PCI-E Slots

[Silotic]

So I'm planning to SLI and i'm looking at bridges and I don't quiet understand how to count the slots.Do I have to count from the slots that my card is in or the one right after that ? I'm using an MSI Z97A Gaming 7 and the first slot in a normal pcie x1 slot while the second one is the x16 where my card is in.There's then 2 pcie x1 slot right after and then another x16.I'm looking at the MSI 2WAY SLI HB BRIDGE L and there's basically 2 choices in terms of slots gap.The first one that goes from the 1st and 4th slot with a 3 slot gap and the other that goes in the 1st and 5th slot with a 4 slot gap.Which one should I get ? My gpus are MSI 1080 armor oc.

[Lurick]

So if you put the card in the first and second x16 PCIe slots then there is a spacing of 2 between them, so a 2 slot gap.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Slot spacing is how many slots are between each cards. At least that's how EVGA counts them. So in your case, you need a 1-slot gap bridge.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Thread212 said:

z97 has only 8x pcie lanes.
so when u use dual graphic it will be divided to 4x and will dramatically decrease performance.
If u want to use Dual GPU or Multi Gpu. 
Buy Motherboard with z170 chipset.
It has 20 Pcie lanes.

4x to the chipset.
and 16x to the gpu.
If u use dual gpu it will be 16/2=8x
so its 8x - 8x . sure it will decrease performance but its hardly noticeable.

And since u are using GTX 1080. there's no need to sli that gpu.
Its already powerful enough.
Unless u are gaming on 4k monitor with maximum settings. and expect 60fps flat.

I think you will find that you are wrong. If a board supports SLI then it must have at least x8/x8.

[Teletha]

Graphics Support for z97

1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8+2x4

[Guest]

Just now, Thread212 said:

Yeah.. i am not quite sure though but what about this chart?

 

It clearly says 2 x 8 under Z97. So therefore it supports SLI.

[Silotic]

7 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Slot spacing is how many slots are between each cards. At least that's how EVGA counts them. So in your case, you need a 1-slot gap bridge.

So If I understand correctly,if I were to buy a bridge with a 3 slots gap I would need to put the 2nd card at the bottom of the board on the 3rd pice x16 slot is that correct ?

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 minutes ago, Thread212 said:

Yeah.. i am not quite sure though but what about this chart?

 

-snip-

It's time for a crash course on the LGA 1151 platform!

 

The processor comes with 16 PCI Express lanes meant for graphics cards, but that doesn't mean it's strictly limited to them. For the Z170 platform, these 16 lanes can be split into x16, x8/x8, or x8/x4/x4 configurations.

 

The chipset itself has additional PCI express lanes for the motherboard manufacturer to doll out to peripherals. http://www.anandtech.com/show/9582/intel-skylake-mobile-desktop-launch-architecture-analysis/4

 

The Z97 had only 4 PCIe lanes available, limiting the customization options for manufacturers.

1 minute ago, Silotic said:

So If I understand correctly,if I were to buy a bridge with a 3 slots gap I would need to put the 2nd card at the bottom of the board on the 3rd pice x16 slot is that correct ?

Yes.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Thread212 said:

So whats that addiotional lanes mean?? 

Those are lanes provided from the chipset. It doesn't affect the GPU lanes. They are usually for things like M.2 SSD's etc or other add in cards.