I recently bought a second-hand PC for my nephew and noticed that the NVIDIA 1080ti graphics card is installed in the second PCIe x16 slot. I looked through the manual, but it didn't clarify which slot I should be using. Typically, the rule of thumb is to use the first PCIe slot closest to the CPU, but the problem is that the CPU cooler is blocking access to this slot. I'm wondering if it's fine to keep the graphics card in its current position or if I should try to move it to the first slot, even if that means using an extension cable. How much performance am I potentially losing by keeping it in the second slot? Would this affect my performance given my motherboard's specifications? The manual states that the first slot supports full x16 mode while the second slot maxes out at x4 mode. Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
2 Answers
The bottom slot is only x4 electrically, so while it will work, you might experience a bit of performance drop. Are you sure the CPU cooler is actually blocking the top PCIe slot? Most coolers are designed in a way that shouldn't obstruct it. You might just need to rotate it to fit properly. What cooler are you using?
Need to see some pictures here. It seems likely that the CPU cooler might be installed incorrectly if it’s hanging over the PCIe slot like that.
Here’s the image: [https://imgur.com/a/GlFs5lA](https://imgur.com/a/GlFs5lA)
Here’s a picture of the setup: [https://imgur.com/a/GlFs5lA](https://imgur.com/a/GlFs5lA)