{"id":15365,"date":"2022-02-08T15:43:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T14:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/g100.us\/?p=15365"},"modified":"2022-06-17T15:30:23","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T13:30:23","slug":"pcie-slot-graphics-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Which PCIe Slot is best for your Graphics Card?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_39 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844814d060e\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\" \/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844814d060e\" class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844814d060e\" checked><nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 \"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#The_Basics_of_PCI_Express\" title=\"The Basics of PCI Express\">The Basics of PCI Express<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#PCIe_Lanes_-_or_Why_Slot_Choice_Matters\" title=\"PCIe Lanes - or Why Slot Choice Matters\">PCIe Lanes - or Why Slot Choice Matters<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Finding_Which_PCIe_Slot_For_Your_Graphics_Card_Is_Best\" title=\"Finding Which PCIe Slot For Your Graphics Card Is Best\">Finding Which PCIe Slot For Your Graphics Card Is Best<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#PCIe_Slots_vs_PCIe_Lanes\" title=\"PCIe Slots vs PCIe Lanes\">PCIe Slots vs PCIe Lanes<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Which_PCIe_Slots_To_Use_For_Multi-GPU_Setups\" title=\"Which PCIe Slots To Use For Multi-GPU Setups\">Which PCIe Slots To Use For Multi-GPU Setups<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Where_You_Shouldnt_Install_Your_Graphics_Card\" title=\"Where You Shouldn\u2019t Install Your Graphics Card\">Where You Shouldn\u2019t Install Your Graphics Card<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#FAQ\" title=\"FAQ\">FAQ<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#How_Many_PCIe_Lanes_Do_I_Need\" title=\"How Many PCIe Lanes Do I Need?\">How Many PCIe Lanes Do I Need?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#What_About_Mini_ITX_and_Micro_ATX_Motherboards\" title=\"What About Mini ITX and Micro ATX Motherboards?\">What About Mini ITX and Micro ATX Motherboards?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Where_Do_I_Install_My_GPUs_PCIe_Riser\" title=\"Where Do I Install My GPU\u2019s PCIe Riser?\">Where Do I Install My GPU\u2019s PCIe Riser?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Do_Laptops_Have_PCI_Express_Slots\" title=\"Do Laptops Have PCI Express Slots?\">Do Laptops Have PCI Express Slots?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/pcie-slot-graphics-card\/#Over_to_You\" title=\"Over to You\">Over to You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>If your motherboard has more than one PCI Express slot, it may not be immediately clear which one is going to be the best for your graphics card to use.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going to use this article to clear up this and related questions, including:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Basics_of_PCI_Express\"><\/span>The Basics of PCI Express<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>PCI Express is the de facto expansion card connector standard for modern motherboards and is known for offering fairly high bandwidth and speeds.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15380\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe Slots\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15380 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe Slots\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>PCIe Slots come in a few variations, but they all allow high-speed connection to your chipset and your CPU through <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/guide-to-pcie-lanes\/\">so-called PCIe-Lanes<\/a> that are tiny physical wires which run throughout your motherboard.<\/p>\n<p>Types of expansion with PCI Express include graphics cards, capture cards, sound cards, SSDs, and more.<\/p>\n<p>If it can expand the functionality of your PC and you can\u2019t just plug it in via a USB cable, chances are high that you\u2019ll be looking at a PCI Express expansion instead.<\/p>\n<p>Like other standards, PCI Express is a standard that has evolved over time to include generations of tiered performance.<\/p>\n<p>These tiers include the following:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-99\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-99 tablepress-responsive\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">PCIe Bandwith<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Transfer Rate<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Bandwidth x1 (per lane)<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">x4<\/th><th class=\"column-5\">x8<\/th><th class=\"column-6\">x16<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">PCIe 1.0<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">2.5GT\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">250 MB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">1.00 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">2.00 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">4.00 GB\/s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">PCIe 2.0<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">5GT\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">500 MB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">2.00 