Simple question: Anything else plug into x16 slot besides vid?

[Mugsy]

I've been researching motherboards, and I've been eyeing some nice SLi boards (two x16 PCI-E slots), though I HIGHLY doubt I'd ever install two video cards.

The extra x16 slot would be nice, but most MoBo manufacturers sacrifice at least one x1 and/or PCI slot in the process. But if they start making cards other than video to use the spare x16 slot, I don't want to end up wishing I hadn't sacraficed an x16 for a more lowly x1 or PCI slot (btw: I need at least two and preferably three).

I have found plenty of PCI-E x1 cards, so the x1 slots appear to be more useful "at the moment".

So my question is, does anyone make anything else that plugs into a PCI-E x16 slot, or is it like an AGP slot in that it's good for nothing but video?

Thanks.

 

[Tedster]

I'm not aware of PCI-X 16 slots used for anything other than video. The bandwidth seems enormous. I am curious if these slots will be used in the future for data transfer like a parallel bus.

 

[Mugsy]

Remembering AGP's lost promise.

I'm not aware of PCI-X 16 slots used for anything other than video. The bandwidth seems enormous. I am curious if these slots will be used in the future for data transfer like a parallel bus.

Fortunately, you can use smaller cards in the larger slot, but the Asus board I'm looking at (A8N-SLI) can only operate the second slot at x16 or x1, not x4 (is there an x8?), so it wouldn't be totally useless.

I remember there were grand promises of high speed expansion cards for AGP when it first came out. That never materialized as no one wanted to sacrifice their one AGP slot and use a PCI video card. But with TWO x16's, that possibility has surfaced again, which is why I'm asking.