OT: pci express 1x card in a 16x slot

[Christopher Snook]

Andrew Robinson wrote:
> Anyone know if a PCI Express 1x card would work in a PCI Express 16x slot?
> 
> "Why would I want to put a PCI Express 1x card in a 16x slot?", someone 
> is bound to ask. Because there is a capacitor on the motherboard just in 
> front of the PCI-E 1x slot. The Hauppauge PVR 1250 card I want to put 
> there has a jack at the very bottom of the card. The card will not fit 
> all the way down in the slot. Actually I think all the contacts are 
> made; I cannot see any of the gold from the card's contacts in the slot. 
>  However, the top of the card's faceplate will not reach the chassis to 
> allow me to screw it in.
> 
> With the power off, I found that the 1x card will fit in the 16x slot. I 
> just don't know if it will work there. Anyone know?

In theory, yes.  The catch is that boards with integrated graphics will 
sometimes treat their x16 slot specially.  I have a board with integrated 
graphics that will only run the x16 slot at x1, even if you have an x4 or x8 
card installed, which causes... issues with devices whose drivers expect to have 
vastly more memory bandwidth than I/O bandwidth.  It's possible there are boards 
out there that will only use the x16 slot if it's got a video card in it.

Bottom line is that if there are problems, you'll see them right away.  Of 
course, it won't necessarily be obvious if they're related to the slot if you 
don't have a known good to compare against.

-- Chris