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">4.00 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">8.00 GB\/s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">PCIe 3.0<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">8GT\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">984.6 MB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">3.94 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">7.88 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">15.75 GB\/s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">PCIe 4.0<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">16GT\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">1969 MB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">7.88 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-5\">15.75 GB\/s<\/td><td class=\"column-6\">31.51 GB\/s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-99 from cache -->\n<p>Generally, graphics cards benefit from running at the higher speeds (read: bandwidths) offered by PCI Express, usually by running with x8 or x16 PCIe lanes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_Lanes_-_or_Why_Slot_Choice_Matters\"><\/span>PCIe Lanes - or Why Slot Choice Matters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, now you have a basic understanding of what PCI Express is and what bandwidths it can achieve. How does this impact which PCIe slot to choose for your graphics card?<\/p>\n<p>Well, depending on the PCIe slot you choose, your graphics card may function differently.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Especially when you\u2019re using high-end graphics cards, making sure that your PCIe slot has access to 8-16 PCI Express lanes is important<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If you attempt to run your graphics card without enough PCI Express lanes, you\u2019ll experience reduced performance.<\/p>\n<p>The number of PCIe Lanes directly relates to the bandwidth your expansion card or graphics card will have access to. Simple add-in cards such as Sound-Cards don't need many PCIe Lanes (x1 or x4) but GPUs send and receive so much Data over the PCIe-Bus, that most require 8-16 to run without throttling.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Finding_Which_PCIe_Slot_For_Your_Graphics_Card_Is_Best\"><\/span>Finding Which PCIe Slot For Your Graphics Card Is Best<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, which PCIe slot is best for your graphics card?<\/p>\n<p><strong>In general, the first PCI Express slot on your motherboard will be the best one to install your graphics card into<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The first slot will usually be a fully-decked PCIe x16 slot that will allow your graphics card to run at its full performance, and it may be one of the only x16 slots available on the motherboard.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15374\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors.jpg\" alt=\"PCI Express Connectors\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15374 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCI Express Connectors\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCI-Express-Connectors.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PCIe_Slots_vs_PCIe_Lanes\"><\/span>PCIe Slots vs PCIe Lanes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In order to understand the following few paragraphs, we have to make sure the difference between PCIe-Slots and Lanes is apparent.<\/p>\n<p>In the image above you can see PCIe-Slots that have different lengths. The longest is defined as &#8220;x16&#8221;, then x8, x4, and the shortest is x1.<\/p>\n<p>This designates physical properties (mostly length) of mechanical <strong>PCIe-Slots<\/strong> and doesn't necessarily tell us too much about the potential bandwidth of these slots yet.<\/p>\n<p>So far so good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Electrical PCIe-Lanes<\/strong>, though, are physical wires that run from those Slots to the motherboard and throughout the motherboard, either to the CPU or Chipset. PCIe-Lanes designate the transfer bandwidth a PCIe-Slot is capable of.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, PCIe-Lanes, too, are named in the same way as Slots and often used interchangeably (even though they shouldn't be used interchangeably). x16, x8, x4, x1.<\/p>\n<p>To confuse things further, these don't always correspond to each other. It would make sense to think a x16 PCIe-Slot will have x16 PCIe-Lanes, and that's that.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the factors we discuss below, though, a mechanical x16 Slot <em><strong>could<\/strong> <\/em>run at just x8 or even x4 PCIe-Lanes.<\/p>\n<p>So even though your Graphics Card fits nicely into a mechanical x16 PCIe-Slot, this doesn't mean that Slot will run at x16 PCIe-Lanes.<\/p>\n<p>Let's take a closer look at why this is so:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Which_PCIe_Slots_To_Use_For_Multi-GPU_Setups\"><\/span>Which PCIe Slots To Use For Multi-GPU Setups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>What if you\u2019re using more than one graphics card?<\/p>\n<p>Well, the installation of your first graphics card should still go to your first open PCI Express x16 slot.<\/p>\n<p><strong>From here, any subsequent GPUs will need to be mounted in the available PCI Express slots below, specifically, ones that offer at least 8 PCI Express lanes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This is where things can get tricky.