Question about PCI-E slots and vid cards

[ehcastro3]

Hi...forgive me coz im a newb...

I just want to know about PCI-E's theres like a x16 slot and a x8 slot right? My question is, how would I know if my video card can be x16 or x8.

Another question: if i have a motherboard and I plan to use SLI, but it has a x16 PCI-E slot and 2 x8 PCI-E slot, should I rather use one x16 pci slot or go SLI with 2 x8 PCI?

Thanks for your time in reading (and answering) this.

BTW the video card im going to use is a 1 GB Inno3D GTX250 DDR3 256bit vid card...thats all i can afford right now....

 

[huron]

Don't worry about the questions - that's why the forum exists.

Can you help fill in the specifics on your motherboard - it might be easier to answer that way.

If your mobo is SLI capable, then SLI video cards (like the GTX 250 you listed) will work in it. The x16 and x8 relate to the amount of bandwidth allocated to each card.

 

[ehcastro3]

thanks...well the only mobo my supplier (im not in the US and where I am from no online company ships here) has is a P5N-E Sli...and I think I might have to chuck it because it doesnt support quads...

"The x16 and x8 relate to the amount of bandwidth allocated to each card. "

so you mean I don't have to worry if the card is 16x or 8x? coz ive read in the other forums there are other vid cards that only support 16x PCI-E's...

 

[huron]

Do you know where you read this?

It won't impact the card fitting in the slot or working, but will reduce the performance slightly.

 

[baddad]

There are no 8x cards there all 16x PCI-e cards. The slots are 16x or 8x in bandwidth depending on the board, also there are two types of PCI-e slots PCI-e 1 & PCI-e 2, new version is double the bandwidth, but there are no cards that can reach that bandwidth made yet.

 

[ehcastro3]

thank you both huron and baddad