I haven't seen open-ended x1, but have seen x4 and x8. Here's a pic of an open-ended x4 slot. If you want to be adventurous, you can do what this guy did: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/249291-30-card x16 is just having 16 lanes to transfer data around vs 1 lane for x1. Putting a x16 card in x1 slot would shrink its performance, but may not be as much as you think, especially when you're dealing with trading apps. x1 PCIe is still at twice the speed of PCI bus. It's worth a shot if you need lots of screens but stuck with a cheapo mobo with x1 slots. x1 video cards are >$100 vs $20 for x16 cards. If you need 4 more screens, you'll save over $160. This is a low risk high reward situation we traders so loved to talk about. With this kind of savings you can afford to mess up a few cheap motherboards, because you are playing with the house's money, so to speak. But don't try this on new systems though unless you want to throw the warranty outta the window.
That's crazy! The article also said, "many x4 slots are open-ended".... I've not seen one. Though PCIE works in "lanes", it's not "universal". My T3400s won't work with an x1 video card mounted in an x16 slot, and my Vostro won't work with an x1 video card mounted in the x1 slot.
Is the motherboard that ships from Dell with the Core 2 Duo E7300 the same one (exact same config and part number) as the one that ships with the quad 9550? Only differenece is just the processor that goes in the socket? Can the same Bios be used or is there a different one that needs to be downloaded for the quad? For some reason, I was thinking that it would be necessary to get a T3400 with a lower speed quad (ie Q6600 @ 2.4 Ghz) to make sure you ended up with the right motherboard config that could handle a quad... so the memory pipeline and I/O bus is all the same... Has anybody actually done this processor upgrade? If so, can you mention the steps that you took, what cooling provisions (same CPU fan or different one?) you installed and what type of performance improvements and stability you have seen.... Appreciate!
In Dell's "driver updates" section, they only ask about Operating System.. and list only one current BIOS option. Mobo model number is the same for C2D and C2Q. T3400 does not have a "CPU fan". Instead, there is a large heat sink and a case fan which blows ambient air across it. There is also a 2nd case fan which blows ambient air directly across the hard drives. Theres a video online which shows how to swap socket T CPUs.
I admire those that know enough about computers that they can build or modify them to suit their needs / preferences. I can add video cards or memory or change a fan, but the questions above are a good example of why I buy off the shelf ... not only have I no idea of the answers to those questions, but didn't know those questions needed to be asked. I had a good chat with PNY nVidia, and it sounds like any of their PCIe cards should work fine with Vista (32 or 64 bit). They thought there could be problems finding drivers for some of the older PCI cards though. I asked about PCIe-x1 (vs x16) being a bottleneck, i.e. had they ever done studies to confirm that x1 slots more than meet the needs of 2D trading programs. The Tech I was talking to did not know for sure, but the fact that quad x1 cards are made suggests that dual x1 cards should not be a bottleneck. Just like most advaces in video cards, I think the x16 slot is a must for gamers, but not traders. Thanks for all the replies davez
1. About "mobo and BIOS"... answered in next post. 2. There isn't a problem with SINGLE PNY cards working in Vista... but some have complained about running more than one video card in Vista.... however, this issue could have been subsequently resolved. 3. You can run 6 monitors, at least, without using a PCI card. You COULD keep watch at Dell's Outlet for a good deal on a quad... but lots of others are doing so. When a deal is uncommonly good, it often remains available for only a few minutes.