PCI Express x4 network card into PCI-Express x16 slot
networkingnicpci-express
Is it possible to plug in PCIe x4 NIC into PCIe x16 slot?
Best Answer
Yes, it works just fine, obviously it's only work at x4 speed (8Gbps).
I would check whether the x16 slot can handle the power load of the x4 adapter, it depends on the adapter but I've seen some quite high power draw adapters using x4 electricals without an external power connector such as those you see in higher-end video cards. In some cases system-board manufacturers expect that adapters going into x16 slots will usually use external power connectors so they rate them with a slightly lower power draw capability from the board than from the lower-speed slots. This probably won't matter in your case but I wanted you to be aware.
I read a post maybe last week that said you can't put a HBA card on the only x16 slot on motherboard that doesn't have onboard video. Is there any truth to this?
That would be BIOS dependent, and I don't know about Gigabyte boards. So long as there is some video capability somewhere it should not cause issues putting a non-Video card in that x16 slot.
Best Answer
Yes, it works just fine, obviously it's only work at x4 speed (8Gbps).
I would check whether the x16 slot can handle the power load of the x4 adapter, it depends on the adapter but I've seen some quite high power draw adapters using x4 electricals without an external power connector such as those you see in higher-end video cards. In some cases system-board manufacturers expect that adapters going into x16 slots will usually use external power connectors so they rate them with a slightly lower power draw capability from the board than from the lower-speed slots. This probably won't matter in your case but I wanted you to be aware.