How do I fit a network card with a physical x4 slot into an x1 slot?
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
Pretty sure if you put a PCIe 3.0 card in a 4.0 slot the slot will drop to 3.0, and 1 PCIe 3.0 lane probably isn't going to work great with a card meant for 4 of them.
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
I don't think you do.
A x1 will fit in a x4 but not the other way around.
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I don't think you do.
A x1 will fit in a x4 but not the other way around.
How would I do it then? The card doesn't exactly need PCIE gen 3 X4, at the most it needs PCIE Gen 3 X2 == PCIE Gen 4 X1 in terms of bandwidth.
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
Hand saw?
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Pretty sure if you put a PCIe 3.0 card in a 4.0 slot the slot will drop to 3.0, and 1 PCIe 3.0 lane probably isn't going to work great with a card meant for 4 of them.
The card only needs PCIE Gen 3 X2 == PCIE Gen 4 X1 in terms of bandwidth. I was hoping to fit it into the slot since it meets the bandwidth requirements
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Hand saw?
I don't want to cut the card
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
If your card has an x4 pinout, then it probably needs the additional bandwidth. Plugging it into an x1 slot (if it was possible) would slow down the network traffic. Get a better motherboard with an x4 slot on it so you can use the hardware you want. or find something else that will fit your computer.
Honestly even the 1Gb quad port card I have requires an x4 slot, although I saw some dual-port 2.5Gb x1 cards on ebay. Maybe you could just use two of those?
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
File a small slit in the end of the slot so the card fits into it, but runs past the back. The card will run at Gen 3 x1 speed, but otherwise work properly.
Many motherboards even come with the end of the PCIe slots open for this exact purpose.
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The card only needs PCIE Gen 3 X2 == PCIE Gen 4 X1 in terms of bandwidth. I was hoping to fit it into the slot since it meets the bandwidth requirements
An x1 slot is an x1 slot, the PCIe version will downgrade but there will still only be one lane because that's all the slot physically has connections for. It will effectively be a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot.
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I'm looking at quad port 2.5Gbe Intel PCIe cards. These cards seem to be mostly x4 physically (usually PCIe gen 3) whilst I have a PCIe Gen4 X1 slot, which is more the theoretical bandwidth that the card can support.
How do I fit the card into a PCIe x1 slot? Won't it lose performance if all the pins are not connected to the physical PCIe connector? Is there a PCIe x1 riser that the community likes that is somewhat affordable?
Thanks
If you don't want to risk modifying the slot, try one of the cheap PCIe risers on amazon and send it back if it doesn't work. You will need a case with a couple of extra slots under the motherboard in order to fit the riser in there though.
It will run slower, but that probably won't be an issue unless you plan to max out all 4 ports simultaneously.
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I don't want to cut the card
Cut the slot? Or desolder it and replace it with one with an open back.
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Cut the slot? Or desolder it and replace it with one with an open back.
The slot is open. I'm just wondering whether the card will work properly in that slot since all the pins won't be attached. PCIe Gen 3 X1 bandwidth is more than enough for it
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If you don't want to risk modifying the slot, try one of the cheap PCIe risers on amazon and send it back if it doesn't work. You will need a case with a couple of extra slots under the motherboard in order to fit the riser in there though.
It will run slower, but that probably won't be an issue unless you plan to max out all 4 ports simultaneously.
Even maxing out the ports won't be a problem. Even 6 gigabit ports don't saturate a PCIe Gen 3 X1 slot in terms of bandwidth. But will the card work at all if all the physical pins are not connected electrically to the slot?
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An x1 slot is an x1 slot, the PCIe version will downgrade but there will still only be one lane because that's all the slot physically has connections for. It will effectively be a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot.
Technically the slot is PCIe Gen 4 x1, but I understand. TBH PCIe gen 3 X1 is fine too, that's more than 6 port Gigabit cards can saturate anyway.
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The slot is open. I'm just wondering whether the card will work properly in that slot since all the pins won't be attached. PCIe Gen 3 X1 bandwidth is more than enough for it
Then plug it in and go to town. Either it'll work, or it won't. Some cards get unhappy about missing pins, but it's really just luck of the draw.
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File a small slit in the end of the slot so the card fits into it, but runs past the back. The card will run at Gen 3 x1 speed, but otherwise work properly.
Many motherboards even come with the end of the PCIe slots open for this exact purpose.
I'll likely go for a 4 or 6 gigabit port card, so PCIe gen 3 x1 is not a problem. Am I correct in understanding that the card will run at PCIe gen 3 X1 if I do this?
What can I do if the card is PCIe gen 2 x8? These cards from Silicom are really cheap on ebay
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If your card has an x4 pinout, then it probably needs the additional bandwidth. Plugging it into an x1 slot (if it was possible) would slow down the network traffic. Get a better motherboard with an x4 slot on it so you can use the hardware you want. or find something else that will fit your computer.
Honestly even the 1Gb quad port card I have requires an x4 slot, although I saw some dual-port 2.5Gb x1 cards on ebay. Maybe you could just use two of those?
It doesn't need that kind of bandwidth. 6 gigabit ports cannot saturate pcie gen 3 x1 in terms of bandwidth anyway.
What do I do if the card is PCIe gen 2 x8 though?
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Then plug it in and go to town. Either it'll work, or it won't. Some cards get unhappy about missing pins, but it's really just luck of the draw.
There's another situation. There are older (and cheaper cards) which are PCIe gen 2 x8. Unfortunately, pcie gen 2 x1 is not going to suffice. What would I have to do to get this older kind of card to work? Do you have any reliable PCIe x1 to x16 risers in mind?
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If you don't want to risk modifying the slot, try one of the cheap PCIe risers on amazon and send it back if it doesn't work. You will need a case with a couple of extra slots under the motherboard in order to fit the riser in there though.
It will run slower, but that probably won't be an issue unless you plan to max out all 4 ports simultaneously.
I cannot see any decent PCIE X1 to X16 risers on amazon. Everything is USB based which I don't want
