Expansion Slots (Pci Express Slots) - ASROCK X79 Extreme9 User Manual

2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots)

There are 6 PCI Express slots on this motherboard.
PCIE slots: PCIE1 / PCIE2 / PCIE4 / PCIE5 / PCIE6 (PCIE 3.0 x16 slots) are used
for PCI Express graphics cards.
PCIE3 (PCIE 2.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express cards with x1 lane
width cards, such as ASRock Game Blaster, Gigabit LAN card, SATA2
card, etc.
Dual Graphics Cards in
TM
CrossFireX or SLI
Triple Graphics Cards in
3-Way CrossFireX
TM
3-Way SLI Mode
Five Graphics Cards
20
PCIE Slot Configurations
PCIE1
x16
TM
Mode
x16
TM
or
x8
1. In single VGA card mode, it is recommended to install a PCI Express
x16 graphics card on PCIE1 slot.
TM
2. In CrossFireX mode or SLI
graphics cards on PCIE1 and PCIE4 slots. Therefore, both these two
slots will work at x16 bandwidth.
TM
3. In 3-Way CrossFireX
Express x16 graphics cards on PCIE1, PCIE4 and PCIE6 slots.
Therefore, PCIE1 and PCIE4 will work at x16 bandwidth, while PCIE6
works at x8 bandwidth.
4. If you install five PCI Express x16 graphics cards on PCIE1, PCIE2,
PCIE4, PCIE5 and PCIE6 slots, these five slots will work at x8
bandwidth.
5. Please connect a chassis fan to motherboard chassis fan connector
(CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2 or CHA_FAN3) when using multiple
graphics cards for better thermal environment.
®
6. Currently Intel Socket 2011 Sandy Bridge-E Processor doesn't
support PCIE 3.0, but this motherboard is already PCIE 3.0 hardware
ready. It depends on Intel's CPU to enable PCIE 3.0. Please check
Intel's website for information on future CPU updates and releases.
ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard
PCIE2 PCIE4
x0 x16
x0 x16
x8 x8
TM
mode, please install PCI Express x16
TM
or 3-Way SLI mode, please install PCI
PCIE5 PCIE6
x0 N/A
x0 x8
x8 x8