P67 Question

[BreadFan]

This question is in reference to the Asus Maximus IV motherboard. I know one of the limitations of the p67 chipset is no dual 16x support for sli / xfire. Does that apply to all pcie slots on the motherboard? I will be getting one gtx 580 (for now) but also getting a pcie 1x sound card. Will plugging that sound card into the pcie 4x slot on the motherboard cause my one gtx 580 to downgrade to 8x? Also, in the future if I decide to get another gtx 580 for sli, will the sound card in the pcie 4x slot mess with the sli setup? To put it simply, are the pcie x1 and x4 slots on the same bus as the pcie x16 slots? Thanks.

 

[stahlhart]

The motherboard's manual should explain how the PCIe lanes are shared between slots. I don't think you're going to get true 2 x 16X, even with an NF200, on any P67 board. And whether or not it noticably matters is another discussion entirely.

 

[BreadFan]

The motherboard's manual should explain how the PCIe lanes are shared between slots. I don't think you're going to get true 2 x 16X, even with an NF200, on any P67 board. And whether or not it noticably matters is another discussion entirely.

Thanks for replying. I understand I won't be getting true 2 x 16x when I install a second video card. My main concern is if I install a sound card in the pcie x4 slot will it downgrade my one video card to 8x? Also, will having that sound card installed in the pcie x4 slot interfere with a sli setup in the future? Thanks again.

 

[supahnoobie]

No, it will not revert any x16 pcie lane to x8 speed. The x4 pcie lane do not share any bandwith w/ the x16/x8 lanes.

But if the gtx580 you're getting is 2x Asus gtx580 DCUII you'll not be able to install the soundcard, 'cuz it's a 3-slot.
If it's only an EVGA 2-slot 580, you're golden.

 

[BreadFan]

No, it will not revert any x16 pcie lane to x8 speed. The x4 pcie lane do not share any bandwith w/ the x16/x8 lanes.

But if the gtx580 you're getting is 2x Asus gtx580 DCUII you'll not be able to install the soundcard, 'cuz it's a 3-slot.
If it's only an EVGA 2-slot 580, you're golden.

Thanks for the reply. That's exactly the info I was looking for!

 

[supahnoobie]

No problem. Enjoy your rig. And I'll just be jealous of your AM4E!