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39116
December 21st, 2015 20:00
Two PCI Cards But One PCI Slot
There is a motherboard I plan on getting but it has only one usable slot for a PCI card. I want to get a decent graphics card but I also want to be able to use Thunderbolt tech.
I am curious as to if it is possible to use more then one PCI on a fully built desktop if the motherboard only has one, through some sort of adapter or expansion? Any ideas or opinions?
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speedstep
11 Legend
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47K Posts
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December 22nd, 2015 06:00
No such thing as PCI-E thunderbolt expansion card. The Asus boards that seem to do this have a thunderbolt header that pops into the top of the card to fool you.
Thunderbolt requires specific Intel® C602 Chipset and PCI-E 3.0 Bandwidth. You can't just plug any ole card in any ole bus and have it work. Intel® DSL2310 / DSL5320 /CV82524EFL Thunderbolt™ Controller is not universal working on Any system. XEON and Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) is also a requirement. Even the ASUS card is an X4 card.
The Thunderbolt in this case has a Header on the motherboard Not Just the PCI-E bus which it uses for POWER.
speedstep
11 Legend
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47K Posts
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December 23rd, 2015 06:00
The header is the thunderbolt connection. The ASUS Card makes you think its a PCI-E expansion card.
The truth is that the "CARD" is just a pass thru which is why the "CARD" needs the cable from the header to the TOP of the card to PASS THRU the thunderbolt Connection.
Thunderbolt is a Serial Connection Like USB using 4 wires.
This is the view from the top where the cable from the header goes into the top of the card. Note how it uses display port out back into the card so that Thunderbolt monitors work. The "Card" is nothing more than a mounting bracket with power. It needs 2 external inputs of STORAGE and VIDEO to work properly.
Dan-H
6 Operator
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1.2K Posts
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December 21st, 2015 21:00
get a better board if you want more I/O choices.
What CPU do you have?
Thunderbolt add-in cards that I've seen only need PCIe 2.0 x4 speed cards.
FelixPT
15 Posts
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December 22nd, 2015 19:00
Alrighty, makes sense but what is the issue with the header Speedstep? I'm not aware of what the header is for.