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Difficulty: HardExpansion Cards and Power Supplies

A desktop support technician is upgrading a workstation by installing a high-bandwidth PCIe x4 video capture card and installing a modular power supply unit (PSU). The workstation motherboard currently has one available PCIe x16 mechanical slot (wired electronically as x4) and three available PCIe x1 slots. Which TWO actions must the technician take to properly seat the expansion card and supply auxiliary power safely? (Select TWO.)

  1. Install the capture card into the available PCIe x16 (wired x4) slot.Answer
  2. Use a PCIe 6+2 pin auxiliary power cable from the PSU if additional power is required by the card.Answer
  3. C
    Install the capture card into a PCIe x1 slot to preserve the x16 slot for future primary GPU upgrades while maintaining full x4 performance.
  4. D
    Connect an available 8-pin EPS12V power connector from the PSU directly to the card's auxiliary power header.

Answer

The technician must install the card into the available PCIe x16 (wired x4) physical slot and use a PCIe 6+2 pin auxiliary power cable if additional power is required.
Seating the PCIe x4 card into the PCIe x16 slot (wired as x4) provides the necessary physical clearance and electrical bandwidth. Connecting a PCIe 6+2 pin connector supplies proper auxiliary +12V power without risking polarity mismatches associated with motherboard CPU power cables.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine physical slot compatibility and lane allocation.
The PCIe x4 card requires 4 PCIe data lanes and a physical slot size of x4 or larger. Installing it into the PCIe x16 physical slot (wired electronically as x4) satisfies both physical seating requirements and bandwidth needs.
PCIe permits upsizing (placing smaller lane cards into larger physical slots). Installing it in a PCIe x1 slot would limit bandwidth to x1 or fail physically on closed slots.
2
Identify the correct auxiliary power cable for expansion cards.
Select a PCIe 6+2 pin auxiliary power connector from the modular PSU.
PCIe power cables deliver +12V on specific pin locations required by graphics and expansion cards. EPS12V connectors deliver power intended for CPU sockets and carry inverted wire pinouts relative to PCIe power.

Key Concept

PCIe Slot Downward Compatibility & Auxiliary Connector Pinout Differences
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Topics

Expansion Cards and Power Supplies

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