Using a PCI-E x1 TV Tuner card in a x16 slot?

[T101]

How "backwards compatible" is PCI-E. Can I buy a TV Tuner card that uses PCI-E x1 and stick it in a PCI-E x16 slot without problems? just wondering because my current motherboard have no x1 slots. And the next I am getting will have its x1 slot covered by a 8800GTX.

 

[tomt4535]

Yeah, you can. What motherobards are you talking about?

 

[T101]

The one that I currently have is the MSI K8N SLI Platinum. And my next build will probably use the Asus P5N32-E SLI since I can not afford the Asus Striker.

 

[tomt4535]

Yeah the second slot on that board there is a physical x16 slots, but electricly, its an x1. You shouldnt have a problem, even if that was an x16 slot. In the asus board for your next pc, you can stick the pci-e tuner in any of those pci-e slots there.

 

[T101]

Good to know. You get answers to a lot of top end questions in review, but such small things often gets overlooked. I have never on any hardware forum or hardware site even seen it mentioned that a x1 card works in a x16 slot. Even though I am not new to computers or electronics, I was stumped on this issue. Not even the information about PCI-E standards I could find did even once mentioned if it was possible or not.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[tcsenter]

Theoretically, PCI-E is PCI-E, as long as the # of lanes on the card is equal to or lesser than the # lanes in the slot, it can work.

HOWEVER, if the BIOS is written with the presumption that nothing but a PEG card is going to go into the x16 slot, it may still work but not very well.

 

[T101]

Well, then that is the big question. Wheter or not the Asus P5N32-E SLI has any x16 slots that will work as x1 slots.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: T101
Well, then that is the big question. Wheter or not the Asus P5N32-E SLI has any x16 slots that will work as x1 slots.

Let us know how it works! You're probably going to find out faster by trying it than you would waiting for someone else to and report the results.

 

[T101]

Perhaps. I was hoping someone had already an Asus P5N32-E SLI mobo and had tried it. But that was perhaps too much to hope for.

Maybe if there is a manual to download for that motherboard, there are some information about using x1 card in the x16 slots, but I doubt it.

 

[T101]

As I suspected, not a word in the manual. The question then is, do you have to install the Graphics card in the uppermost slot (as on the nForce4 board I now use) or can you install it in any of the two x16 slots without any hickups. Because if I can install the graphics card in the lower PCI-Ex16 slot, then the x1 slot is free to be used for the TV Tuner card.

Here is a link to the manual for easy reference; ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5N32-E%20SLI/e2929_P5N32-E_SLI.pdf

 

[T101]

And after reading some reviews on the striker, this motherboards "big brother", I think I will go looking for another motherboard. Unfortunately it seems the evga 680i has IO troubles. Looks like at the moment nvidias high end chipset are not a good platform to build a system around.