Big motherboard mistake?

scruffeh

scruffeh

scruffeh

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11 Apr 2006
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504
Hi there,

I've just ordered about £650 of new kit including a new x1900 XT and conroe e6300. However, the motherboard I ordered was the Gigbyte DS4 which I've just noticed has 2 main PCI-Express slots and only 2 PCI. I'm going to be putting my Audigy 4 and Wireless PCI card in the two slots from the start so this gives me limited room for upgrading, eg putting a TV card in. I'm also unlikely to ever go for Crossfire. Have I made a big mistake in not noticing the extra PCI-Express slot? What's the deal with these PCI-Express x1 slots that this motherboard has? Are they going to replace normal PCI in the next year or so, or could you use an adaptor to run a normal PCI card?
 

kitten

kitten

kitten

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5 Aug 2006
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230
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in a well
You are in luck.

Check this thread.. PCI-e to PCI Adapters.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17613856

Even with the advent of PCI-e It will be several years before PCI parts are no longer made.(boards and cards) Do you remember how long ISA and EISA were still in use after PCI became the standard.

USB is good and Tonyyebs suggestion of USB wireless makes sense, USB wireless adapters are relatively cheap, plus they can be moved into better reception positions, should your PC be at the limits of the wireless range. I have to move my wireless router to get a signal in the garden, this is a pain, so I plug a USB wireless adapter on a cable to my main PC and position it so I get garden coverage.

I recently upgraded from AMD XP 3200+ and 128Mb ATI 9800 Pro to E6400 and X1900XT. I have the processor at 3.2GHz and all I can say is WOW!!! My system is percievably much faster in everyday use. As for games such as FEAR, Quake 4, COD2, GRAW etc. I had to previously play at 800x600 with some compromise in quality. Now everything is at 1280x1024 maxed out detail, and is slippery slick and smooth.. I am very impressed, for I too have used AMD since the 1GhZ TBird.

Enjoy you new system, until developers write code that chokes our CPU's and drowns our GPU's We have PC's that can really kick ass.

;)
 

Pug

Pug

Pug

Soldato
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20 Oct 2002
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5,184
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Over there...
the 2nd pcie slot isnt for crossfire - the board doesnt support it, and the second slot only runs @ 4x - so is more for multimonitor etc...

I bought a DS4 partly for that reason. The DS3 has NO secondary PCIe slot, so any TV Card/addin that requires a PCIe 4x will work in my DS4, and not in a DS3 - which will happen, and would make a DS3 useless for that route.
 

martianrobot

martianrobot

martianrobot

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1 Jan 2006
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252
Location
Sheffield
I've seen a PCI-e x1 DVB-TV card somewhere but for the life of me I cant remember where.

However, I replaced a crappy PCI based one I had with a Freecom DVB-T USB Stick - great little device complete with magnetic stick ariel - works great as long as you point it in the direction of the transmitter.
 
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