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On 8/18/2010 9:34 AM, Joseph Fry wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=34DSTD+0KdEso_g8=7FeaUyDQ5mG=-Aw5cVXn@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Kevin
Ross <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:kevin@familyross.net">kevin@familyross.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left: 1ex;
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204,
204, 204);">
<div class="im"> On 8/18/2010 9:17 AM, Raymond Wagner wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left: 1ex;
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204,
204, 204);"> On 8/18/2010 12:06, Kevin Ross wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left: 1ex;
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid
rgb(204, 204, 204);"> On 8/18/2010 9:03 AM, Raymond
Wagner wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left:
1ex; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid
rgb(204, 204, 204);"> On 8/18/2010 11:53, Kevin Ross
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left:
1ex; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px
solid rgb(204, 204, 204);"> On 8/17/2010 7:43 PM,
James Harris wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="padding-left:
1ex; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left: 1px
solid rgb(204, 204, 204);">The Zotax NM10-B-E<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500048"
target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500048</a><br>
<br>
Is a DTX board [slightly wider, thats OK I can
manage a case for it] and lists a x16 slot BUT
with a x1 lane.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I couldn't believe this when I read this. What on
Earth could the reason be for having a PCIe x16 slot
but with only 1 lane? How could that be any better
than just putting 2 x1 slots on the board? I can't
imagine anything designed for an x16 slot would work
very well in such a slot.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
They make PCIe x1 video cards, so obviously someone
thinks they will work fine for some purposes.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Right, but do those video cards fit in a PCIe x1 slot?
Or do they require an x16 slot?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
They're exactly the same as the x16 card, they just have
an x1 connector to fit on boards with x1 slots. You're
not going to be doing a whole lot of 3D gaming, but for an
extra monitor or video display (using hardware decoding),
they're great.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
Right, that was my point, they have an x1 connector, not an
x16 connector. Why have an x16 connector on a motherboard if
15 of the 16 lanes aren't hooked up? Just put another x1
connector on there. Imagine the confusion that would come
when someone sees the x16 connector, then goes and buys a nice
video card, puts it in and it doesn't work, because it isn't
really an x16 slot.
<div>
<div class="h5"> </div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<div>Ahh.. but it is an x16 slot.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The spec allows a slot to use fewer lanes that it is
capable of. Often in boards with multiple x1 slots, plugging
devices into those slots actually 'steals' lanes from a nearby
x4, x8, or x16 slot. On many SLI capable mobo's, connecting
two x16 cards actually causes each one to only get 8 lanes.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>An x16 card will work fine in an x16 slot with only a
single lane... it just won't have the bandwidth available to
it that it would otherwise have. For accelerating HD playback
or general 2D use, it's not an issue, x1 is more than enough
to dump 1080p source to the card. Now if you wanted to use
your GPU to augment your CPU for computationally intense
work... then a wider bus would make a huge difference.</div>
</div>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Thanks, I learned something today! :)<br>
<br>
-- Kevin<br>
<br>
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