PCI Express X4 why?

[renswic]

ok i tried searching this but that didnt work well:
Search: Key Word(s): PCI, Express
The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search: X4 this is why we need to be able o pick between keyword or phrase searching


anyhoo, whats the point of this slot? is it there to look pretty? take up space? or does it have a use? if so what is its use?

 

[Bullitt]

Its going to be tremendously useful for devices like Raid/drive interface cards that will easily eat up a x1 channel but a x8 or x16 channel would be overkill

 

[Eva_Unit_0]

^ yep. x4 slots are for devices that can saturate an x1 lane (like raid controllers or multi-port/fiber network cards or something) but yet a full x16 slot would just be a waste of useful lanes.

 

[drizzt81]

ok i tried searching this but that didnt work well:
anyhoo, whats the point of this slot?

The point of this slot is to provide an interface for cards that desire at most 4x the bandwidth of a single PCIe lane, ~1000 MB/s in each direction.

is it there to look pretty?

yeah, i think they are cute.

take up space?

not really, though currently there are few expansion cards for ti.

or does it have a use?

as people mentioned before, some RAID/ Network cards use it.