How are you supposed to know what PCI-e speed your graphics card can handle?

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raiden78

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Feb 12, 2014
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I just bought the VisionTek 900614 Radeon HD 7750 2GB GDDR5 video card for 6 monitor use. I bought the MSI H87-G43 motherboard, which has the following slots:

Slots: 1x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 Slot, 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Slot (runs at x4), 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Slots, 3x PCI Slots

So for my first 7750, I'll obviously be using the 3.0 X 16 slot... but what about if I want to add another card( to go up to 12 monitors)? There is a 2.0 X 16 slot that runs at X4, but is that too slow to make full use of the card?

So my question is, how are you supposed to know the speed (x4, x8, etc...) that your card can handle? I never see it in the specifications. If for example my card can handle x16, then using that X4 slot would slow it down, right?
 
Solution
maxalge


As a general rule all video cards can use the max rating of any given pcie slot they list on the box.

The speed of the pcie slot is limited by the motherboard.

The motherboard you have has 2 slots you can put a gpu into, a full 3.0 x16 slot, and a crappy 2.0 x4 slot.

If you wanted to drop in another gpu into the x4 slot then yes it will not function at its full capacity.

If all you would want it for though is just to have multi-monitor then it would not be an issue.












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raiden78

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Feb 12, 2014
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Thanks...I'm concerned about the fact that it is 2.0 X16 (X4) though... will that "X4" potentially slow down a card? How are you supposed to know what your card can handle, when it seems like it is never included in the specs?
 
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raiden78

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Feb 12, 2014
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So a 2.0 X16 (X4) slot could still slow down a faster card, if I understand correctly? How are you supposed to know what your card can handle? It seems to me that X4 is pretty outdated...
 
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raiden78

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Feb 12, 2014
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I see... so where in the specs of a card can you find out how much it can utilize? For instance in the specs of the card I bought, no mention is made to it being X4 or X8 or anything... all I know is that it is PCIe x16 which is very general info.
 
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maxalge

maxalge

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May 31, 2012
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As a general rule all video cards can use the max rating of any given pcie slot they list on the box.

The speed of the pcie slot is limited by the motherboard.

The motherboard you have has 2 slots you can put a gpu into, a full 3.0 x16 slot, and a crappy 2.0 x4 slot.

If you wanted to drop in another gpu into the x4 slot then yes it will not function at its full capacity.

If all you would want it for though is just to have multi-monitor then it would not be an issue.












 
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raiden78

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Feb 12, 2014
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Thanks! Now it makes sense why I was not seeing the info I was looking for on the video card specs. It seems to me then that this may be one of the most important things to look for in picking a motherboard. I'll keep it in mind for my next build.

And it's also nice to know that I would be fine with my current slots even if I go to 12 monitors, since I am indeed just using them as workspaces.
 
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