantities they're making pretty decently.

 

[Dave Baumann]

X1950 AGP prevelence is getting fairly widespread, actually, and there are a total of seven AIB's doing them. You will find that there are basically two different board designs though - such as this Sapphire and this HIS board as examples of the two. 256 and 512MB variants are available and core and mem speeds are often increased a little from their PCIe counterparts.

 

[hoom]

It seems to me an awful amount of electricity going through my motherbroad. Is that even possible / feasible?

Certainly makes more sense to pump it into the graphics card by a direct cable from the PSU than to have to engineer the Mobo to handle it.

 

[Jawed]

this HIS board

Ooh that's just what I've been waiting for

Jawed

 

[wishiknew]

Won't we need a new atx power connector if they're going to do a 225/300w slot?

 

[Basic]

It has already been said here that there won't be a 225W/300W slot.

There's 75 W in the slot.
There already exist a standard power plug for PCIe that give 75 W (2x3 pin).
And now they've added a power plug that give 150 W (2x4 pin).

slot = 75 W
slot + 2x3pin = 75 W + 75 W = 150 W
slot + 2x3pin + 2x3pin = 75 W + 75 W + 75 W = 225 W
slot + 2x4pin = 75 W + 150 W = 225 W (in another way)
slot + 2x3pin + 2x4pin = 75 W + 75 W + 150 W = 300 W

And there you have the old 75 W and 150 W versions, and the new 225 W and 300 W versions.

And I'd say it's a good thing they didn't change the slot. It's good to clean out legacy stuff that only drag you down, but the current PCIe slot isn't anywhere near that state. And I wouldn't want motherboards to need connectors for 600 W of power just for graphics just because someone might want to run SLI. Especially when the there exist such an easy to use alternative, the extra powerplugs.