Asus P5Q Pro, PCI E X16 slots

[hopkiller]

Hey i got this mobo im about to order and it is the Asus P5Q pro, P45 chipset. I know when running crossfire on it each PCI E slot X16 is running at X8. Quick question if im only running 1 graphics card is that one card running at full X16 rather than X8.

 

[outlw6669]

Yes.
As long as your single card is running in the top PCIe 16x slot, it will be running at full speed.

The blue slot is the one you want.

 

[hopkiller]

thanks

 

[aevm]

And if you add a second card, the drop to x8+x8 won't hurt that much. It's only important IMO at 1920x1200 or more, from what benchmarks I've seen.

 

[Physicz]

wait, if you use one card does it matter what pci x16 slot you put it in?

 

[1haplo]

Yes it does.

here is a quote from ASUS specifications

"2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, support ATI CrossFireX™ technology at x8 link
(PCIe x16_1 blue, PCIe x16_2 black*)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot at max. x4 link(black)"

So unless in crossfire mode the black will run at 4X and the blue will run at 16X

1Haplo

 

[michael775]

what iff you run 1 radeon 4800 and one sas 8x adaptor will both slots run down to 8x each or does the dual 8x only aply to crossfire

 

[jsc]

No. The problem is caused by the limited number of PCI lanes in the P45 chipset.