Will my graphics card run at 8x if I install a 4x card below it.

[matthew4mckeever]

So basically, I have a gigabyte z87x-ud3h
3 pcie slots
top 16x slot
then 1x slot
then 8x slot
then regular pci slot not pcie
then a 4x slot

If I have my graphics card in the 16x slot, will it run at 8x if I put a 4x card in the 8x slot? Or should I put the 4x card in the very bottom 4x slot?

Another question, the card im on about it an adapter for a m.2 nvme ssd.
Does this motherboard support nvme ssds if Im using the pci adapter

 

[Xemko]

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4481#sp

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
(The PCIEX16 and PCIEX8 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_2/3 slots. The PCIEX1_2/3 slots will become unavailable when a PCIe x4 expansion card is installed.
* When installing a x8 or above card in the PCIEX4 slot, make sure to set PCIE Slot Configuration in BIOS Setup to x4. (Refer to Chapter 2, "BIOS Setup," "Peripherals," for more information.)

3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(The PCIEX4 and PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

1 x PCI slot

 

[Multipack]

Yes it would only run at 8x, but that x4 slot is PCI 2.0. All depends on what GPU's you have.

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Yes it would only run at 8x, but that x4 slot is PCI 2.0. All depends on what GPU's you have.

Most likely going to be getting a 1070

 

[Multipack]

Tbh you can probably SLI a pair of cards in PCI 3.0 x8 without any noticeable performance hit, but in that PCI 2.0 x4 slot you aren't going to get enough bandwidth for any new GPU's.

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Tbh you can probably SLI a pair of cards in PCI 3.0 x8 without any noticeable performance hit, but in that PCI 2.0 x4 slot you aren't going to get enough bandwidth for any new GPU's.

im not putting a gpu in the 4x slot, im talking about putting a 4x card for an m.2 ssd in it

 

[Dragos Manea]

Iit will run at 8x only if you populate the 16x 3.0 slots, that 4x slot it is from the motherboard chipset and not from the cpu how it is in teh case of the 16x working at 16x. IN summary you got 3 16x slots in which: one operates at 16x second which operates at 8x and the third which operates at 4x. No matter what you put on the 4x slot the other 16x will be unaffected. It will affect only if you populate the 16x which works at 8x.

 

[Multipack]

No I was talking about the two x16 slots being populated, answering the initial question... That x4 slot is PCI 2.0. If both Pci 3.0 slots are in use, they will run at x8. I never said that 2.0 x4 slot affects anything..

The x4 slot, as I said, is PCI 2.0 not 3.0. You'd be better using the m2 in the second x16 slot. You wont see a performance hit, but no matter what's in the econd x16 slot, the first will then run at x8.

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Let me re-word this.
I'm going to probably get one of those PCI-E adapters for an m.2 ssd.
The adapter is a 4x card.
If I have my gpu in the top 16x slot, and the 4X adapter in the 8X slot.
Will that effect the GPU in any way?

 

[Multipack]

Let me re-word this.
I'm going to probably get one of those PCI-E adapters for an m.2 ssd.
The adapter is a 4x card.
If I have my gpu in the top 16x slot, and the 4X adapter in the 8X slot.
Will that effect the GPU in any way?

No. Lol.

 

[matthew4mckeever]

So is this correct?
If I have my GPU in the top 16x slot. It will stay 16x if I put a 4x card, in the very bottom 4X slot?

 

[Dragos Manea]

Let me re-word this.
I'm going to probably get one of those PCI-E adapters for an m.2 ssd.
The adapter is a 4x card.
If I have my gpu in the top 16x slot, and the 4X adapter in the 8X slot.
Will that effect the GPU in any way?

No. Lol.

Yes lol, the pci 3.0 slots are from the cpu so installing something on the 8x slot IT WILL affect the videocard, why dont you put it in the 4x slot which will not affect with anything the 3.0 slots.

EDIT: In my previous post i did not read correctly the question, i thought you are talking about the 4x slot, not the 8x slot.

 

[Multipack]

So is this correct?
If I have my GPU in the top 16x slot. It will stay 16x if I put a 4x card, in the very bottom 4X slot?

