Wat do they mean when?

[Giby]

I want to buy an intel socket 1155 and their specs say that it has 2 PCIx16 slots then it says (x16,x8)
Does that mean at single it operates a x16 and a dual it operates at x8 ?

 

[treefrog07]

I'll guess that you are wanting to install 2 video cards and run them together. If so, then yes, they'll operate together at x8 because 2 such cards linked could not run faster than the slowest PCI slot. Why don't you visit the motherboard manufacturer's website and download the manual? That will contain the configurations and speeds.

 

[jsc]

And a single card will operate at X16 if you plug it into the proper slot. Motherboard manual will explain.

 

[Raiddinn]

I just wanted to say that both working at x8 isn't necessarily bad.

You don't get twice the bandwidth in and out, but you DO get twice the processing power when you are in.

I think that bandwidth in and out is less likely to be the bottleneck than the processing power on the inside is.

That being said, everyone's situation is different and I don't know yours.

It is hard to notice a difference between x16/x16 and x8/x8 unless you are using 3 monitors on pretty high graphics settings with high end video cards, according to the reviews that I have seen. The x8/x8 even comes out ahead a lot of times because everything the video cards do doesn't need to be routed through a NF200 chip (the video card equivalent of the scenic route).

 

[thespieler]

I just wanted to say that both working at x8 isn't necessarily bad.

You don't get twice the bandwidth in and out, but you DO get twice the processing power when you are in.

I think that bandwidth in and out is less likely to be the bottleneck than the processing power on the inside is.

That being said, everyone's situation is different and I don't know yours.

It is hard to notice a difference between x16/x16 and x8/x8 unless you are using 3 monitors on pretty high graphics settings with high end video cards, according to the reviews that I have seen. The x8/x8 even comes out ahead a lot of times because everything the video cards do doesn't need to be routed through a NF200 chip (the video card equivalent of the scenic route).

+1 Couldnt have said it better.

 

[Giby]

Best answer selected by Giby.