Using PCI-E x1 slots

[twoBitBasher]

I know some people have used a riser to connect their card to the x1 slot. Most setups I've observed to employ this method are more modern (PCI-E 2.0)
Now the question is: Can you use PCI-E 1.1 capable slot? or is it too slow(250MB/s) even for mining?
The slot is connected through ich9. The mobo is Abit QuadGt(iX38).

[1715078112]

1715078112

[1715078112]

1715078112

[1715078112]

1715078112

[DeathAndTaxes]

Yes.  

You could run a miner off a serial port.  The amount of bandwidth used in mining is trivial. As in couple dozen bits per second.  Even 250MB/s is 10000x more than you need.

[Eisenhower34]

Like DeathAndTaxes  said, the mainboard doesnt matter at all as far as I experienced

[Lord F(r)og]

I'm driving two 6870s (8x & 1x) and a 5850 (8x) on Asrock K8SLIeSATA2. 6870s performing even better than on Asus Maximus IV & guiminer I used before switching to linuxcoin & cgminer. 5850 sadly performs a litte worse.

[twoBitBasher]

6870s (8x & 1x)

Did you use riser? How long one? Do you have Molex power mod in the riser?

[Lord F(r)og]

6870s (8x & 1x)

Did you use riser? How long one? Do you have Molex power mod in the riser?

6870@8x with 16x riser cable (15cm/5.91 inch) in 16x slot http://www.ebay.de/itm/250872834604
6870@1x with modded 4x riser cable (15cm/5.91 inch) in 1x slot http://www.ebay.de/itm/260834280549 (1x cable would have done it too)

board has separate 12v molex connector for pcie slots power

[twoBitBasher]

I assume board = motherboard. The Molex mod in the riser is not for just to protect the mobo but for the riser as well. The cable used on the risers is not rated/engineered to handle such amount of current so it will get hot and melt/burn. The extra molex on the board helps prevent the 24pin mobo cable burning up though.

Am i right? 

[Lord F(r)og]

board=motherboard

as for cable mod:
I had to open up the 4x female cable connector for plugging it to the 16x card connector and cut the 4x male cable connector to plug it in the 1x motherboard connector.

as for engineering:
I think none of these extenders are built to work with pcie because the pcie specification has no room for extenders.

as for burning:
I think these additional 12v connectors are protecting the motherboard against pcie-overload.

[twoBitBasher]

Were there a particular reason for choosing the x4 riser over x1? Just availability?
Thanks for your support guys! I guess I'll be heading to the amazon.co.uk 

[Lord F(r)og]

Were there a particular reason for choosing the x4 riser over x1? Just availability?
Thanks for your support guys! I guess I'll be heading to the amazon.co.uk  

first used that 4x cable with my asus maximus gene-z board but after switching to K8SLIeSata2 modded it because those extenders are too expensive for cheap chinaware

happy building

[_Vince_]

I'm using 1x extenders. No problem so far.

I think 1x pci-e extenders are good because they don't restrict airflow from my box fan; cool air can goes through the space between the motherboard and cards. I do not plug any card in the motherboard directly because doing so makes my cards hotter than using extenders

And when you run 2 power supplies on a single rig, you must use extenders that have molex power plugs (quite easy to mod it)

[twoBitBasher]

And when you run 2 power supplies on a single rig, you must use extenders that have molex power plugs (quite easy to mod it)

Anyone care to elaborate? You connect the riser power to the same PSU as the GPU I assume(is this even required?). I thought you only need those extra molex risers if you have +4 gpu:s to avoid mobo damage or have I missed something?

[P4man]

And when you run 2 power supplies on a single rig, you must use extenders that have molex power plugs (quite easy to mod it)

Id also like to hear the reasoning behind this?