Question Can I use the SB PCIE X4 slot for the GPU ?

[jAcos]

Hi guys,

I am here to ask for help and opinion on an old motherboard FM2 I resurrected for my nephew.

Th GAF2A75MD3He mobo is an old Gigabyte mobo and the lock of the GPU a donated AMD R7 2gb card broke off. The pc is still functioning but I see that there is another PCIEX4 that looks similar to the PCIEX16 with the broken lock. Can I plug the GPU there?

I am not a technical guy ang all I know is what I read here and from the internet. It looks similar and the bios says something like a NB (the one with the broken lock), and SB which I suspect as the PCIEX4.

I wanted to ask first because I am wary that I might bork something and render the pc unusable.

I asked the former owner of the mobo and he narrated tried using that PCIEX4 way back 2009 because his GPU leaves just a small space with the PCI slot. But when he boots it up there is no video. He says that the bios reverts back to the NB. He just ended using NB with the cramped space together with the PCI slot.

Can you help an old guy discern this issue?

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

 

[Lutfij]

If your first PCIe slot is populated by your discrete GPU and is secured into place with screws on the expansion slot, you're overthinking things and have no need to drop in a discrete GPU onto the x4 slot.

https://www.gigabyte-data.com/products/page/mb/ga-f2a75m-d3hrev_10/kf
If you do decide to drop the discrete GPU into the x4 slot, you're effectively going to run the GPU with 4lanes instead of 16. You should avoid that.

You shoud breadboard your parts and see if the discrete card operates without any issue. Would also help if you made sure the BIOS ont he board was flashed to the latest version.

 

[jAcos]

If your first PCIe slot is populated by your discrete GPU and is secured into place with screws on the expansion slot, you're overthinking things and have no need to drop in a discrete GPU onto the x4 slot.

https://www.gigabyte-data.com/products/page/mb/ga-f2a75m-d3hrev_10/kf
If you do decide to drop the discrete GPU into the x4 slot, you're effectively going to run the GPU with 4lanes instead of 16. You should avoid that.

You shoud breadboard your parts and see if the discrete card operates without any issue. Would also help if you made sure the BIOS ont he board was flashed to the latest version

Thanks so much for the reply. That was valuable info. Looking closer at the PCIEX4 slot it does only accommodate some of the GPU. It has some blanks towards the lock not like the PCIEX16.

The bios is still the stock one as I dunno how to flash it. I am wary again that I'd bork something...how may I do that by the way?

Sorry for this but what is "breadboard" is it stress test?

Thanks Sir again for explanation there!

 

[Lutfij]

Sorry for this but what is "breadboard" is it stress test?
https://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showtopic=120814

 

[Viking2121]

The lock doesn't need to be there for the GPU to work if thats what you are asking, and yes a GPU will work in the x4 lane, heck a GPU will work in a 1x lane if the lane has the cut out, it's just you will not have the best performance the GPU can do, but on an FM2 system probably wouldn't matter if its on the x4 slot anyway.