StarTech.com Pci-exp X1 To Low Profile X16 Slot Extension Adapter

by StarTech

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0017K4CII
• Item model number: PEX1TO16
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,575 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

PCI-Express x1 to Low Profile x16 Slot Extension Adapter. This low profile PCI Express x1 to x16 Slot Extension adapter is designed to provide enhanced compatibility between motherboards and a variety of PCI Express expansion cards and is the perfect solution for converting an unused x1 PCI Express slot to accommodate low profile x2 x4 x8 x12 or x16 PCI Express cards.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Item wasn't quite as advertised - did NOT fit all PC expansion cards, June 14, 2010

By 

PCer - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com Pci-exp X1 To Low Profile X16 Slot Extension Adapter (Personal Computers)

Item advertised as able to convert PCI cards to PCI Express cards.
But NOT all PCI cards fit the slots available in this card.
The specs for this card should be more specific.

HOWEVER - there was no problem in returning the product and receiving full credit.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for video cards, May 25, 2010

By 

D. Matheny (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com Pci-exp X1 To Low Profile X16 Slot Extension Adapter (Personal Computers)

I ran into a problem when upgrading the motherboard on my home-theater PC where one of the PCI-e tuner cards ran right into the installed RAM; so it wouldn't install correctly. What I needed was a product that would raise the tuner card just a bit more off of the motherboard - and this product seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

Although this product worked great for me, here are some things that could be improved:
1) This adapter isn't the right height for a low-profile PCI-e card to fit in it. I was planning on installing a low-profile bracket on the tuner card; but this adapter is about 1/4" too short for that to work properly. Instead, I kept the full sized bracket on the tuner and tied it into the case using a zip-tie. (That works, but it isn't optimal.)
2) Although the 16-lane (x16) extension works fine, I really only needed a 1-lane riser card for my purposes. A 4 or 8-lane extension would have also worked fine and I would have prefered those options if they had been available.

I can't believe that some people are using this to install a 16-lane video card in a 1-lane slot. Just in case it isn't clear, that means you are losing a huge portion of the bandwidth potential of the video card. With PCI-e 2.0, for example, you get 500MB/s for each lane - which means that a 16-lane card can have a total throughput of 8GB/s. By installing your video card in this adapter, you are essentially crippling the performance. That's fine if you really know what you are doing - I just want to be clear that this isn't just an extension that will give you the same performance as a native slot. I also suspect that some x16 cards probably won't work at all when cut down to x1.

Overall, I would recommend this extension if you know what you need. The height of the riser is the biggest downside and I hope that gets corrected for other users in a new revision.

2.0 out of 5 stars This extention card did not help me for what I needed it for., April 17, 2010

By 

A. Hart (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com Pci-exp X1 To Low Profile X16 Slot Extension Adapter (Personal Computers)

The price was good but the product did not help at all in my system. I was unable to insert the graphics card I bought the extension card for, completely in my system. If you have bought the wrong graphics card I would suggest returning it and buying the right graphics card before buying this product. This extension card made the graphics card stick out about an inch from where it needed to be. It may or may not work in your system. Although using it and attaching the graphics card onto it was easy, I would not suggest buying this product.