Can PCI-E x1 interface addon cards be used in PCI-E 4x or 16x slots?

[zeock9]

For example, my SoundBlaster ZxR soundcard is a PCIe 1x interface card, but the X99 board I want to get, ASUS X99 Deluxe, doesn't have any PCI-E 1x slots on it according to specification info.

It only has, from what I can tell, five PCIe x16 slots (long ones) and one PCIe x4 slot (short one), so does this mean that I can't use my ZxR on ASUS Deluxe?
Or can I just plug that into any of the other PCIe slots?

Also, does it matter which of the five PCIe x16 slots my single GPU occupy first?
Or can we just use any one of them as long I'm not SLI-ing?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So long as it physically fits in the PCIe slot, then it -should- work. PCIe is designed to allow this. The card just auto-negotiates the link width and speed with the PCIe controller.

However, you should be aware that certain boards have issues with supporting anything other then graphics card in the slots provided from the CPU. Its gotten a lot better recently, but if you don't want to experiment, I'd suggest using the slot provided from the PCH for peripherals (that'd be the x4 slot most likely)...

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yes.

 

[VirtualLarry]

However, you should be aware that certain boards have issues with supporting anything other then graphics card in the slots provided from the CPU. Its gotten a lot better recently, but if you don't want to experiment, I'd suggest using the slot provided from the PCH for peripherals (that'd be the x4 slot most likely)...

An unfortunate limitation of half-baked BIOS on new boards.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

the reverse also works, x16 cards can be made to work in an x1 slot (such a feat typically requires one to get their hands dirty with some modding, but it can definitely work. Not particularly useful unless you're wanting to add a bunch of spare video card or more to a system that lacks the number of x16 slots you require to drive extra monitors)