So a step back then? Well, yes and no. Firstly, the P45 chipset supports a single 16x PCIe 2.0 or dual 8x PCIe 2.0 lanes in crossfire mode and while it appears that 8 less lanes per channel is detrimental to performance actual figures between 16x+16x and 8x+8x are very similar and certainly not as restrictive as one might think, add to the fact that next gen PCIe 2.0 offers twice the bandwidth of PCIe 1.1 and it becomes apparent that 8x PCIe 2.0 is no slouch. This however was with testing 3870x2 in crossfire mode which, due to the onboard bridging chip used in 3870x2's, limits the card to PCIe 1.1. So how this will translate to PCIe 2.0 cards used in crossfire is debatable and something we will strive to investigate in future reviews. Secondly, the P45 chipset appears to be a better overclocking platform than its X38/X48 stablemate with improved power delivery and an increase in attainable FSB.



Link: Overclock3D