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Why do they make motherboards with 5 PCI-E x16 slots?

T

TheDarkKnight

Senior member
I seen on NewEgg that they sell motherboards with up to 5 x16 PCI-E slots. To my understanding, the only type of add-in cards that use x16 slots are graphics cards. I can see an enthusiast buying a motherboard with 2 x16 slots to use in an SLI setup. Maybe even 3 for hardcore gamers. But seriously, who buys a motherboard with 5 PCI-E x16 slots on it? Who would need such a motherboard? Can PCI-E x16 slots be used for add-in components other than graphics cards? If they can be used for something other than graphics cards it would make more sense to me. Or could this motherboard be used for somebody who wants to hook up 5 different monitors at the same time? A motherboard with 5 x16 PCI-E slots just sounds crazy.
 
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Are they TRUE 16x slots? Many will accept 16x cards but are only 8x/4x slots. Makes it easy to add cards for people that need that.
 
Off the top of my head I'd say for a home test CUDA cluster. That could mean enough processing power to run close to real time radar or real time city traffic planning. Think thesis, and government work 🙂
 
The reason why they include 5 PCIe x16 slots is so that users can run quad-fire with one gap between each slot or tri-fire/tri-sli with two gaps between each slot. This lets dual slot graphics cards breathe fresh air instead of being squished together.
 
Also, it allows you to place cards differently if you need to (to improve cooling, etc).

There's some MSI board that has all x16 slots (I think it adjusts which ones operate at what speeds), which is how I would want it to be honest as it offers the most ability for placement. I don't get why you wouldn't just go ahead an put a x16 slot even if its just x4, as it doesn't even really impact video cards that much (some site showed a x4 slot still offered something like 95% of the performance of x16, and the test was done using 5870s).

Also, even if the card is x1, its nice to have the full slot as it can keep the card from getting tilted in the slot some.
 
PCI-E is the new slot standard ... expect to only see these types on motherboards of the future. There is really no need for different types if everything is queried by the BIOS and the slot has enough bandwith designed for its spec revision. I can't think of any card that would not do well to have a PCI-E toothed edge.
 
I am not sure if you know, but those x16 slots will also accept x1(sound, nic, etc.) and x4 cards(PCI-E SSDs, etc). So you don't just have to use them for the big graphics cards.
 
I have an x1 tv tuner in the x16 slot because when putting it into the x4slot at the end of the mobo it gets in the way of the hard drive cables(ie small case).
 
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