So... What is PCi Express?

[OWNHAY]

ok guys. as you can see by the question, i'm a huge noob at computers. I do know what pci is.. and i have already plugged in a wireless adapter to the one pci 3.0 slot i have on my motherboard, which is a Maximus V Extreme. but i was wondering, can i fit another pci thing into one of the empty x16 video card slots that i have empty? since i only have 1 video card, i have 3 empty spaces where it looks like you can fit a pci 3.0 into, with extra in space left over. can i fit other pci stuff into there? why or why not? (if you need clarification for something please ask) thanks

 

[inzone]

All pci and pci-e slots can have any card placed in it if it fits. A x1 card can go into a x16 slot or a x8 or x4. As a rule you try to save the longer slots for the video cards or other cards that reguire more length. If however you are not going to use all the long slots then you can put what you want in them.
The one thing thast you want to check on before doing that is the motherboard layout for the bandwidth lanes. you don't want to unnecessarily reduce the x16 slot that your video vcard is in to x8 by placing a card in the slot next to the video card. The motherboard manal will help with this and show you the slots and what should be occupied to obtain the correct bandwidth.

 

[coolitic]

By PCI 3.0, I assume you mean PCI-E 3.0 (since there is no PCI 3.0). Chances are, most things found in the past 5-7 yrs dont use regular PCI. That mobo can hav 1 or 2 x16 slots as either x16, dual x8, or x8,x4,x4. and also wat inzone sed.

 

[Outlander_04]

What everyone else said

but be careful on motherboards that can SLI and crossfire .
Usually the second pci-e x16 slot from the top is paired with the top slot and if you add anything to it except a matching graphics card you kill off graphics performance because it shares a link to the processor

 

[OWNHAY]

Ok, thanks! i was just a bit confused on if i could fit smaller sizes into the bigger slots. thanks again everyone!