PCIe x1 Device on PCIe x16 slot?

Hello there. I have novice question about PCIe.

I am looking at Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe AMD board.
It has 4 PCIe x 16 slots + 2 PCI slots. No PCIe x1 slot.

I have device that need PCIe x1 slot. (Which is TV tuner card)

My question is that can I connect PCIe x1 device on PCIe x16 slot?

Will it work???

Thank in advance.
Matt

MattK wrote:
> Hello there. I have novice question about PCIe.
>
> I am looking at Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe AMD board.
> It has 4 PCIe x 16 slots + 2 PCI slots. No PCIe x1 slot.
>
> I have device that need PCIe x1 slot. (Which is TV tuner card)
>
> My question is that can I connect PCIe x1 device on PCIe x16 slot?
>
> Will it work???
>
> Thank in advance.
> Matt

PCIe x 16 are for graphics cards only as far as I know. I checked the
specs for that board and it says it has two PCIe 2.0 slots so your tuner
card should work in one of those. It appears it does not have any of the
older PCI slots at all.

MattK wrote:
> Hello there. I have novice question about PCIe.
>
> I am looking at Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe AMD board.
> It has 4 PCIe x 16 slots + 2 PCI slots. No PCIe x1 slot.
>
> I have device that need PCIe x1 slot. (Which is TV tuner card)
>
> My question is that can I connect PCIe x1 device on PCIe x16 slot?
>
> Will it work???
>
> Thank in advance.
> Matt

Yes.

There is a table here that illustrates some possibilities.

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0456.html

PCI Express slot compatibility

x1 slot x4 slot x8 slot x16 slot
x1 card Supported Supported Supported Supported
x4 card No Supported Supported Supported
x8 card No No Supported Supported
x16 card No No No Supported

*******
Just because a x16 connector is present, doesn't always mean
all the lanes are wired up. The manufacturer may choose
to wire only x8 lanes or x4 lanes, and for high bandwidth
applications, that can have an effect. It won't affect
your ability to connect a x1 card.

"Sub wired" connectors are quite a common feature on
motherboards now. Boards based on P35, for example, may
have two physical x16 connectors, but the wiring is x16
to one connector, and only x4 to the other connector.
To detect such an issue, you count "capacitor pairs"
near the connector, on the surface of the motherboard.
You need a closeup picture of the motherboard, to
do a "lane analysis" and determine whether sub wired
slots are present.

HTH,
Paul

In message <ga9peg$e0s$> JT <> wrote:

>MattK wrote:
>> Hello there. I have novice question about PCIe.
>>
>> I am looking at Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe AMD board.
>> It has 4 PCIe x 16 slots + 2 PCI slots. No PCIe x1 slot.
>>
>> I have device that need PCIe x1 slot. (Which is TV tuner card)
>>
>> My question is that can I connect PCIe x1 device on PCIe x16 slot?
>>
>> Will it work???
>>
>> Thank in advance.
>> Matt
>
>PCIe x 16 are for graphics cards only as far as I know. I checked the
>specs for that board and it says it has two PCIe 2.0 slots so your tuner
>card should work in one of those. It appears it does not have any of the
>older PCI slots at all.

The specs actually allow any PCIe card to be inserted in any slot,
larger or smaller are both supported, although there will be obvious
performance penalties if you toss in a x16 video card into an x1 slot.

However, apparently some SLI motherboards don't handle this as well as
you might hope, instead assuming that x16 slots would only ever be used
for video. No electrical damage will be done, but your wallet might be
disappointed if you end up without compatible hardware and no return
policy, so purchase carefully.

Hello Paul and all.

Thank you very much for your help.

You guys are great!!!!


"Paul" <> wrote in message news:ga9s4l$p61$...
> MattK wrote:
>> Hello there. I have novice question about PCIe.
>>
>> I am looking at Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe AMD board.
>> It has 4 PCIe x 16 slots + 2 PCI slots. No PCIe x1 slot.
>>
>> I have device that need PCIe x1 slot. (Which is TV tuner card)
>>
>> My question is that can I connect PCIe x1 device on PCIe x16 slot?
>>
>> Will it work???
>>
>> Thank in advance.
>> Matt
>
> Yes.
>
> There is a table here that illustrates some possibilities.
>
> http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0456.html
>
> PCI Express slot compatibility
>
> x1 slot x4 slot x8 slot x16 slot
> x1 card Supported Supported Supported Supported
> x4 card No Supported Supported Supported
> x8 card No No Supported Supported
> x16 card No No No Supported
>
> *******
> Just because a x16 connector is present, doesn't always mean
> all the lanes are wired up. The manufacturer may choose
> to wire only x8 lanes or x4 lanes, and for high bandwidth
> applications, that can have an effect. It won't affect
> your ability to connect a x1 card.
>
> "Sub wired" connectors are quite a common feature on
> motherboards now. Boards based on P35, for example, may
> have two physical x16 connectors, but the wiring is x16
> to one connector, and only x4 to the other connector.
> To detect such an issue, you count "capacitor pairs"
> near the connector, on the surface of the motherboard.
> You need a closeup picture of the motherboard, to
> do a "lane analysis" and determine whether sub wired
> slots are present.
>
> HTH,
> Paul