An8-V MOBO

[duncan9562]

hi, i am looking at getting a new motherboard, preferably with pci-express. I looked at this

abit AN8-V

As you can see on the board you have 3 pic slots, then one pci express slot, but what are the 2 slots above that and what are they used for?

 

[Megadeth2]

Those are the PCIe x1 slots. PCIe/PCI-Express allows for a very high bandwith. It would be very costly for motherboard manufactures to include all PCIe 16x slots (the long black PCIe slot). That is why motherboard manufacturers use PCIe x1/x2/x4 slots for other expansion cards excluding video cards. Remember PCIe/PCI-Express is meant to replace all things related to standard PCI which means no more PCI-X 66/133, no more AGP, and no more PCI 33. Cards such as network cards, sound cards will now be released on PCIe x1/x2/x4. The x1/x2/x4 deals with the bandwith. PCIe can have slots that allow for bandwith at 1/32, 2/32, 4/32, 8/32, 16/32, and 32/32. For now, x2 allows more bandwith than AGP does. So, pretty much the whole PCIe is there to replace PCI/PCI-X/AGP. And it will be used for all expansion cards.