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PCI express question

R

Red Squirrel

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but from my understanding, PCI express types are compatible with each other right? So say I have a PCI express 4x card, can I put it in a 16x slot?

I have a fiber channel card I want to add to my server, but it looks like it's a 4x card, and all I have is a 16x in the server (and two 1x that are in use). Wondering if I can add it or not. Looks like it would fit.
 
Yes, you can use a x4 card in a x16 slot. However, only cards with shorter PCI-E connectors (and use less bandwidth) can use longer PCI-E slots (that support higher bandwidth devices).
 
So basically, if it fits, it should work? Or is there any scenarios I need to watch out for?

This is awesome news, since I really want to interface with my new (to me) SAN but was afraid I did not have the proper slot.
 
You may or may not have to look out for things that share their pci bandwidth. For example, my mobo has 2 x16 slots, but only one runs at full. The other one shares with the x1 slots on my mobo, and if you put something in the second x16 you can't use the x1s. This is fairly specific to what motherboard you have, so check ahead of time
 
khwain brought up a very good point: Which motherboard do you have?
 
Unfortunately, you'll have to upgrade: On that particular motherboard, plugging anything into the PCIe x16 slot will disable the motherboard's IGP. This means that if you plug in the PCIe x4 card into the x16 slot, you will have to find a PCIe x1 or a PCI-Legacy graphics card since the onboard IGP would then become unusable. (That mobo has only one PCIe slot that's any longer than x1.)

Another reason why an upgrade to a newer platform is strongly recommended:
Intel has discontinued further support for that motherboard as of this past June 25. This means that Intel is no longer developing or publishing new drivers for that motherboard and is no longer updating drivers to work with newer operating systems. Thus, the driver versions that you see for that mobo on Intel's Web site will be the last ones ever for that mobo. And when newer OSes come out, your system will become increasingly crippled or not work at all. And one of my Intel mobos is next for EOSL (End Of Support Life): The DP35DP and all of the other remaining Intel 3-series motherboards still currently supported and the DX48BT2 will no longer be further supported beginning this coming December 24. In other words, these Intel 3-series motherboards either will be or already are in "discontinued" (Intel's term for "legacy") support mode.
 
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Oh that kind of sucks. Guess I'll wait till I get around to building a new box. If I'm going to upgrade the motherboard, the sockets and ram slots have all changed so i'll have to buy a new cpu and ram. At that point may as well get a supermicro, which is my plan anyway.

If I get a USB VGA adapter, could that work though?
 
I'm pretty sure USB graphics cards can't be used as the main card. A PCI one should work though.

Time to go digging through the junk boxes for a PCI graphics card ;)
 
Red Squirrel said:
Oh that kind of sucks. Guess I'll wait till I get around to building a new box. If I'm going to upgrade the motherboard, the sockets and ram slots have all changed so i'll have to buy a new cpu and ram. At that point may as well get a supermicro, which is my plan anyway.

If I get a USB VGA adapter, could that work though?
Click to expand...

IIRC it still needs a fully functioning IGP in order to work. Most USB-to-VGA adapters have no GPU at all whatsoever. Therefore, such an adapter would have been completely useless in this situation.
 
And when newer OSes come out, your system will become increasingly crippled or not work at all.
Click to expand...
Is this really that big a deal? windows has very long support lifecycles anyway and with linux once drivers get into the kernel they are generall maintained even without the cooperation of the original vendors.
 
Oh right there is a PCI slot. I can do that then. I might even have a spare one somewhere, if not I'm sure I can still buy one somewhere.

I kinda figured the USB one would not work. I don't think it's seen as a video card until the OS loads.
 
plugwash said:
Is this really that big a deal? windows has very long support lifecycles anyway and with linux once drivers get into the kernel they are generall maintained even without the cooperation of the original vendors.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's the board (and system) manufacturers that are to blame, not Microsoft. Windows 7 would not even install properly on a Dell Dimension 8300 even though the chipset and CPU are technically supported in Win 7: The system would lock up on every reboot after the initial file copy, forcing me to turn off the power manually. And a six-year-old Intel D865PERL has no available Vista or Win 7 drivers other than the few components that are already included as "generic" drivers in the Microsoft OSes, and some of the board's critical components have no available Vista or 7 drivers at all.

But then again, those systems and boards are old enough that the most recent supported version of Windows fully compatible with such old systems and boards is now on extended life support, if not "end of life" (self-help) support.
 
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