PCI Express x1? What for?

[MasterJ]

So I'm looking at building a new system early next year. I'm familiarizing myself with all the new technology that's slipped by.

What the heck is PCI-E x1 for? The only instance I've seen it used is a card that comes with a motherboard (because there isn't enough room on the motherboard itself). Yet the baord comes with two of these slots. That's AMD-compatible boards. Many other boards by this company for Intel processors come with three of these.

So what are they used for?

<i>Supernova</i>:
ABIT NF7-S
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
1x512mb GEiL Value PC3200
ATI Radeon 9000pro AGP
Western Digital 80gb 7200rpm
Fortron 350w
Raidmax Scorpio case
Windows XP Pro

 

[RichPLS]

Modems, sound cards, etc.
Video cards use PCI-e x8 or x16 slots.

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And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[MasterJ]

So they're just there to install a userbase huh? That makes sense.

<i>Supernova</i>:
ABIT NF7-S
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
1x512mb GEiL Value PC3200
ATI Radeon 9000pro AGP
Western Digital 80gb 7200rpm
Fortron 350w
Raidmax Scorpio case
Windows XP Pro

 

[RichPLS]

Basically, there are PCI-E 1x and 4x cards coming out in the near future (i.e. before the end of the year). Namely, gigabit NIC's, hard drive controller cards, and TV cards will be produced first, as they will benifit the most. Most cards aren't limited by the PCI bus other than those, so you probably won't see an abundance of PCI-E 1x/4x expansion cards for awhile, as it's more of a futureproof technology (as the entire PCI-E bus is

It boils down to market saturation. When they are profitable, the cards will come.

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>