PCI-E 1x Compatibility with PCI-E 16x

[Moddy]

Hey guys I really need some help. I am doing a new build soon with this motherboard,

ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760

Now I am going to be going crossfire with this board with my 2x XFX 6970s, but I want to bring over my 2 legacy products I have. I want to use my

Killer 2100 Ethernet Card, which is a PCI-E 1x

Also I want to use my
Ceative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional

As you can see the board supports 3x PCI-E 16x slots,

The only 2 slots I will have available left after crossfire is the 1x PCI-E and the PCI-E 16x slot. Can I install either the Killer 2100 or the Sound Blaster card in the 16x slot without affecting the lanes speed? Will that work perfectly with no problems?

Please help :c

[haxartus]

PCI-E x1 cards work with PCI-E X16 slots.
Keep in mind that that many cards with a crossfire will block the airflow to the cards a bit.

[Deleted]

Should work fine as far as i know, will only use 1x pci lane instead of 16x but thats all the lanes it needs.

Ether card will also work in the 4x slot if not being used by something else.

[Manwoman]

PCI-E x1 cards work with PCI-E X16 slots.
Keep in mind that that many cards with a crossfire will block the airflow to the cards a bit.

I 2nd that because in my heart I believe in haxartus!

[Moddy]

Well they are pretty short and the fan on the cards are more towards the front of the pc, and I will be using the haf x with 4 200 mega flow fans with a h100 push pull system so the case will be really cool. This is awesome news I don't have to go with teh G1 sniper 2. I heard that if you put a pci-e 1x in a 16x slot it may affect lane speeds, such as both crossfire lanes run at 16x and since adding a 1x to a 16x it knocks them both, or one down to 8x. Is this true?

[Skelly]

I'm pretty sure its a BIOS setting to choose the lane speeds.

So you can set your xfire lanes at 16x,16x and then the rest at 1x or whatever

[Moddy]

Thanks so much for the info. I have been here on the forums a few times and I have been working my arse off for this pc. I have been perfecting my wishlist for months now and I just want to get everything right the first time and not have to RMA anything back. Since the bios is one of the best I have ever seen as is even mouse driven, I am sure a newbie like me can even figure out how to set the lane speeds. I should of thought of that, I am too used to dealing with low end components.

[alzoron]

PCI Express is designed so that anything will work in any slot. PCI Express cards automatically adjust their speed based on what type of slot they're plugged into.

1x card in 8x slot == 1x speed
16x card in 8x slot == 8x speed
etc.

[haxartus]

Thanks so much for the info. I have been here on the forums a few times and I have been working my arse off for this pc. I have been perfecting my wishlist for months now and I just want to get everything right the first time and not have to RMA anything back. Since the bios is one of the best I have ever seen as is even mouse driven, I am sure a newbie like me can even figure out how to set the lane speeds. I should of thought of that, I am too used to dealing with low end components.

Just read the manual, it usually says these things.

16x card in 8x slot == 8x speed

This will work only if the slot is physically x16.
Though you can put a PCI-E X16 card in to a PCI-E X1 slot, but you have to modify the slot manually to fit the card. The opposite (PCI-E X1 card in to a PCI-E X16 slot) works just fine.

[Deleted]

PCI Express is designed so that anything will work in any slot. PCI Express cards automatically adjust their speed based on what type of slot they're plugged into.

1x card in 8x slot == 1x speed
16x card in 8x slot == 8x speed
etc.

Not really, they should all work but with older MBs/new cards, there might be BIOS options for it. For example, my old Asrock motherboard worked with HD 6850 just fine but I had to turn on something from the BIOS first, don't remember what it was called.

[Keller]

Kindof sad that x16 ports arent saturated even now, and most cards can run in x8s without much performance degradation.

[Orkela]

If I put a 16x card in an 8x slot how much of a difference would it make? Would it cut it's performance in half?

[haxartus]

No, it won't. Most graphic cards are nowhere near the PCI-E 2.0 X8 bandwith.

[Drunkenvalley]

It's like... 5% difference or so?

[haxartus]

It's like... 5% difference or so?

5% if you have something like GTX580 running on PCI-E 2.0 X4....
Depends on the game though.