16x Video Card performance in an 8x PCI Express slot?

[Kaido]

I am looking at getting a Quadro 5600 for my workstation. How much of a performance hit will I run into if i use a 16x PCI Express video card in an 8x PCI Express slot?

 

[Saiyukimot]

They make 8xPCIE??


If you're refering to AGP then it wont physically fit.


If there is such a thing as an 8xPCI-E, you dont loose too much perofrmance.

 

[taltamir]

they do make 8x pcie. or rather pcie x8...
As far as I know PCIe x8 is ONLY operating at x8 when you have TWO video cards... if the motherboard has TWO video card slots then they will work at 8x if you put two, and 16x if you only put one.

This will not hold you back when using a quadro.

HOWEVER. If there is only one video card slot then it is, as saiyukimot warned, probably an AGP slot, which will NOT fit.

 

[palladium]

Originally posted by: Saiyukimot
They make 8xPCIE??


If you're refering to AGP then it wont physically fit.


If there is such a thing as an 8xPCI-E, you dont loose too much perofrmance.

I think he means a mechanical 16x slot, but electrically it's 8x ( meaning the slot can accomodate a 16x card, but the actual bandwidth available to the card is only 8x, or half of a regular PCIex16 slot).

No, you won't see any significant drop in performance.

 

[KrispyKreme50]

You're in luck. Tomshardware has an article talking about this today with the 975 motherboard vs. X38 motherboard.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: palladium

Originally posted by: Saiyukimot
They make 8xPCIE??


If you're refering to AGP then it wont physically fit.


If there is such a thing as an 8xPCI-E, you dont loose too much perofrmance.

I think he means a mechanical 16x slot, but electrically it's 8x ( meaning the slot can accomodate a 16x card, but the actual bandwidth available to the card is only 8x, or half of a regular PCIex16 slot).

No, you won't see any significant drop in performance.

Yup, physically a 16x PCI Express slot but electrically it's 8x, should have clarified, sorry! 🙂