Does PCIE X1 devices work in PCIE X16 slots?

[solidsnake1607]

Hello Everyone !

I have an ASUS Sabertooth Z87, a Xonar Essence STX SoundCard and im planning to build a SLi Setup, clearance and cable managment is my main concern because of the poor airflow that it could cause. There is a chance to get rid off the sound card from the middle only if it can be connected in the PCIE 2.0 X16 slot so it won't interfiere between both GPUs, each gpu requieres two PCIE slots from the case.

Here is a pic as how i would organize the gpus and the soundcard if it works in the last pcie x16 to get the best cleareance and cable managment possible.

As you can see it would be perfect that way, would my soundcard be limited somehow if i use PCIEX16 instead of PCIEX1? Will it work or not?

Thanks in advance for helping

EDIT: The last PCIEX16 2.0 supports only x4 lanes.

 

[NutBucket]

Yes

 

[solidsnake1607]

Yes

Cool, those are good news, i didn't dare to act without any knowledge in this topic, last time i did i ended up breaking expensive stuff. Thanks you.

 

[Emulex]

sure many PCI-E x1 cards are just old PCI cards with a PLX bridge chip (easy to spot!)

 

[Broheim]

the rule of thumb is the same as with cats, if it fits it sits.

 

[adnank77]

Most cards in-take the air from front of the case and exhaust from back .. so clearance between the cards doesn't matter that much ..

I have a Micro ATX case where the two cards in CF are actually touching each other .. no clearance all .. still all OK ..

In any case, if you feel more comfortable keeping the clearance, then go ahead and put it in the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot .. it'll work for sure. .

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So long as it physically fits, then yes, it will work.

 

[solidsnake1607]

sure many PCI-E x1 cards are just old PCI cards with a PLX bridge chip (easy to spot!)

Didnt know, (offtopic) my friend bought a full modular PSU from corsair and connected the cables in the wrong output so yes he fried his hdds and some other stuffs lol! So they fit but it didnt give the expected results.

 

[solidsnake1607]

So long as it physically fits, then yes, it will work.

Some connections are easy to figure out where it fits but sometimes when you have no knowledge you start thinking how much did you spent and how bad would you feel if you screw it all..! 😛 So thats why im here and can confirm its working like a charm! Clearance is awesome now!

 

[solidsnake1607]

Most cards in-take the air from front of the case and exhaust from back .. so clearance between the cards doesn't matter that much ..

I have a Micro ATX case where the two cards in CF are actually touching each other .. no clearance all .. still all OK ..

In any case, if you feel more comfortable keeping the clearance, then go ahead and put it in the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot .. it'll work for sure. .

More than worrying about clereance i worry more about aesthetics, i want it to look clean with matching colours, cables and lightning. One of the things i like most about hardware is its beauty matching with all the other components. Airflow is importan also so i placed fans taking air in good locations so the hardware keeps healty and last longer, i also hate dust! Thats worse that a bad airflow so i installed filters everywhere! This is the third computer i'm building and so far so good, i still must put some work to the cable managment stuff, i still must buy some PCIE sleeved cables. My GPUs will arrive in september so.. it wont be finished until then. Thanks for your information, it was helpful to me.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Some connections are easy to figure out where it fits but sometimes when you have no knowledge you start thinking how much did you spent and how bad would you feel if you screw it all..! 😛

Whoops, I was only referring to PCIe slots... 😛

 

[adnank77]

More than worrying about clereance i worry more about aesthetics, i want it to look clean with matching colours, cables and lightning. One of the things i like most about hardware is its beauty matching with all the other components. Airflow is importan also so i placed fans taking air in good locations so the hardware keeps healty and last longer, i also hate dust! Thats worse that a bad airflow so i installed filters everywhere! This is the third computer i'm building and so far so good, i still must put some work to the cable managment stuff, i still must buy some PCIE sleeved cables. My GPUs will arrive in september so.. it wont be finished until then. Thanks for your information, it was helpful to me.

Oh .. Dust .. !
That's an annoying thing .. my Micro ATX Alienware case is just a dust magnet .. but I guess not cleaning since 2 years should only collect dust .. if only Alienware thought of a dust filter 2 years back !

 

[solidsnake1607]

Oh .. Dust .. !
That's an annoying thing .. my Micro ATX Alienware case is just a dust magnet .. but I guess not cleaning since 2 years should only collect dust .. if only Alienware thought of a dust filter 2 years back !

Its time to get a new case maybe! Or simply use compressed air to blow it away and buy some dust filters in amazon, those costs about 5 or 10 bucks and are very effective. I bought a cheap case from NZXT (phantom 630) its really good keeping the dust away from it.

 

[solidsnake1607]

Whoops, I was only referring to PCIe slots... 😛

Yea i got you, i have a friend working in an electronic shop and he sells mainly computer components. One guy bought a gpu to him and the day after he went back to his store claiming its PCIE port got broken, my friend showed him a mobo and asked him, tell me, where did you tried to fit the graphics card, and he aimed with his finger shyly the DDR3 slot. LOOOL..

 

[Slomo4shO]

Why not just stick it in the first slot?

 

[adnank77]

Its time to get a new case maybe! Or simply use compressed air to blow it away and buy some dust filters in amazon, those costs about 5 or 10 bucks and are very effective. I bought a cheap case from NZXT (phantom 630) its really good keeping the dust away from it.

I cleaned the front in-take.
Will do same on top soon.
In don't want to invest much as I'm replacing with Haswell-e whenever it's out.