PCIe Lanes vs CPU Power for Gaming

[CandiceJoy]

So here's the thing (this is about gaming and basically nothing else).  I currently have an i7-6700k.  I have an rtx 3080 on the way.  Yes yes, I need to upgrade.  I realise that.  The problem is I have a PCIe soundcard and usb card that take up 2 PCIe lanes, meaning that, on Intel's consumer architecture, I can only give ANY GPU 8x PCIe gen 3 lanes and no more.  So the question is...do I upgrade to an intel consumer CPU (thinking 10700k) and still run the 3080 at 8x pcie3, or do I upgrade to an AMD Ryzen (thinking 3800xt), which comes with 24 pcie4 lanes, thus giving the 3080 a full 16 pcie4 lanes?

The Intel option is obviously faster for gaming, but I don't know how much 8x pcie3 lanes is going to matter vs the performance difference of the Intel option and the AMD option.

[Moonzy]

those other cards are probably running off the lanes from chipset, so your GPU can still get x16

check your motherboard manual to know which slot to use to utilise lanes from chipset.

[CandiceJoy]

Wait, PCIe lanes from the chipset is a thing that exists?!

[Yebi]

Hard to say. Gen3 vs Gen4 for a 3080 is a measurable, but not really noticeable difference. I haven't seen anyone benchmark gen3 x8. It might matter. Also, there's a good chance that there will be a significant difference once direct storage API comes into play.

What kind of monitor do you have? If you're going for a high resolution/low refresh rate, then the whole "intel is faster for gaming" thing isn't really a thing. Or rather it is, but it doesn't matter. That would answer the question pretty quickly

Also, it might be a good idea to wait and see what Zen 3 has to offer. It will take a while, (announcement at the end or October iirc), but in all likelyhood, so will the 3080

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, CandiceJoy said:

Wait, PCIe lanes from the chipset is a thing that exists?!

yes, but they have low bandwidth most of the time, so it's suitable for low bandwidth cards like wifi or sound card

 

remember to quote or mention me so i can see the reply, like this @Moonzy

[SkilledRebuilds]

It might only be a few FPS if any...if it's sharing lanes and you have to drop the link..

While related but unrelated... might be worth mentioning this...

Horizon Zero Dawn (however Broken it currently is right now) uses large data sets... bandwidth can be a concern so I ran....

PCIE 3 16x vs 8x (also known as PCIE2 16x)
4th Gen 4790K + GTX1070 PCIE3 spec vs PCIE 2 spec

Spoiler

 

 

[CandiceJoy]

6 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

yes, but they have low bandwidth most of the time, so it's suitable for low bandwidth cards like wifi or sound card

 

remember to quote or mention me so i can see the reply, like this @Moonzy

I just checked the manual and tried it...worked perfectly....wow I'm a derp, thanks so much

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, CandiceJoy said:

I just checked the manual and tried it...worked perfectly....wow I'm a derp, thanks so much

remember to mark the thread as solved with the tick mark under the best answer