By this, I mean is it possible to put a PCI-X card in a PCI slot? I heard from someone (who deals with servers all the time) that this is the case, however I may have misheard. Also, the card DOES fit, I'm wondering if they're electrically compatible.
Asked
Active
Viewed 8,826 times
3 Answers
8
Yes, as long as the PCI slot is a 2.x or later, PCI 1.0 was 5v while PCI 2.x was 3.3v - which is electrically compatible with PCI-X.
Source: Wikipedia PCI-X
Dustin G.
- 2,075
2
It all comes down to voltage.
PCI-X slots are always 3.3V.
In principle PCI slots can be either 3.3V or 5V depending on which version of the PCI standard they are designed to but in practice 3.3V ones are extremely rare.
Cards can be either 3.3V only, 5V only or universal voltage. Cards and slots are keyed to indicate the voltage.
So if your PCI-x card is keyed for universal voltage then it should work in a regular 5V PCI slot. If it doesn't support 5V then it shouldn't fit in a regular 5V PCI slot. If it fits but doesn't work then someone is failing to follow the specs.
plugwash
- 6,719
1
That isn't backwards compatibility. Putting a PCI card in a PCI-X port would be considered backwards compatibility - which is the case, as long as it is PCI 2 as the voltage on PCI 1 is not the same. To sum it up, PCI 2 cards can be put in PCI-X ports, not the other way around.
MaQleod
- 13,258