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the first PCIe-Slot (the one closest to your CPU) is usually guaranteed to run at x16, there's more to it than that.<\/p>\n<p>A Motherboard's Chipset and the type of CPU you are using dictates the amount of available total PCIe Lanes. These Lanes will be split differently, depending on how many components you have installed in your system.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a lot of SATA Devices or M.2 NVMe SSDs, it might very well be that PCIe Lanes are already used up and you will not be able to add another GPU.<\/p>\n<p>Mainstream Chipsets (such as X570, B690, B660) also divide their lanes between the amount of GPUs you have installed, so one GPU would use x16 Lanes, but if you install 2 GPUs, they will both be able to use only 8 Lanes each.<\/p>\n<p>Long story short: Especially for multi GPU setups, consult your Motherboard Manual and look for a VGA \/ PCIe Bandwidth (sometimes named differently) overview table like this one on the MSI Unify x570 Motherboard:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15383\" style=\"width: 639px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15383\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-border wp-image-15383 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table.jpg\" alt=\"MSI Unify X570 PCIe Bandwidth Table\" width=\"639\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table.jpg 639w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15383\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-with-border wp-image-15383 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20639%20309%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"MSI Unify X570 PCIe Bandwidth Table\" width=\"639\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20639%20309%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 639w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table.jpg 639w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table-300x145.jpg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/MSI-Unify-X570-PCIe-Bandwidth-Table.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-15383\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MSI Unify X570 PCIe Bandwidth Table<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The table above shows how, on the MSI Unify X570, you can have a single GPU at x16 PCIe-Lanes, but two GPUs will then run at x8 PCIe-Lanes. With 3 GPUs, two will run at x8, one at only x4 - this will severely throttle the third GPU in many workloads.<\/p>\n<p>Our guide to setting up <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/best-hardware-for-gpu-rendering-in-octane-redshift-vray\/\">multi GPU configurations for GPU rendering<\/a> takes an in-depth look at this topic.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_You_Shouldnt_Install_Your_Graphics_Card\"><\/span>Where You Shouldn\u2019t Install Your Graphics Card<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, if you\u2019re supposed to prioritize using the first available PCI Express x16 slot, what happens if you install it somewhere else?<\/p>\n<p>Well, it depends on the slot. If you install your graphics card in a PCI Express x8 slot instead of an x16 slot, you should experience only minimal performance loss when compared to using an x16 slot.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15375\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe Slots vs PCIe lanes\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15375 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe Slots vs PCIe lanes\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Slots-vs-PCIe-lanes.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>However, graphics cards become particularly crippled by the use of weaker slots than that, especially x4 slots.<\/p>\n<p>You may still be able to get away with using a PCI Express x4 slot with new motherboards and lower-end graphics cards, but this still isn\u2019t recommended.<\/p>\n<p>Some PCIe Slots are hooked up to the Motherboard's chipset instead of to the CPU. This can severely impact your Graphic Card's performance as well. The GPU performs best if it can exchange data through PCIe-Lanes directly with the CPU, without the need of routing through your Chipset.<\/p>\n<p>Routing through the Chipset involves the DMA (Direct Memory Acces which is the connector between Chipset and CPU), which will become a bottleneck and also throttle any other components (such as storage) that are hooked up to the chipset.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stick with your fastest x8 and x16 slots that have direct CPU PCIe-Lanes for the best results! Your Motherboard Manual will tell you which slot this is.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Many_PCIe_Lanes_Do_I_Need\"><\/span>How Many PCIe Lanes Do I Need?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For graphics cards, you\u2019ll always get the best results by using the fastest available PCI Express x16 slot.<\/p>\n<p>PCI Express x8 slots can be acceptable when doing a multi-GPU setup as well, but even then motherboards that support multiple x16 slots can be a better choice for multi-GPU builds.