Will a regular PCI Express card work in a "PCI Express x16 Graphics (PEG)" slot?

Solution 1:

January 7th 2014 Edit

I currently have a PCIE x4 Intel I350 NIC in a PCIE x16 slot meant for graphics on a Intel DH77DF motherboard working without a problem.

The original post below stating that "as long as it fits it should work" still stands. It's still possible that some motherboard manufacturers have a PCIE x16 slot that won't accept anything other than a graphics card. I think this only happened in the early days of PCI Express, and modern motherboards (say Core 2 and newer, and definitely Core i-series and newer) are pretty flexible in what you can use the PCIE x16 slot for.

Also, make sure you have on-board or on-chip graphics, or a video card somewhere. Most motherboards won't boot without video. Although, sometimes you might be able to configure the BIOS to ignore the lack of video and continue booting.

I figured I'd return to clarify my answer after encountering this very situation myself :)

Original Post

Initially I'd say there's no real difference between the PCI-Express slots and as long as it fits there's no problem.

However, the problem is if the PCI-Express slot is specifically labeled for video card. The tomshardware link shows the user placing the TV Tuner card in his second slot, not the first. The first slot (in your case, your only slot) might be graphics only.

Some point to yes. Some point to no. It's hard to tell and seems like it's up to how the motherboard manufacturers decided to integrate the chipsets.

Solution 2:

Yes, they will physically fit into the machine (and work properly). You're just not using those extra bus lanes.

I also verified this through a discussion on the web: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/205984-33-card-slot