newbie need help with mobo

[bigbrowni]

hello...i'm new here...
anyway, can someone pls help me with my motherboard?
i have a foxconn 915GV7MH-S board, it says that it has a pci-e 16x slot/f.g.e.II. what does that mean? i read the manual and this is all i get:

F.G.E. II Slot
The F.G.E.II (Foxconn Graphics Extension II) slot is a special design that provides
an extended graphics interface for PCI Express 16X VGA cards.

With F.G.E.II technology, This motherboard can enjoy Facile Dual Monitor
feature, which provides an enhanced productivity feature for business
workers, programmer and etc..

Facile Dual Monitor Feature Support Matrix Table
1 PCI Express X16 (for 915G)+ Onboard VGA
2 Onboard VGA (for 915GL/GV/910GL) + F.G.E. II

i searched the web but can't get a clear meaning of the f.g.e II thingy... i also read that it is a x4 and not a x16...any experts out there pls help...

thank in advance[/quote]

 

[timberwolf1]

That's confusing. In the Foxconn 915GV7MH-S manual, does it mention if the board supports PCI-E 16x?

 

[INeedCache]

The PCI-E supports 16x on your board. The FGE refers to Foxconn's method of allowing the use of an AGP card through the PCI bus. In this case it would support AGP 4x. It's not all that great, and is likely a feature most people won't use, unless they wish to use an existing AGP card while waiting to purchase a PCI-E one.

 

[bigbrowni]

thanks for the reply

That's confusing. In the Foxconn 915GV7MH-S manual, does it mention if the board supports PCI-E 16x?

it mentioned that pci-e x16 is supported in other boards along the 915 series but also stated that my particular one supports f.g.e II...

The PCI-E supports 16x on your board. The FGE refers to Foxconn's method of allowing the use of an AGP card through the PCI bus. In this case it would support AGP 4x. It's not all that great, and is likely a feature most people won't use, unless they wish to use an existing AGP card while waiting to purchase a PCI-E one.

well, i'm using a pci-e video card on the f.g.e.II slot...you mean, the white slots(PCI) can hold AGP 4x? and the brown one(f.g.e.II) acts as a pci-e x16?

It's confusing as i am a noob when it comes to these things. But I think I joined the right forums...

 

[bigbrowni]

I also found that my bus type is pci-e x4 on nvidia properties while EXPERTool says it's 4x/16x. Is that something to worry about?

 

[linux_0]

I also found that my bus type is pci-e x4 on nvidia properties while EXPERTool says it's 4x/16x. Is that something to worry about?

Slots can be 1x 4x 8x or 16x

however 4x slots may only support 1x bandwidth under certain circumstances

8x slots may only support 1x or 4x bandwidth under certain circumstances

16x slots may only support 1x, 4x or 8x bandwidth under certain circumstances

Many boards have 2 or more 16x slots however they cannot actually run BOTH slots at 16x

Boards that can run 2 slots at 16x at the same time are quite rare.


This board for example has 2 16x slots however one runs at 16x and the other runs at 4x:

 

[bigbrowni]

thanks for the info

16x slots may only support 1x, 4x or 8x bandwidth under certain circumstances

The board I have (foxconn) is the one you posted at the bottom with the 3 white 32-bit pci slots and 1 brown pci-e (or F.G.E.II as the manual stated) which I put my pci-e video card. The question is: Does it run at 16x or 4x?

 

[linux_0]

It runs @ x4 according to this:

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/products_motherboard_2.cfm?pName=915GV7MH-S

Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 controller plus PCI Express x16 slot
PCI Express video card support at x4 level (lanes slaved off ICH6) using Foxconn Graphics Extension (FGE) II technology

Do not let the techno babble confuse you, it is an x16 slot with x4 signals so your VGA apparently runs @ x4.

 

[bigbrowni]

Thanks for the help... I'll just go out and buy a mobo that can truly run my card at 16x...