PCI-E 16x card in a 1x slot? may have to do it...

[Elganja]

Anyone modify their PCI-E 1x slot so it can fit a 16x card? i.e. make it open ended...

I have a unique situation... I have a evga classified 3x mobo, 3 680's on the way and a 520GT to drive my side monitors...

from the manual:

it utterly baffles me why it is done this way (i.e. why 2 and 3 aren't 16x)... so because of this I have 2 options:
-Run 16x, 8x, 8x (2,3,6 for the 680's and 5 for the gt520)
-Modify my pci-e 1x slot to fit my gt520 and run 16x,8x,16x for my tri sli (and will allow me to use the sexy ek bridges for the tri sli watercooled setup).

 

[Haserath]

Another question to bring up. Would an x16 card even work in a modified x1 slot? Or would it just fail to recognize it was plugged in?

I don't get why they didn't just switch 1 and 2, move 3 up, and switch 4 and 5... Much better configuration then.

 

[Elganja]

Another question to bring up. Would an x16 card even work in a modified x1 slot? Or would it just fail to recognize it was plugged in?

I don't get why they didn't just switch 1 and 2, move 3 up, and switch 4 and 5... Much better configuration then.

it will work from everything I have read, the gt520 will just run at 1x instead of 16x which is fine since all I want to do is drive the side monitors.

 

[Elganja]

just found this: http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-.../dp/B006P15UO4

I will give this a go... no modifying!

 

[Sunny129]

just found this: http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-.../dp/B006P15UO4

I will give this a go... no modifying!

yeah, but $50 for a shitty little GT520? i guess there's really not much you can do if you have to buy a PCIe x1 video card - they're such a niche market that vendors can set the price point just about as high as they want...its a shame, b/c at any given moment you can usually find a PCIe x16 GT520 for $10-20, even if it involves a rebate.

at any rate, i feel your pain. i'd love to run 3 or 4 GPUs on a single board for distributed computing purposes, but my only solutions would be to either modify a PCIe x1 slot to take a x16 card, buy a PCIe x1 GPU, or buy a crazy capable mobo (like an ASUS Crosshair IV Extreme or a Gigabyte 990FX-GD7 for instance) that has an extra full x16 slot and doesn't get in the way of other cards/components...

 

[JAG87]

Are you having a brain fart?

With 3x 680s (even in SLI) you can drive 12 monitors, how many friggen side monitors do you need?

 

[Elganja]

Are you having a brain fart?

With 3x 680s (even in SLI) you can drive 12 monitors, how many friggen side monitors do you need?

in sli you can only drive 2 monitors unless using nvidia surround (which I won't because they don't support a PLP setup)

 

[Topweasel]

just found this: http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-.../dp/B006P15UO4

I will give this a go... no modifying!

Yeah better that, then carving into a $300+ Mobo if you do something wrong.

 

[JAG87]

in sli you can only drive 2 monitors unless using nvidia surround (which I won't because they don't support a PLP setup)

That doesn't seem realistic seeing how with one card you can now drive four independent monitors. Do you actually have the 680s yet, or are you just going by previous experience?

 

[Concillian]

people have modified x4 and x8 slots to use x16 cards in them, I assume it would work with x1 slots too. Apparently you just heat up an x-acto knife or something of the like and cut through the plastic fairly easily.

 

[Elganja]

That doesn't seem realistic seeing how with one card you can now drive four independent monitors. Do you actually have the 680s yet, or are you just going by previous experience?

previous experience... there is no way to do it with the way nVidia has implemented SLI.

 

[Lonyo]

previous experience... there is no way to do it with the way nVidia has implemented SLI.

GTX 680 SLI might be different due to the increased single card monitor support, so you might be able to hold off.

Then again, if you're buying 3xGTX680s for SLI, I doubt the $60 for the GT520 will matter.

 

[anikhtos]

in sli you can only drive 2 monitors unless using nvidia surround (which I won't because they don't support a PLP setup)

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=09N9T_S-MMHctAbNs9y5CQ&ved=0CFcQ8wIwAw
find something like this
buy a half size gpu and call it end of the day
it will be cheaper than getting a gpu at x1
and you will have far more options
i have got one and i used it
i run a 5570 with that

 

[Elganja]

I already bought the zotac card.... by the time I buy the riser and half height card I would be at about 50 bucks and the zotac solution is cleaner imho

 

[JAG87]

previous experience... there is no way to do it with the way nVidia has implemented SLI.

You're completely wrong, that limitation applies only to 3D applications, and surround is the only way to get 3D on three monitors. But for 2D use, you can have as many monitors as you want, and IIRC disabling Aero will prevent your other monitors from blanking when the a 3D application is launched on the focus display.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Another question to bring up. Would an x16 card even work in a modified x1 slot? Or would it just fail to recognize it was plugged in?

Sure it will. That's what folders and Bitcoin miners depend on!

 

[Elganja]

You're completely wrong, that limitation applies only to 3D applications, and surround is the only way to get 3D on three monitors. But for 2D use, you can have as many monitors as you want, and IIRC disabling Aero will prevent your other monitors from blanking when the a 3D application is launched on the focus display.

do you have sli? because I do and it doesn't work period when sli is activated unless running 3d or surround with more than 2 monitors

 

[JAG87]

do you have sli? because I do and it doesn't work period when sli is activated unless running 3d or surround with more than 2 monitors

I have for the past 4 generations, but not with the 680 yet. It definitely works in Windows, extending the desktop, even with previous cards that only supported 2 monitors/card. Of course once you turn a 3D application on, only the focus display works. I really think you should wait and test with the 680s, and potentially return the 520.

If I'm wrong, keep the 520 of course... :|

 

[Elganja]

I have for the past 4 generations, but not with the 680 yet. It definitely works in Windows, extending the desktop, even with previous cards that only supported 2 monitors/card. Of course once you turn a 3D application on, only the focus display works. I really think you should wait and test with the 680s, and potentially return the 520.

If I'm wrong, keep the 520 of course... :|

I'm not doubting it works with sli disabled but with sli enabled you cannot have more than 2 connected. so it will not work with 3 monitors w/o surround... spend 5min Googling sli and 3 monitors.

I have personally tried it and researched it many times... that is why I have a gt520 now (16x...I ordered a 1x one for my new setup)

I'm not going to keep arguing about this. It's silly as you are talking about theory and I am talking about personal experience