zircon Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Is it possible to expand the number of normal PCI slots on a computer without spending exorbitant amounts of money or completely switching out the motherboard? I've just found out my new MOBO only has 2 PCI slots. While I have a FireWire soundcard and PCIE video card, 2 PCI slots is kinda low compared to my 4 slots currently. I've seen large-scale PCI expansion systems for thousands of dollars - anything cheaper than that, or am I out of luck? Quote
The Coop Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 I'm not certain, but with a little searching I found external PCI slots, but they were pretty expensive (one was $1,399). One would think that unless your motherboard was a type that had empty slots where PCI plugs once were, but were removed for a lower cost version of the board (thus making it so you could possibly add those missing slots yourself), adding PCI slots isn't going to be cheap. I found some things for a Mac that added a bunch of external things (PCI slots, USB ports, etc.) that was $250, but it didn't say how many slots it added. I have a feeling it's going to run you at least few hundred bucks. Quote
zircon Posted January 25, 2007 Author Posted January 25, 2007 A few hundred is reasonable. Just... not $1000 or more. Quote
The Coop Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Right here is all I could really find right off the bat. The one thing I found for $250 was a 2001 article, and the company seems to be gone now. It's pretty expensive with a 4 slot external set up being $799. I can't imagine that there aren't cheaper versions out there, but I didn't come across any with my first search. Quote
zircon Posted January 25, 2007 Author Posted January 25, 2007 The thing is the PC I ordered is already on it's way, and I had it custom built for a reason... I don't want to open it up and gut it. Plus, there are no Core 2 Duo-compatible mobos I've seen with even 4 PCI slots. Quote
Majin GeoDooD Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 After checking the thread on which you listed the specs of your new PC.. it seems the reason why you only have two PCI slots is that you got an SLI motherboard. There's naturally less space on a motherboard if there's two PCI-E slots. Do you plan on ever using SLI? You may have to buy another motherboard to gain yourself some PCI slots, if you can even find one. Quote
Dhsu Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Yeah, I think most PCI slots you're gonna get out of a mobo is 3. But chances are that adding more slots is gonna be more expensive than just throwing away the cards you can't fit, or even buying a new motherboard. You might consider sucking up the loss, and replacing the cards with USB components. Quote
Hellcom Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Yeah, I think most PCI slots you're gonna get out of a mobo is 3. But chances are that adding more slots is gonna be more expensive than just throwing away the cards you can't fit, or even buying a new motherboard. You might consider sucking up the loss, and replacing the cards with USB components. Yeah, as seen http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6772 the most you are going to get is about 3 or rarely 4 PCI slots on new mobos. If you still can, you should see if they offer another mobo with more slots, otherwise consider usb. It seems that they are phasing out PCI, but inexplicably offering no new standard Quote
Kanthos Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Are you selling all your current machines to help pay for the new one? I know you want the PCI slot for a DSP card; what about inserting it into an old machine and using FX Teleport, using the old machine either as a dedicated DSP box or possibly for additional computing power as well as the DSP card? Quote
zircon Posted January 25, 2007 Author Posted January 25, 2007 FXTeleport probably isn't an option due to latency issues, but I'm considering trying it. There are no USB versions of the PCI devices I want (DSP cards). The closest thing would be Firewire or PCI-E versions which are 3x as expensive. Thanks for the help guys. Quote
Pyrion Posted January 28, 2007 Posted January 28, 2007 Is it possible to expand the number of normal PCI slots on a computer without spending exorbitant amounts of money or completely switching out the motherboard? Yes. Do a google search for PCI Riser cards or PCI Extender cards. The only problem is that you'd still need some means of mounting the cards in your case. Quote
zircon Posted January 28, 2007 Author Posted January 28, 2007 I don't quite follow what you mean. Take this product for example; http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/47_68/products_id/561 Am I understanding this correctly, that this $25 product will turn one (1) functioning PCI slot into two (2) functioning PCI slots? So rather than ONE DSP card fitting there, I get two? Quote
Pyrion Posted January 28, 2007 Posted January 28, 2007 That's my assumption. I've never actually tried this as I've never had great need for PCI devices. Quote
Effef Posted January 30, 2007 Posted January 30, 2007 Am I correct in assuming that bandwidth will be limited on that? Quote
Pyrion Posted January 31, 2007 Posted January 31, 2007 With PCI, bandwidth is inherently limited anyways. You'll just have one more device amongst the rest fighting for the same limited amount of resources. Quote
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