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Difficulty: MediumMotherboards Form Factors and Connectors

A technician is installing a high-speed network expansion card that requires a PCIe x4 interface into a desktop workstation. The motherboard features one primary physical PCIe x16 slot (occupied by a graphics card), two physical PCIe x1 slots, and a secondary physical PCIe x16 slot that is electrically wired for PCIe x4 operation. Which slot should the technician select to successfully install and operate the expansion card at its full rated speed?

  1. The secondary physical PCIe x16 slot that is electrically wired for x4 operationAnswer
  2. B
    One of the physical PCIe x1 slots, relying on motherboard protocol negotiation to boost bandwidth to x4 speed
  3. C
    An available SO-DIMM memory slot using a motherboard adapter riser
  4. D
    The 8-pin EPS auxiliary motherboard power connector using a PCIe conversion cable

Answer

The secondary physical PCIe x16 slot that is electrically wired for x4 operation
PCIe architecture allows smaller lane width cards to be installed into larger physical slots (known as up-plugging). Installing the PCIe x4 card into the secondary physical PCIe x16 slot electrically wired for x4 ensures both physical fit and maximum performance at x4 speed.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the physical and electrical expansion slot requirements of the card.
The network interface card requires a physical slot of x4 size or larger and x4 electrical bandwidth.
PCIe expansion cards require both physical clearance and sufficient data lanes to operate without throughput degradation.
2
Evaluate the available motherboard expansion slots.
The primary PCIe x16 slot is occupied by the GPU, the PCIe x1 slots are too small/slow for full x4 operation, and the secondary physical PCIe x16 slot is wired electrically for x4.
PCIe cards are backward compatible with larger physical slots (up-plugging), allowing a x4 card to seat cleanly into a physical x16 slot.
3
Select the slot that provides full compatibility and bandwidth.
Installing the card into the secondary physical PCIe x16 slot (wired for x4) provides physical fit and full x4 performance.
The electrical wiring matches the maximum throughput supported by the expansion card.

Key Concept

PCIe Slot Physical vs. Electrical Compatibility (Up-plugging)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Motherboards Form Factors and Connectors

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