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Difficulty: MediumMotherboards Form Factors and Connectors

A technician is setting up a desktop workstation for video editing. The motherboard features one primary PCIe x16 expansion slot wired electrically at x16 and a secondary full-length PCIe x16 expansion slot wired electrically at x4. The technician installs a dual-slot PCIe x16 graphics card in the primary slot. Which of the following components can be installed into the secondary expansion slot without encountering physical keying or mechanical fit issues?

  1. A PCIe x4 dedicated network interface cardAnswer
  2. B
    A legacy PCI sound expansion card
  3. C
    An M.2 2280 NVMe solid-state drive directly inserted into the slot
  4. D
    A dual-channel SO-DIMM memory expansion module

Answer

A PCIe x4 dedicated network interface card can be physically and operationally installed into the secondary full-length PCIe slot.
PCI Express expansion slots support backward physical compatibility. A card with fewer lanes (such as a PCIe x4 card) can be physically inserted into any larger mechanical slot (such as a x16 slot). Because the secondary slot is wired electrically for x4 speed, the x4 network card will function at its maximum rated bandwidth.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the physical and electrical specifications of the secondary slot.
The slot is mechanically a full-length PCIe x16 slot, but electrically wired for x4 lanes.
PCI Express standards support upward compatibility where smaller pin-count cards (x1, x4, x8) fit physically and function correctly inside larger mechanical slots.
2
Evaluate the candidate expansion cards against the slot dimensions and connector keying.
A PCIe x4 card fits cleanly into a full-length x16 slot and operates at full x4 speed.
Smaller PCIe cards leave unused pin pads in longer PCIe slots without affecting electrical operation.

Key Concept

PCIe Mechanical vs. Electrical Lane Compatibility
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Topics

Motherboards Form Factors and Connectors

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