i am research on a new full blown upgrade. i have never done a multi video card setup before. i plan to do at least 2 cards rite now. i understand that you need at least 2 pcie x16 slots, but what i dont understand is this 3 (1 electrical x16 or x8, 1 electrical x8, 1 electrical x4) whats that mean? does x8 matter? this confuses me plz help, thx
PCIe slots are based on the number of lanes they have coming to them. x1 slots have 1 PCIe lane, while x16 slots (by default) have 16 lanes. Unlike previous expansion slots, PCIe offers the ability to change how many lanes go to each slot. This can be done electronically and manipulated by jumpers, BIOS settings or be automatically detected. The other way is to hardwire a certain number of lanes. If the latter is done, as in your case with the x16 slot electrically wired for only 8 lanes (x8).