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of graphics cards, PCI Express lanes can also be put to work by other forms of expansion, including SSD storage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15376\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15376\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15376 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card.jpg\" alt=\"PCIe Expansion Card\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 100vw, (max-width: 960px) 60vw, 707px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15376\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-15376 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%201200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"PCIe Expansion Card\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201200%201200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 100vw, (max-width: 960px) 60vw, 707px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card-768x768.jpg 768w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/PCIe-Expansion-Card.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-15376\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orico.me\/product\/orico-m-2-nvme-to-pci-e-3-0-x4-expansion-card-pdm2\/\" target=\"_blank\">ORICO<\/a> M.2 NVME to PCIe 3.0 X4 Expansion Card<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Fortunately, you typically only need PCIe x4 slots for the majority of expansion cards, with x16 and x8 being generally reserved for graphics cards.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To learn more detailed information about how many PCIe Lanes You Need, especially per workload, try out <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/guide-to-pcie-lanes\/\"><strong>Alex\u2019s PCIe Lanes Guide<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_About_Mini_ITX_and_Micro_ATX_Motherboards\"><\/span>What About Mini ITX and Micro ATX Motherboards?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When it comes to Mini ITX motherboards, you don\u2019t really need to worry about which PCI Express slot to use, as there should only be one x16 slot available.<\/p>\n<p>However, because there is only one slot, you also won\u2019t be able to do a multi-GPU setup with a Mini ITX motherboard.<\/p>\n<p>With Micro ATX motherboards, the wisdom of picking the first available x16\/x8 slot for your graphics card still applies.<\/p>\n<p>Multi-GPU may or may not be possible depending on the availability and layout of other PCI Express slots on a Micro ATX motherboard.<\/p>\n<p>Some boards will opt to have <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/which-m2-slot\/\">extra M.2 slots<\/a> in the place of open PCI Express slots on the motherboard.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Do_I_Install_My_GPUs_PCIe_Riser\"><\/span>Where Do I Install My GPU\u2019s PCIe Riser?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re using a <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/best-pcie-riser-extension-cables\/\">PCI Express Riser<\/a> or extension cable inside your build, be sure to follow the same rules laid out above and prioritize using x16 or x8 slots for your graphics card.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15377\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables.jpg\" alt=\"Pcie Riser Cables\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15377 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Pcie Riser Cables\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/02\/Pcie-Riser-Cables.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The last thing you want is to plug your Riser into a speed-restricted slot and end up losing precious graphics performance.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_Laptops_Have_PCI_Express_Slots\"><\/span>Do Laptops Have PCI Express Slots?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Generally-speaking, no, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t add expansion to a laptop.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, some laptops even allow you to add an external GPU upgrade!<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to add a GPU or an SSD upgrade to your modern laptop, you\u2019ll want to look for a laptop that supports Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or another high-end connection standard.<\/p>\n<p>With supported devices, you can use a Thunderbolt cable routing to an external dock holding a full desktop graphics card that can be utilized by your laptop.<\/p>\n<p>This is a great way to get extra power out of your laptop if it supports Thunderbolt, and can blur the lines between laptop and desktop.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Over_to_You\"><\/span>Over to You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And that\u2019s it, for now! I hope that this article helped teach you which PCIe slot to use for your graphics card and why. If you have any lingering questions or other concerns, feel free to ask us in the <a href=\"#comments\">comments<\/a> or our <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/forum\/\">forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If your motherboard has more than one PCI Express slot, it may not be immediately clear which one is going to be the best for your graphics card to use. I\u2019m going to use this article to clear up this and related questions, including: The Basics of PCI Express PCI Express is the de facto...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2339,"featured_media":15368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[74],"tags":[118,119,219],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15365"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17216,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15365\/revisions\/17216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}