What type of slot for video card

They were on nearly every computer from the mids until the mids. AGP cards slots commonly have multipliers associated with them, such as x2, x4 or x8, that indicate the speed of the port. In order to utilize the slot to its fullest, it needs an AGP card with the same multiplier. The most common style of video card slot today is PCI-E. This slot type took over from AGP in the mids as the default type. Therefore, you must choose the x16 slot for your graphics card carefully.

We explain this further below. The following guides will help explain or refresh knowledge on PCIe interface:. So as mentioned earlier, the most preferred slot for use with a graphics card is the x16 slot. The bottom x16 slot only has 4 lanes. Therefore, in order for graphics card to work and achieve optimal performance in this case, you would plug your GPU in the top PCIe x16 slot. Under some circumstances where you have multiple GPUs or if your primary X16 slot is unavailable or damaged , your next best option for a GPU will be the X8 slot.

With an X8 slot, however, you get reduced bandwidth. The throughput rate of the slot is effectively halved when you step down from an X16 slot to an X8 slot. Well, this has to do with the nature of how many PCIe lanes you have on your system. At any given time you can have about user accessible PCIe lanes.

Having two full x16 slots will equate to 32 PCIe lanes! Since that is not possible on a commercial motherboard, the bandwidth is halved to cater to multiple GPUs and to stay within lane count limit of your PC. But the most important thing to account for when checking if your graphics card will be compatible with your PC build is ensure you have enough slots for that GPU - and that means having both enough free expansion slots in the rear of your case case specs should list this under "expansion slots", but for most builds you should have plenty unless you're using a very small case , as well as ensuring you have enough physical PCIe slots on your motherboard for both your graphics card and any other PCIe cards you'll be using.

For example, if you're using two 2. Anyway, hope this guide helped you learn something new; I know I certainly did whilst researching and writing it, as I didn't know 2.

VPNs are fast becoming must-have software these days to improve the security and privacy of your PC when online. Never had issues and it's always worked great. You just set it up once and then it just works in the background to secure your online connection.

VPNs also help for online gaming as explained here. Indie game dev currently working on my first commercial release, a story driven VR FPS adventure built with Unreal Engine and designed from the ground up for virtual reality to be announced once I'm ready here for anyone into VR FPS's.

Also likes writing about tech and gaming in general. Decoding the latest in PC hardware, gaming graphics, and VR in easy to understand language minus the jargon, featuring simultaneously comprehensive yet simplified buying guides, tutorials, and more. Always objective and unbiased with advice, with minimal ads and maximum cheap memes, BGC is crafted with care to help you more easily build or buy better systems for less to enjoy cutting edge PC and VR gaming to the max.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Accelerated Graphics Port slots streamline communication between the GPU and memory by eliminating the shared path. Motherboards can only support one AGP slot, so if additional graphics cards are required, they must be installed in other slot types on the motherboard.

AGP-8X is the fastest, with a transfer rate of 2, megabytes per second. The cards are also available in three slot configurations designed to be powered from the motherboard by 1. The latest development in graphic-card slots is PCI Express.

PCI Express utilizes dedicated serial links for each slot.