EVGA 680i

GutterPunk · Mar 16, 2007, 02:30 PM

So my 680i has 3 16x pci express slots. For single Graphic card usage (for now), do I have to use a specific pci express slot? Do I have free choice? I have been pondering this, and to me sounds like a dumb question, and something I should know! Thanks!

Edit: More specifically, I would like to be able to use the middle pci express x16 slot. The top and bottom, black for the sli and the middle blue for I don't know what. What y'all think?

CDsDontBurn · Mar 16, 2007, 05:15 PM

well, the top is the primary PCI-E slot. The bottom black one is the secondary PCI-E slot, and the blue, is the third PCI-E slot. Since you have just one card, if you were to put your card in any other slot, the board would still post but give you an error code stating to put the card in the primary slot for non-sli configurations. You'll also get a post code error. I forget ATM, but it's not going to be FF. I believe it's 52, but again, i don't remember ATM.

Now, the purpose of the blue slot, ATM has none. Some people have tried to use it for RAID controller cards, but half the time it doesn't work. The intended purpose of that slot is supposed to be for a physics card. It's supposed to be a video card. Like, if you have a 8800 card for display, then you put in like a 6600 or whatever, that 6600 will be used as a physics card.

dipstick · Mar 16, 2007, 05:31 PM

I could be mistaken but I think the middle one is only 8x. You could use either of the three but only the top and bottom ones will run your gfx card at a full 16x.

CDsDontBurn · Mar 16, 2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dipstick

I could be mistaken but I think the middle one is only 8x. You could use either of the three but only the top and bottom ones will run your gfx card at a full 16x.

nope, they're all 16x slots

GutterPunk · Mar 16, 2007, 06:31 PM

Well it is for sure returns an error trying to use my bottom slot?

that makes me so sad!

CDsDontBurn · Mar 16, 2007, 06:38 PM

and you didn't believe me?

i pretty much know the BIOS of the 680i inside and out.....except for the linked/un-linked settings part

.

GutterPunk · Mar 16, 2007, 11:26 PM

Brandon A (3/16/2007 11:58:23 AM): You want to use it in the primary. You COULD run it in the secondary, but with the way drivers work and react with hardware on the motherboard, there could be some sort of IRQ conflict or PCI Bus resource issue, if you're only using one card in the secondary PCI-E lane. It differ's from system to system, but it can be done.

hmmmm!

GutterPunk · Mar 16, 2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

and you didn't believe me?

i pretty much know the BIOS of the 680i inside and out.....except for the linked/un-linked settings part

.

I didn't try it, i was drawing a conclusion

dipstick · Mar 17, 2007, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDsDontBurn

nope, they're all 16x slots

I thought it was it was a x16 slot that ran at 8x much like early SLI and CF boards. Mostly was going off this;

Quote:

Further, the hardware and mainboard provide a triplet of PCIe x16 slots, two of them x16 physically and electrically, with the third x8 electrically, with NVIDIA pushing the use of that third port for a board doing physics acceleration, or simply the provision of extra display ports depending on your display configuration.

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=7257&page=2

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2007, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GutterPunk

Brandon A (3/16/2007 11:58:23 AM): You want to use it in the primary. You COULD run it in the secondary, but with the way drivers work and react with hardware on the motherboard, there could be some sort of IRQ conflict or PCI Bus resource issue, if you're only using one card in the secondary PCI-E lane. It differ's from system to system, but it can be done.

hmmmm!

that's the wrong answer.

the board will NOT allow you to post into windows. so if you can't even get into windows, the drivers won't be initialized

GutterPunk · Mar 17, 2007, 02:24 AM

evga must be full of idgets

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2007, 04:05 AM

idgets?

CDsDontBurn · Mar 17, 2007, 09:02 PM

try disabling link-boost and placing the card in the 3rd PCI-E slot.

after speaking with some people, they said to try that and that it "will" work

Mar 16, 2007, 02:30 PM	#1
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	EVGA 680i So my 680i has 3 16x pci express slots. For single Graphic card usage (for now), do I have to use a specific pci express slot? Do I have free choice? I have been pondering this, and to me sounds like a dumb question, and something I should know! Thanks! Edit: More specifically, I would like to be able to use the middle pci express x16 slot. The top and bottom, black for the sli and the middle blue for I don't know what. What y'all think? __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt Last edited by GutterPunk; Mar 16, 2007 at 02:36 PM.

Mar 16, 2007, 05:15 PM	#2
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	well, the top is the primary PCI-E slot. The bottom black one is the secondary PCI-E slot, and the blue, is the third PCI-E slot. Since you have just one card, if you were to put your card in any other slot, the board would still post but give you an error code stating to put the card in the primary slot for non-sli configurations. You'll also get a post code error. I forget ATM, but it's not going to be FF. I believe it's 52, but again, i don't remember ATM. Now, the purpose of the blue slot, ATM has none. Some people have tried to use it for RAID controller cards, but half the time it doesn't work. The intended purpose of that slot is supposed to be for a physics card. It's supposed to be a video card. Like, if you have a 8800 card for display, then you put in like a 6600 or whatever, that 6600 will be used as a physics card. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 16, 2007, 06:31 PM	Thread Starter #5
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	Well it is for sure returns an error trying to use my bottom slot? that makes me so sad! __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Mar 16, 2007, 06:38 PM	#6
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	and you didn't believe me? i pretty much know the BIOS of the 680i inside and out.....except for the linked/un-linked settings part . __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 16, 2007, 11:26 PM	Thread Starter #7
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	Brandon A (3/16/2007 11:58:23 AM): You want to use it in the primary. You *COULD* run it in the secondary, but with the way drivers work and react with hardware on the motherboard, there could be some sort of IRQ conflict or PCI Bus resource issue, if you're only using one card in the secondary PCI-E lane. It differ's from system to system, but it can be done. hmmmm! __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Mar 16, 2007, 05:31 PM	#3
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	I could be mistaken but I think the middle one is only 8x. You could use either of the three but only the top and bottom ones will run your gfx card at a full 16x.

Mar 17, 2007, 02:24 AM	Thread Starter #11
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	evga must be full of idgets __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Mar 17, 2007, 04:05 AM	#12
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	idgets? __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 17, 2007, 09:02 PM	#13
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	*update* try disabling link-boost and placing the card in the 3rd PCI-E slot. after speaking with some people, they said to try that and that it "will" work __________________ Her First Day \| A year later