What does this mean?

J

Jmoua09

New Member
1x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Slot; 1x PCI-Express x1 Slot.

I understand that they are both PCI-E slots, but IDK if there is a difference with 2.0.
Also what does the x16/x1 mean? Are they the lanes? If so can they be used interchangeably (if that's the word). I mean, can I put a graphics card with 2.0 x16 into the PCI-E x1 Slot without conflict?

Sorry for the noob question I had to ask, I am still learning to read the specs.

Thanks in advance.
 
PCI-e x1 and x16 slots are different in length. PCI-e x16 slots are mainly used for video cards while PCI-e x1 slots are used for sound cards, network adapters, etc...

Although I have read you can install PCI-e x1 cards in the PCI-e x16 slots. Never tried it so don't know if it is true. You can also go the other way around although that would be kind of pointless.

If you physically look at the slots, PCI-e x1 slots are about an inch or two in length(just guessing) and PCI-e x16 slots are probably 3x as long.
 
The yellow circle is a X1 slot, the green circle is a x16 slot. Basically you had it right, it the number of lanes.

P5520Extremem1-1.jpg



X1 slots are usually for sound cards, or other small ad on cards. X16 slots on mainly for video cards.

2.0 means it's just the second generation of PCIe. It operates at double the speed of 1.1 slots. So a x16 1.1 slot is equal to a x8 2.0 slot. All newer boards use 2.0 slots only

Now, to confuse you more, lol, some x16 slots only operate at x8 or x4 speed. See the two red x16 slots on this board? The first red one runs at x8 and the last x16 slot runs at x4 speed only. This is because the P55 chipset only has 16 possible lanes (the lower x4 slot is run electrically off the south bridge). When the top x16 slot and the lower x8 slot are both populated, the top slot runs at x8 speed....on P55 boards atleast. On X58 boards (socket 1366) both slots run at x16 speed.

Also, you can run a X1 card in a x16 slot, but not the other way around (well, you CAN but it's not right).

Hopefully that helps you out some.
 
Now, to confuse you more, lol, some x16 slots only operate at x8 or x4 speed. See the two red x16 slots on this board? The first red one runs at x8 and the last x16 slot runs at x4 speed only. This is because the P55 chipset only has 16 possible lanes (the lower x4 slot is run electrically off the south bridge). When the top x16 slot and the lower x8 slot are both populated, the top slot runs at x8 speed....on P55 boards atleast. On X58 boards (socket 1366) both slots run at x16 speed.
Click to expand...

I kind of get this.:confused: LOL
Thanks for the reply, it really fills the blanks.
 
I don't currently own a PC, just a macbook laptop. With my school courses I am doing a lot of digital art material using photoshop and other rendering tools. I am planning on building a pc that will support dual monitors because I had the privilege to use one that allows me to utilize 2 screens and it was very useful.

Along with that, I do play a lot of Starcraft II. My old macbook is keeping me on low settings and it can sometimes be discouraging to play. LOL

I have thought about using the new Intel cores as they are said to be better for all around use. However, I am on a tight budget and thinking that maybe a AMD Phantom quad core would be my best call?
What would you suggest?

I would like to build my own as I am not too fond of prebuilt PCs, but I still have a lot to learn about PC components. I do get the general idea of building it, I don't really understand the specs and details as much as I thought I did and don't want to order anything yet because I'm afraid I'll be stuck with a bunch of incompatible parts.
 
I highly recommend an I3 build for what you want. This here is $580 with shipping costs included, but there's $40 worth of mail in rebates.

Case-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227

Power supply-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

Motherboard-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128421

CPU-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115221

Ram-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193

Video card-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130579

DVD burner- (probably buy 2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334

Hard drive, 640gb (not sure if you need that much space, but)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319


If you need a monitor, I higher recommend Acer's deal right here $130 free shipping for a full 1080p monitor!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009275
 
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Yeah, I'm located in MN we just had a 36" blizzard. I was left to do the shoveling myself, not fun at all.
I do need a lot of space, I was planning to get a 1tb HDD, more if I have the money.

Thanks for looking up those parts for me. I really appreciate your help, I've looked at CPUs and Mobos for 4 days now and couldn't even find a right combo (mostly because I don't know what to look for).

What do you look for in a mobo when you are picking one out? What about the graphics card?

Thanks again.
 
Motherboard first you have to think of the brand. Gigabyte is one of the best, ASRock is good but on the cheaper end. I think they are the best of the ''cheap'' boards, and their RMA service is fantastic and fast. There's several different chipsets, it's really hard to go into all that.

For video card, well you look for one with the latest technology, stream processor count and clockspeed, and then memory bandwidth. But you can't compare the stream processors from Nvidia cards to ATI, they each have a different system.
Example- Nvidia's GTX580 with 512 stream processors whips ATI's 5870 which has 1600.
 
Do you think with the work I am doing, will it utilize SLI graphics cards well or will it just be extra icing on the cake?

I noticed that the HDDs have different cache, what do the numbers mean?
 
Cache is like RAM for the hard drive. The more the better! haha. The caviar black is a pretty fast hard drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533


The gt430 doesn't support SLI, but it should be more than enough for what you need anyway. It's nearly as strong as a 9800gt, but uses way less power and has DX11.

If you have a little more in your budget, springing for a gts450 would be worth it.
 
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I really like the build, it is just around my 500 budget. Do you think the Intel would be easier and cheaper over the AMD to upgrade in the long run?

Now I just need to learn how to get everything installed and booted.
 
With that board, you have the option of upgrading to an I7 870. Thats the highest CPU on socket 1156. quad core with hyper threading (8 threads), it's a beast of a CPU, and faster than anything AMD currently offers. But for what you want/need, and I3 will be plenty and extremely speedy. Once you get a decent CPU cooler on it, most overclock to ~4.4ghz with daily runable voltage.

Take a look at the I7 870 VS the 1090t (and bear in mind the 1090t has two more cores and is clocked 200mhz higher, yet the I7 still beats it in 90% of these benches :eek: )

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/107?vs=146
 
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