Pavilion a1130n - How many PCIe lanes does this have?

This motherboard, an MS 7093, has a PCIe16 size slot, which I am
currently using for my ATI graphics card. On the board, just above the
slot, is printed "PCIe16x1". From what I have read, this should mean
that I have a slot that will accept a x16 card, but that there is only
one PCIe lane on the board. But, I can clearly see 16 "lane" looking
paths leading out of the slot, toward the CPU, with 32 little
rectangular things near the base of the slot, one on each side of each
"lane".

So, does this mean that I do, in fact, have 16 PCIe lanes? And what
does the board's marking of "PCIe16x1" mean exactly?

* :

> This motherboard, an MS 7093, has a PCIe16 size slot, which I am
> currently using for my ATI graphics card. On the board, just above the
> slot, is printed "PCIe16x1". From what I have read, this should mean
> that I have a slot that will accept a x16 card, but that there is only
> one PCIe lane on the board.

Well, to me this would read more like "PCIe 16x 1" with the "1" being
the slot number.

I doubt that there is any mainboard with PEG slot that only uses a
single lane.

Benjamin

Well, I was a little paranoid after reading from Wikipedia: "The
number of lanes actually connected to a slot may also be less than the
number supported by the physical slot size. An example is a x8 slot
that actually only runs at x1; these slots will allow any x1, x2, x4
or x8 card to be used, though only running at the x1 speed. This type
of socket is described as a 'x8 (x1 mode)' slot, meaning it physically
accepts up to x8 cards but only runs at x1 speed. The advantage gained
is that a larger range of PCIe cards can still be used without
requiring the motherboard hardware to support the full transfer rate -
so keeping design and implementation costs down."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

You explanation sounds logical.

I just wanted to know whether or not I should be ****ed. lol

wrote:
> Well, I was a little paranoid after reading from Wikipedia: "The
> number of lanes actually connected to a slot may also be less than
> the number supported by the physical slot size. An example is a x8
> slot that actually only runs at x1; these slots will allow any x1,
> x2, x4 or x8 card to be used, though only running at the x1
> speed. This type of socket is described as a 'x8 (x1 mode)' slot,
> meaning it physically accepts up to x8 cards but only runs at x1
> speed. The advantage gained is that a larger range of PCIe cards can
> still be used without requiring the motherboard hardware to support
> the full transfer rate - so keeping design and implementation costs
> down."
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

My understanding is that is indeed allowed by the spec, but the
"worst" I've seen so far is a slot with the electical being 1/2 the
physical limit - eg a slot that was physically x8 but electrically x4.
That experience comes from a not-comprehensive looking at servers, not
desktops...

rick jones
--
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these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...