Whats the point in pci-e

ted34 · 10 Jul 2006 at 11:31

For a while now pci-e slots have been on the newer boards but who uses them? I havent seen one product apart from a couple in reviews that dont use standard pci slots rather than the newer pci-e slots. Are there ever going to be any use for the pci-4 and pci-8 slots on boards?

BubbySoup · 10 Jul 2006 at 12:04

I have a Terratec TV card that uses the little, dinky PCI-E slot.

mdjmcnally · 10 Jul 2006 at 12:11

There are a couple of Hard Disk Controllers available for x4 and x8 starting to come through now.

Kde7 · 10 Jul 2006 at 18:35

Physics cards will most likely use up pci-e x4 and we'll probably see sound cards along with tv cards in x1.

FrankJH · 10 Jul 2006 at 18:43

Kde7 said:
Physics cards will most likely use up pci-e x4 and we'll probably see sound cards along with tv cards in x1.

Or a second GPU to handle the physics - if that comes to anything.

At the moment I have only seen maximum of three PCI-E slots in any one mobo, two full speed (16x) and 1 mini (1x) slots

Creative were saying initally there were problems moving sound cards over to the PCI-E and it wasnt reallly worth it, but I guess with fewer and fewer PCI slots appearing, and with the likes of physics cards / hd controllers and potentially usb 2 / firewire etc getting in on the act hopefully PCI will slowly die away

Saying that with CPU's getting more and more powerful and HD audio onboard on the newer mobo's ( and likely to filter down to cheaper boards relatively quickly ) maybe external / add in sound cards are a thing of the past for consumers and only professionals will require them.........who knows

LanceCrossfire · 10 Jul 2006 at 19:03

my mobo(intel 975xbx) has three PCI-E x16 slots(1 is x16 electrical, 1 is x8 electrical and 1 is x4 electrical) but the gigabyte quad royal has 4 PCI-E slots(all is the form of x16, not sure what they run at though)