PCIx in PCI slots...
 

Hey guys!

Doing an upgrade on a PCIx based HD3 system. Time for a new comp. I'm building a hackintosh... before the flaming begins, let me state that I have built 6 hackintoshes running 10.6.5 on LE and 9 systems (including mine running 10.6.6) so lets avoid that topic, unless you have questions.

My question is regarding PCIx cards in PCI slots. I have read mixed things on these forums and want to put the topic to rest.

As far as I understand, putting PCIx cards into PCI slots is possible and decreases the bandwidth from 133 to 33. This is not an issue on systems that use HD3+. A very very marginal difference is seen on these systems, and well worth the upgrade to the computer and expanded use of RTAS plugins due to faster CPU and RAM.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The plan is as follows.
GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel H67
Intel Core i7-2600K (can be changed to something less hefty if mobo cant OC anyways
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 850w
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
EVGA GeForce GT 240 1GB

That gigabyte mobo is the only current motherboard I can find with 3 PCI slots. I will be attempting a SandyBridge Hack (no small fete), but its been done.

I know skimping is a bad idea when it comes to comps, but I really want to avoid shelling out 3k for a silent Magma Chassis.

So to simplify, my question is is there anyone running PCIx cards in PCI slots. What is your experience with it? Any degradation in DSP or TDM functionality? Thanks in advance guys!

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

Yep, lotsa folks are. My experience (vs the old G5 w/HD3) has been very good. No difference noticed at all here wrt functionality...
IHTH !

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

The HD cards were never actually PCIx, they are just PCI anyways. The confusion came from the Mix cards being PCI, but not the right voltage for the PCIx slots in the first gen G5's.

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

Sweet, thanks guys! Only problem I see now is those huge cards blocking off the SATA ports... Might need to buy those 90 degree SATA cables. In any case, If you guys have any questions about Hackintoshes, let me know. I've done many i7 1366 and 1156 builds, this will be my first sandy bridge 1155 build. I'll keep you posted if your interested.

Total cost is 1200 for a rack mounted i7 2600k with 8gigs of ram and 1TB black caviar Sata3 (6gb/s) HD. Should be a BEAST, way faster than some MacPros and at a 1/3 of the cost. Not to mention dual bootable.

In all honesty, I started doing this because I was sick of the issues I was having with PT9 and windows. Up until about 6 months ago, I was a die hard PC guy (and still am) but I gotta say, the combination of customizable PC hardware and Mac OSx is a beautiful thing. PT9 and Logic 9 working flawlessly. Let me know if you guys have any questions about it.

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

"The HD cards were never actually PCIx, they are just PCI anyways. The confusion came from the Mix cards being PCI, but not the right voltage for the PCIx slots in the first gen G5's. "

I'm really struggling here. I've got a PCI card which I think is PCI-X because it looks just like the one on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI-X and so simply doesn't fit into a regular PCI slot. The whole card is about 32cm long and the pins are about 12.5 cm wide.

Any ideas of what motherboards might work?

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

The PTHD PCI-X cards work in regular PCI slots. I have used them both on a PC motherboard and inside an expansion chassis attached to a Mac Pro. The problems you will run into with regular motherboards are mostly mechanical. You need to make sure there is enough room in the case and that various chipset heatsinks and other stuff won't interfere. I had to remove one of the chipset heatsinks and cut it down a bit to get it to fit, for example.

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

This is a pro tools card? Or something else?

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

It's a core card, but unlike most, it's got two of those connections found to the right of the digilink connection which I assume are MMC.

It's simply too big for PCI slots in that it needs more pins.

http://www.fast-autos.net/diecast-cars-models/Pro-Tools-HD-1-Core-Card_300515061712.html

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

The extra connectors ( that would make the card PCIX) just hang there off the back edge of the PCI connector. They don't need to contact anything, the card will work in a PCI slot if you can get it to fit.

Re: PCIx in PCI slots...
 

You mean the 8 pin serial port? or are you talking about the flex cable.