PCI Planning help

[ekoostik]

I'm about to buy a new P55 motherboard and I want to make sure I get enough expansion slots for possible future upgrades. In particular I've considered throwing in a TV Tuner. Additionally, if the board doesn't come with eSata then I may want to throw that in down the road.

I've been researching tongith, but I'm still confused about the possibility of connecting these cards with PCI, PCIe x1, PCIe x4, SATA, etc. What connections work best for a TV Tuner? Also, if I want to be able to add an eSATA or powered eSATA card what kind of slots/headers should I have available for that?

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: ekoostik
I'm about to buy a new P55 motherboard and I want to make sure I get enough expansion slots for possible future upgrades. In particular I've considered throwing in a TV Tuner. Additionally, if the board doesn't come with eSata then I may want to throw that in down the road.

I've been researching tongith, but I'm still confused about the possibility of connecting these cards with PCI, PCIe x1, PCIe x4, SATA, etc. What connections work best for a TV Tuner? Also, if I want to be able to add an eSATA or powered eSATA card what kind of slots/headers should I have available for that?

Well, you can get dummy eSATA headers that you can use by running a cable from the SATA ports on the mobo and then another line runs to a Molex off the PSU.

A PCIe x1 card will also work in a PCIe x4, 8 or 16 slot, and a PCIe x4 can work in x8 and x16 slots.

 

[Blain]

TV tuner cards come in all flavors, don't worry about it.

 

[vailr]

A PCIe x1 slot (vs. a PCI slot) would be the better option for a TV tuner card, if you want good quality HD capture.
Such as the one I use: the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16815116044
Refurb:
http://www.partforcomputer.com/PartDetail.aspx?Id=15605