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Basics on PCIe

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flyboy

Registered
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
I'm really new to this so please forgive me if I'm asking stupid questions.

I see on a lot of new motherboards two PCIe x16 slots and a couple PCIe x1. Most folks seem to be using the 2nd PCIe x16 slot for SLI. My question is if I don't plan on implementing SLI, can the 2nd PCIe x16 slot be used for something else or is it dedicated for video only?

My second question is one I sort of asked on a different thread, but would like some clarification.

If I have a mobo that normally is expecting the video card in the first PCIe x16 slot, can I stick a standard PCI video card in it instead? Just until I save up for a good PCIe video card like the GeForce 8800 GFX? Would the standard PCI video card get plugged into the PCIe x16 slot, or would it go into a standard PCI slot? I realize it would not perform very well, but I would just like to buy a little time.
 
pci would go in the standard pci slot. every mobo ive seen supports booting the pci as primary vga.
 
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