Do I always need to use the first slot for the GPU?

[Delano.888]

Ok I'm getting a new GPU today, which has a backplate. My current GPU doesn't have a backplate, but almost (like 1mm space) touches the massive CPU cooler.

I have an Asus rampage IV extreme, and in the manual, I read there are 2 16x slots (1 and 4).

So, If I leave slot 1 empty, is it okay to use slot 4 in stead? So that I don't touch the backplate with the CPU cooler? Or does the first slot always have to be filled?

BTW this board can handle both slots at 16x at the same time. Not that it's needed but it can.

This is what the mobo manual says:

 

Seems to be fine, right? Nowhere does it say slot 1 has to be filled.

 

Thanks!

[MysticalRainXIV]

Its always recommended to use the first slot, but check your motherboard manual to make sure the slot you want to use is at least an 8x slot for best performance. 4x can work but only for AMD cards iirc.

 

edit: yeah the 4th slot should work fine. saw you already consulted your manual. Good on you man

[rn8686]

Technically no, just most boards have their 16x slot up top. 

[MysticalRainXIV]

Just now, rn8686 said:

Technically no, just most boards have their 16x slot up top. 

his board has 2 full fat 16x slots, the first and fourth

[Delano.888]

Lol guys it works a lot better if you read the whole question and not just the title

 

So slot 1 does not have to be filled?

[3rrant]

You don't NEED to use the first one. It is just the standard, and usually on lower end motherboards or CPUs only the first slot can get the full x16 speed, while others are somewhat limited to 8 or 4.

 

But with just 1 GPU, use the others. Also note that for gaming there's really no difference between x8 and x16

[MysticalRainXIV]

1 minute ago, Delano.888 said:

Lol guys it works a lot better if you read the whole question and not just the title

 

So slot 1 does not have to be filled?

No the first slot doesnt have to be filled lol sorry. i edited my first post after i re-read it

[Delano.888]

Cool! Guess this is solved then, and I'll be gaming happily tonight

[rn8686]

20 minutes ago, MysticalRainXIV said:

his board has 2 full fat 16x slots, the first and fourth

I'm fully aware of that, just explaining why most people use the top slots. 

[mariushm]

Or you could just put some plastic or some other insulation material over that area of the graphics card that would touch the cooler.

Kapton tape is nice and easy to apply , here's an example : http://amzn.to/2xcJTbs

Just put tape over the area of the back plate where you think there's risk of touching.

 

The tape should also work just fine over the board without back plate, the glue should not be conductive so no worries if it touches components.

[Delano.888]

I'd rather not stick tape on my brand new GPU unless absolutely necessary though.

[mariushm]

@Delano.888

 

His problem is that the back plate of the graphics card touches the fins of his cpu cooler.  Heat from the fins could heat up the back plate, and there could be a problem if somehow there's electricity on the fins.

 

Kapton tape is very resistant to heat and doesn't melt at the temperatures fins of heatsinks have (up to 60c or so) and the surface of that fins that touches the back plate is not enough to significantly heat the back plate (or the other way around, the back plate could in theory heat up the fins of the cooler)

Also, the tape is an electric insulator so would also take care of the "no risk of electricity flowing between components".

 

The tape would go on the metal back plate and would be almost invisible... not transparent or invisible because kapton tape has a natural light brown color.

 

-

At least that's what I understood from the original message

[Delano.888]

Oh I do understand that. However using the lower slot still looks a lot better imo. I can't even see most of my current GPU right now anyway because of the CPU cooler so using the lower slot also improves the looks. And as I currently understand it had no disadvantages. Right?

[mariushm]

In theory yes.

 

You want as much as possible to use one of the slots (if several) which are wired directly to the processor.  A few PCI-e slots are created by the chipset, and while they're still pci-e v3.0 x8 or x16, in real world they'll be slightly less good than the slots coming straight from the processor.

 

Think of it like this.. each x1 in pci-e v3.0 can do 970 MB/s in both directions, so in theory a pci-e v3.0 x16 can do more than 15 GB/s in either direction. So if the video card os connected to one of the slots that's wired directly to CPU, then the processor can basically take a chunk of data from RAM and push it down the slot into the video card at 15 GB/s or as much as it can.

 

If the pci-e slot is created by the chipset, the video card talks to the chipset at x8 or x16 but then the chipset talks to the processor through a connection that's only 2-4 GB/s fast or something like that. So even if the slots are there, there's gonna be some limitation due to the bandwidth between chipset and processor.

 

With Intel , on same platforms processors can have a different number of pci-e lanes .. some have 22 lanes, some have 44, some only 16 ... so you should check manual of motherboard to see how the cpu lanes are allocated to slots (depending on the number of lanes the cpu has)