pci-express 8x/ pci-express 16x I confused

[UpskirtHayley]

what is the difference? I see some computer with pci-express 8x and some are 16x.

which is my x850xt pci-e compatible on?

 

[hermeslyre]

The amount of pins, is the difference. The number denotes a likewise number of lanes, which of course promotes extra bandwidth and by association, speed, power. The latter only becoming apparent when bandwidth is insufficient, bottlenecking. An x8 card will work in a x16 slot, as long as it physically fits.

The x850xt was PCI-e x16 so far as I know. There might have been x8 versions..

 

[Geoff]

They never made a PCI-E x8 video card, a lot of older motherboards with AGP and PCI-E had a physical PCI-E x16 slot, however it only ran at 8x speed.

 

[UpskirtHayley]

I saw a computer at ebay that says pci-express 8x but I forgot to watch it in my watching list.

so pci-express 8x is no such thing?

 

[hermeslyre]

Makes sense. I've never seen one before.

 

[StrangleHold]

About all the AM2 Geforce 6100 boards with a nforce 400/405 only had a PCIe X16 slot that ran at X8

 

[Geoff]

They do make PCI-E x8 slots, although they are very rare. I would bet that the motherboard you saw was a PCI-E x16 slot which ran at an x8 speed.

 

[StrangleHold]

Yea there physical X16 slots that run at X8. DFI made some boards with physical X8 and X4 slots
This one has a physical X4 slot
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136041

This one has a Physical X4 and X8 slot but the X4 slot is only at X1 if your running SLI
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pro....jsp?PRODUCT_ID=4716&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US