What Gen PCIe does my computer have?

[Chef_D]

I was just wondering if the PCIe ports in my HPE570t were Gen 1 or Gen 2?

The schematic of the Cleveland motherboard layout, did not say.

Thanks in advance,

Chef_D

[erico]

If you are looking to upgrade your graphics card, it has already been discussed in the following thread. 

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Compatiable-Graphics-card-for-Cl...

Your motherboard is an older version Cleveland-GL8, which has a legacy BIOS. No UEFI video cards are supported.  PCIe x16 slots accept newer versions. Yours is probably a Gen 1 since it was marketed in 2011. Back then HP did not specify the slot PCIE version present on the motherboards. Newer HP motherboard specs show the PCIe x16 version.

I hope this helps you. There are some sticky threads that explain some of the ins and outs of upgrading video cards and other hardware at the top of the section in the forum.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Chef_D :

The PCI express revision of the chipset the motherboard in your PC has is 2.0.

https://ark.intel.com/products/52807/Intel-H67-Express-Chipset

However nowadays, you have to also consider the BIOS revision your PC has, which probably will not support the newest video cards out there, unless they have a legacy BIOS switch on them.

[Chef_D]

erico: thanks for the link; it was an informative - at that.

Paul: Maybe I'm just behind the times...is there a difference between an H67 Chipset and an H67 Express chipset?

How did you know to look to the chipset for the PCI info?

Thanks in advance,

Chef_D

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The correct name for the chipset is the one on the link I posted.

There is no difference, per se.

I knew that the PCIe revisions are normally listed on the Intel chipset specs site.

I have looked that info up many times for forum members that had the same question as you did.

For example...here is a spec sheet from an older chipset which has a different PCIe revision.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27857/Intel-82945GM-Graphics-and-Memory-Controller

[Chef_D]

Many apologies. I didn't mean to put on on the defensive. I knew from from the start, you were right; I was just trying to "connect the dots," for my own edification.

Chef_D

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

No need to apologize.

One day I was looking up some Intel chipset specs (for how much memory the chipset I was interested in supported), and I looked at all the info on the specs page, and noticed that they included the PCIe slot revision for each chipset, which kind of surprised me.

I thought that would come in handy to know as well, being that some PCIe 2.0 cards won't work on very old PCIe revisions such as 1.0a unless there is a BIOS update on the PC's support page that adds support for PCIe 2.0 graphics cards.

Something to do with voltage differences between the PCIe x generations.

So, now anyone with a PC with an Intel chipset that asks what PCIe generation their PC has, I know just where to look.

But as Erico pointed out, the graphics card upgrading game has changed a bit.

Not only do you have to be concerned with things like power supply requirements, whether the card will fit, and PCIe revisions, etc., you now have to contend with UEFI and non-UEFI BIOS compatibility with newer cards, and even how new a UEFI BIOS you need to have.

It's gotten a bit crazy.

[erico · Accepted solution]

One thing to be aware of and the reason I stated probably version 2 is that HP does not always put the latest version that applies to a chipset on a motherboard. 

You can look at the PCI Express slot and compare it to the images found online to determine the actual version. 

GPU-z will show you exactly which PCI Express interface version is present on the motherboard.

https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2919/techpowerup-gpu-z-v1-16-0/mirrors

https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2919/techpowerup-gpu-z-v1-16-0

[Chef_D]

Thanks so much erico for posting that link.

Without any data being run through it, i.e.idle mode - the graphics card it shows up as "PCIe x16 1.1@x16 1.1" or when I ran a render test, it said " "PCIe x16 2.0@x16 2.0" .

I take that to mean a) it supports v2.0 and b) is backward compatible to v.1.1

Thanks again for your help.

Chef_D

[erico]

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@Chef_D wrote:

Thanks so much erico for posting that link.

Without any data being run through it, i.e.idle mode - the graphics card it shows up as "PCIe x16 1.1@x16 1.1" or when I ran a render test, it said " "PCIe x16 2.0@x16 2.0" .

I take that to mean a) it supports v2.0 and b) is backward compatible to v.1.1

Thanks again for your help.

Chef_D

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I would agree with that. You are welcome. We are here for you.

@Paul_Tikkanen  Thanks for your assistance