Which solution is best

[Ikgaus]

Hello! 

So ive recently installed a new networkcard in my pc, and i have 3 possible places to put it, each one with pros and cons, i was hoping i could get some feedback here. 

 

Options:

1. PCIEx1, above the gpu with 3mm clearance, but the problem is the cable and it not being long enough to go around, so ive had to put it between my motherboard and gpu

And it touches the heatsink from the motherboard, so im afraid of heat. (It is insulated, but still touching a lot of the motherboard, check image)

 

2. PCIEx1, beneath my gpu, no wireproblem but it blocks 2/3 of one of the gpu fans.

 

3. PCIEx16, no cable problem and no "closeness" problem but ive been told you should only use PCIEx16 for PCIEx1 components if its the only option.

 

So which one of these is the better option? I currently have nr 1 as shown in image

[Runesmite]

I personally like option 1, like in the picture. I can't imagine you're going to get so much heat from that heatsink that it will be an issue for your cable. Also, I would route the cable so the RAM clips are holding it down a bit and you should have enough slack to route around the chipset heatsink rather than over it. Finally could take a twist, or cable tie and group it, your other SUB header and front panel wires together to help with the way it looks.

 

I think with option 2, the heat from the GPU to the board of the network card would be worse than the heat to the cable.

 

And I don't think option 3 would look any better to warrant taking up a x16 slot.

 

I like the white and black theme you've got going there!

[Applefreak]

26 minutes ago, Ikgaus said:

PCIEx16, no cable problem and no "closeness" problem but ive been told you should only use PCIEx16 for PCIEx1 components if its the only option.

That's garbage. You can run whatever you like in that slot as long as it's PCI-e. You could even run graphics cards in some x1 slots.

I run mine above the GPU. Directly under the GPU should be avoided unless you absolutely have no other way.

[mariushm]

You should be fine having the wireless card in the bottom x16 slot but there's some fineprint about that :

 

1. Some motherboards split the 16 lanes going to video card into x8 for the video card slot and x8 for that bottom slot, so even with just a 1-lane card, you would lose 8 lanes if that's the case.  Too lazy to look it up, but I suspect that white pci-e x16 slot receives 4 pci-e lanes from the chipset and not from cpu, so your video card will have 16 lanes (or whatever amount the cpu gives).

 

2, If you put the card there, there will be a minor airflow obstruction and the video card may get a degree or so hotter or the fans may spin a bit faster to keep up the temperature to levels configured in bios. Probably wouldn't notice it, as I said it's quite minor.

 

I'd leave it as it is now, but I'd personally curve the cable so that it goes towards the back of the case, then under the video card and the other slots, then towards the usb connector. There should be enough room to do that.

The USB cable should only be needed for Bluetooth, and the wireless card part should still work without that cable, so if you don't use bluetooth you could probably even leave that cable disconnected.

 

The insulation on that usb cable should be good up to 85c, the heatsink on the chipset shouldn't go above 70c and that's pretty much the only thing that could damage that cable insulation.

 

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Another possibility is if you don't need bluetooth, you can remove the cable entirely.  Otherwise, I'd leave it as it is.