PCI Express slots & speeds

[UnknownPeasant]

I'm getting an air cooler for my CPU (Noctua NH-D15) and I was wondering what the implications of the cooler blocking the first PCI slot on my Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 motherboard would be. The first slot appears to be PCIEX16, whereas the second appears to be PCIEX4. Will my GPU (ASUS GTX 670) experience significant slowdowns if I put it in the second slot?

There's also this little tidbit on the gigabyte website on the MB product page that I'm confused on. * When the PCIEX1_2 or PCIEX1_3 slot is populated with an expansion card, the PCIEX4 slot will operate at up to x1 mode. Does this mean that if I slip my GPU into the second PCI slot, it will actually run at x1 as opposed to x4?

 

[i7Baby]

Your GPU needs to go in the pcie x16 slot nearest the CPU. The cooler shouldn't block it.

 

[rhysiam]

You really want that GPU in a x16 or x8 slot. x4 is really starting to push it.

The good news is that you're fine with your motherboard. Noctua do extensive testing, check out this page: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=68&lng=en#LGA1150_Gigabyte

I scrolled down and found your board and there's a big green tick. There are a few boards where the first PCIe slot is impeded, but your board is not one of them.