4X PCI-E slot?

[Politik]

Some nforce4 mobos have a 4x pci-e slot, what are these good for? gigabit ethernet only requires 1x, and video cards are 16x. Is there going to be a 4 way splitter for this slot or something?

Edit: will 1x cards even fit in this 4x slot?

 

[ts3433]

I don't think 1x cards will go in there. The 4x slot will probably see much more utility in the future. Currently I know of nothing that uses it, though I'm thinking a SCSI card or a standalone implementation of one of those new PPUs might be able to use that bandwidth.

 

[Politik]

Originally posted by: ts3433
I don't think 1x cards will go in there.

If not, this sucks. I'll have a 1x sound card or an additional gigabit card long before I drop $$$ on SCSI or a PPU.

 

[imported_Gelfling]

I am not 100% sure, but i thought they were all backwards compatible.

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Actually, from what I have read the 1X slots will probably get peripherals first. Think Gigabit ethernet and sound cards. Yeah! For a 4X slot, think dual and quad Gigabit ethernet cards or high-end RAID cards, or A/V editing. There is already a 1X Gigabit ethernet card based on 1X PCI-E reportedly for sale, but I have yet to find it.

Edited to say: I don't know about backward compatibility between slots. There is not enough data yet and this side of PC hardware is just starting to develop. We will see.