Question regarding PCI-e slots

[GraemeP95]

I've just upgraded to Skylake - vhappy with everything so far. Got an Asus z170-a w/ i5 6600k and 16GB HyperX DDR4 2666MHz.

One thing I didn't take in to account was my sound card. It turns out the slot needed for this (PCI) is just under where my graphics card is located so using this won't be possible.

As I see there is 2 16x PCIe slots on this board I was wondering if there would be any downside to using the second slot on the board? This would allow me to use the sound card as it would be above the graphics card.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JR23]

The lower (black) PCIe slots are actually only 8 lanes but as it's PCIe3.0 the bandwidth should still be more than sufficient for a high-end graphics card. While it isn't technically 'as' good I doubt you will notice that much if at all.

If your sound card isn't better than the onboard audio maybe you don't need it? Just a thought as motherboard audio solutions have definitely come on a fair way in recent generations.

JR

 

[agent_x007]

First slot is x16, second is x8.
Why ?
Because fitting a GPU into a PCI-e slot, doesn't require all lines (x16), to be connected to it.

For GTX 980 class card, U will lose 1-2% of it's performance if U use electrical PCI-e 3.0 x8 slot.

 

[GraemeP95]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm using a GTX 770 just now but I run it at 144Hz so not sure if the higher bandwidth requirement of this would be an issue on the other slot.

I'll give the on-board audio a bash tonight when I get home to see how it works out and swap it round if it's unbearable.

Thanks again