Need help understanding proper PCI slot for add on card...

[Moonbeam]

I shipped this computer to a friend:

http://us.msi.com/product/mb/790GX-G65.html#/?div=BasicPCI-Ex16

It has
PCI-Ex16 2
PCI-E Gen Gen2 (1x16, 1x8)
PCI-Ex1 2
PCI 2
There is a single radion 5750 card in the 1x16 primary, for a single card, video card slot.

I kept my hard drive and bought a SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) to replace it, but the motherboard is capable only of SATA11. It also only has USB 2
I purchased this add on card thinking I could provide both in case he could use USB 3 but mainly to provide 6Gbit capability to the Samsung SSD:

SYBA Combo USB 3.0 + SATA III 6Gbps, v2.0 PCI Express, x4 Slot Controller Card Model SD-PEX50055
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124130
I had this card sent to my friend and have never seen it, but he tells me that it does not appear to fit in any of the slots on the motherboard. I have become very confused trying to determine if I bought the wrong card. I'm hoping somebody can tell me if I need a different card for this motherboard or if it fits in one of the ones it has, perhaps only filling part of the slot. I am under the impression that the pale blue PCI-EX 2 slot is for a second video card and not for this one but I'm not sure. It would fill only part of it if it fits. If it does go there does that limit the video performance in the primary PCI-EX 1x16 to 1x8 and does that matter. Anyway, thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[Gunbuster]

It should fit in the second PCI-Ex16 (Light blue using only part of the slot)

(edit, it's a 4x so it wont fit in the smaller 1x slots)

 

[Moonbeam]

It should fit in the second PCI-Ex16 (Light blue using only part of the slot)

(edit, it's a 4x so it wont fit in the smaller 1x slots)

Thank you. Will that effect the performance of the video card, making it 1x8 instead of 1x16, do you know?

 

[Cerb]

Here we go:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/08/23/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x8x8/
That's with two cards, each a bit faster than the 5750, in SLI, which is a worse scenario than single card.

And, here's a random user testing with much more powerful cards in Crossfire:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366440

So, yes, but the performance difference will range from absolutely nothing to only barely discernible by comparing benchmark scores. 5% or more I have seen with benchmarking, but never at typical settings someone might play a game at (by which point the GPU or CPU become enough of a bottleneck that it's moot). Meanwhile, the first time a USB 3.0 thumb drive or HDD gets used, it will be several times faster than with USB 2.0.

 

[Moonbeam]

Here we go:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/08/23/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x8x8/
That's with two cards, each a bit faster than the 5750, in SLI, which is a worse scenario than single card.

And, here's a random user testing with much more powerful cards in Crossfire:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=366440

So, yes, but the performance difference will range from absolutely nothing to only barely discernible by comparing benchmark scores. 5% or more I have seen with benchmarking, but never at typical settings someone might play a game at (by which point the GPU or CPU become enough of a bottleneck that it's moot). Meanwhile, the first time a USB 3.0 thumb drive or HDD gets used, it will be several times faster than with USB 2.0.

It seems from those links that they apply to using two video cards. In the case I presented, my friend will use just one video card and a PCI express card because that's what I bought not realizing it would go into the blue slot rather than one of the two PCI 1 slots.

My assumption, then, is that if the video card will be just as good in 8 lanes as in 16, or approximately so, then it won't matter if the second card causes the video card slot to go to 8 lanes or not, it won't really matter. He will not only have, therefore better USB with 3 over 2, but also have SATA III on the card instead of SATA II on the motherboard. Thanks.

 

[Cerb]

...

 

[Cerb]

Typically, SLI or Crossfire are what people test that for, because they are worried about the bandwidth limitations (which turn out to be no problem, until using 3-4 cards with 4x slots). In Crossfire or SLI, the video cards have to copy pretty much anything but buffers to both cards, where with a single card, that's not the case, so whatever small differences there are should be even less than what is seen using multiple video cards. PCI-e has, thus far, remained ahead of the needs of most of the devices connected to it. A single GTX 480, like tested in SLI at [H] is several times more powerful than a 5750, yet even with two of them, at a virtual resolution of 5760x1200, they got only negligible differences.