A PCIe x1 slot has only one PCIe lane. Although there is only one PCIe lane, the PCIe x1 slot can be used for various low-power PCIe peripheral cards. The PCIe x1 slot is the smallest PCI Express slot and has the lowest throughput compared to larger PCIe slots such as the PCIe x16 slot. However, PCIe x1 cards can be installed in all PCIe expansion slots, including x4, x8, and x16 PCIe slots.
What is the main purpose of the PCIe X1 slot?
Although PCIe x1 slots have one PCIe lane, they are still useful, and in some cases, use a PCIe x1 slot instead of a larger slot like PCIe x16 to maintain optimization. Below are some expansion cards that can be plugged into the PCIe x1 slot.
1. Modem and network card
A wired or wireless expansion card can be added to the motherboard through the PCIe x1 slot. A PCIe x1 WiFi card or a 1G PCIe Ethernet card can be connected to the PCIe x1 slot. Motherboards usually already have Ethernet built in. However, PCIe x1 Wi-Fi cards are one of the ways to add Wi-Fi connectivity to your computer. The PCIe x1 slot can support all types of wireless network cards, including the latest Wi-Fi 6 protocol.
However, a PCIe x1 slot can only support 1 Gigabit Ethernet or RJ45 Ethernet LAN (Local Area Network) card; for 10GbE expansion, a PCIe x4 slot is required.
2. Sound card
Usually a sound card is not necessary, as most motherboards have built-in audio chipsets. However, some audiophiles or people who pay more attention to sound quality can install a sound card on the PCIe x1 slot to obtain higher sound quality and more accurate sound. After installing a sound card in the PCIe x1 slot, the computer can get better sound, more ports, and better electromagnetic interference shielding.
3. SATA expansion card
When you want to add more SATA hard drives to your computer, you can use a PCIe x1 SATA expansion card to add more SATA ports. The third-generation PCIe x1 slot has a data transfer speed of 1Gbps and can handle multiple SATA expansions with SATA SSD (Solid State Drive) or SATA HDD storage.
Since a SATA SSD has a data transfer speed of about 550 Mbps and a SATA HDD has a data transfer speed of about 150 Mbps, a PCIe x1 SATA card will have no problem dealing with multiple SATA storage drives which are ideal for NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems question.
4. USB port expansion card
PCIe x1 can also support USB port expansion. So if your computer needs more USB ports, you can use a USB PCIe x1 card to add more USB 3.0 type A or even USB type C ports to your computer. Additional I/O can also be added via the PCIe x1 slot, just find an I/O expansion card with the PCIe x1 form factor.
5. TV tuner card
Another use of the PCIe x1 slot is for TV tuner cards. Using the PCIe x1 TV card, you can allow the device to receive TV signals directly on the computer, turning the computer into a TV. Some cards even allow your computer to record live TV directly from the cable to watch later.
6. Video capture card
A video capture card enables a computer to receive any video source from a camera or other external device (such as a game console, television, or DVD player) and convert those video signals into digital data that can be stored on the computer. These transformed data can be streamed in real time or saved for post-editing. Usually, FHD video capture uses a PCIe x1 expansion card, while more high-definition 4K capture cards require at least a PCIe x4 expansion slot to handle bandwidth requirements.
If the motherboard needs more PCIe slots, a PCIe riser card, also known as a splitter, can be used. It should be noted that the PCIe riser card only increases the number of slots, while the bandwidth of PCIe remains unchanged and is evenly distributed among the PCIe slots on the riser card.
Therefore, a riser card with four PCIe x1 slots connected to one PCIe x1 slot will have a quarter of the bandwidth of PCIe x1 on each slot.
