[SOLVED] Must a graphics card go in PCIe slot 1?

[Christopher_164]

I just built a computer. The motherboard I have is ASUS Prime X570-Pro Ryzen.

The graphics card I have is the EVGA GeForce RTX 2080. I installed the graphics card on PCIe slot 2. On booting, the bios said that for full performance this card I should placed in slot 1.
The problem is... this card is huge. On slot 1 it blocks the cooling fan to the AMDX570 IC. It covers 2/3 of the fan and there is only about 1/4 inch distance from the top of the fan to the GPU case. So I'm not sure what to do. Do I put the GPU in slot one and partially block the cooling fan to this IC or do I place it in slot two and compromise the performance of the card.

Here is the motherboard, you can see the cooling fan on the bottom right hand side. The GPU would cover the next PCIe x 1 slot and extends the full width of the cooling fan.

And the GPU

 

[Wolfshadw]

Really depends on what processor you purchased and installed. If you're using a 3rd generation Ryzen, then the PCI-E slots are running 4th generation PCI Express. Installing the card in the PCIEX16_2 halves the throughput to x8. Since the RTX 2080 would only be slowed, slightly by running PCI-E 3.0 x8, if your running PCI Express 4.0 (double the speed of PCI Express 3.0), then you shouldn't run into any issues.

That said, you should STILL install the graphics card into PCIEX16_1. The motherboard manufacturers certainly took into account the fact that most people purchasing that board would also be installing a graphics card which knowingly covers part of the cooling apparatus. I would not worry too much about it. If it does cause an issue, you can always move the graphics card later.

-Wolf sends

 

[Christopher_164]

Really depends on what processor you purchased and installed. If you're using a 3rd generation Ryzen, then the PCI-E slots are running 4th generation PCI Express. Installing the card in the PCIEX16_2 halves the throughput to x8. Since the RTX 2080 would only be slowed, slightly by running PCI-E 3.0 x8, if your running PCI Express 4.0 (double the speed of PCI Express 3.0), then you shouldn't run into any issues.

That said, you should STILL install the graphics card into PCIEX16_1. The motherboard manufacturers certainly took into account the fact that most people purchasing that board would also be installing a graphics card which knowingly covers part of the cooling apparatus. I would not worry too much about it. If it does cause an issue, you can always move the graphics card later.

-Wolf sends

Thanks for the help!