Yes but that bottom slot is PCI 2.0 not PCI 3.0 so has lower bandwidth. A 1080 can run at x8 with no performance hit http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

 

[Dragos Manea]

So is this correct?
If I have my GPU in the top 16x slot. It will stay 16x if I put a 4x card, in the very bottom 4X slot?

Yes but that bottom slot is PCI 2.0 not PCI 3.0 so has lower bandwidth. A 1080 can run at x8 with no performance hit http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

Someoen else asked about the bandwidth so i will say here too, 1 lane of 2.0 revision has 500 mb/s, 4 lanes meaning 500x4= 2000 mb/s, that would be around 2gb/s which is plenty for any ssd you are going to install. Be sure that the ssd to be on 4x not 8x.

 

[Multipack]

So is this correct?
If I have my GPU in the top 16x slot. It will stay 16x if I put a 4x card, in the very bottom 4X slot?

Yes but that bottom slot is PCI 2.0 not PCI 3.0 so has lower bandwidth. A 1080 can run at x8 with no performance hit http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

Someoen else asked about the bandwidth so i will say here too, 1 lane of 2.0 revision has 500 mb/s, 4 lanes meaning 500x4= 2000 mb/s, that would be around 2gb/s which is plenty for any ssd you are going to install. Be sure that the ssd to be on 4x not 8x.

2gb/s would be possible with NVME's, especially if it was x8. The new Samsung PM961 reads at 3gb/s on x4. Good to have a little overhead maybe.

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Ohhhh right, oh I think I understand now.
So basically what you're saying is because its 2.0 the SSD won't run at its full potential as it only supports 500mb/s?

 

[Multipack]

Ohhhh right, oh I think I understand now.
So basically what you're saying is because its 2.0 the SSD won't run at its full potential as it only supports 500mb/s?

Yeah, but that's 500mb/s per lane. So x4 would be 2gb/s. 3.0 would be double that.

PCI-e 1.0 PCI-e 2.x PCI-e 3.0 PCI-e 4.x
x1 250MB/s 500MB/s 985MB/s 1969MB/s
x4 1000MB/s 2000MB/s 3940MB/s 7876MB/s
x8 2000MB/s 4000MB/s 7880MB/s 15752MB/s
x16 4000MB/s 8000MB/s 15760MB/s 31504MB/s

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Ok, pretty sure I get it now.
Thanks for the help guys, and just to be sure.
My motherboard will support the NVME SSD yes?

 

[Multipack]

Ok, pretty sure I get it now.
Thanks for the help guys, and just to be sure.
My motherboard will support the NVME SSD yes?

Probably, but using an m2 to PCIe adapter could cause config problems in your BIOS. It's unlikely, but always best to plug things in to their native hosts. Updating BIOS will help with compatibility. If you said which adapter and which NVME it would help but that's a whole other thread haha..

 

[matthew4mckeever]

Ok, pretty sure I get it now.
Thanks for the help guys, and just to be sure.
My motherboard will support the NVME SSD yes?

Probably, but using an m2 to PCIe adapter could cause config problems in your BIOS. It's unlikely, but always best to plug things in to their native hosts. Updating BIOS will help with compatibility. If you said which adapter and which NVME it would help but that's a whole other thread haha..

SM951 128GB and this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAMSUNG-XP941-SM951-PM951-PCI-E/dp/B01ELL5P4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475487662&sr=8-1&keywords=m.2+to+pcie

 

[Multipack]

Ok, pretty sure I get it now.
Thanks for the help guys, and just to be sure.
My motherboard will support the NVME SSD yes?

Probably, but using an m2 to PCIe adapter could cause config problems in your BIOS. It's unlikely, but always best to plug things in to their native hosts. Updating BIOS will help with compatibility. If you said which adapter and which NVME it would help but that's a whole other thread haha..

SM951 128GB and this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAMSUNG-XP941-SM951-PM951-PCI-E/dp/B01ELL5P4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475487662&sr=8-1&keywords=m.2+to+pcie

Wouldn't like to say for sure, as it's a z87 board and no mention of NVME support in the spec, but you should be ok as long as you use UEFI and AHCI. Make sure you update your BIOS though.