Biostar TA890FXE Motherboard
Slots
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As mentioned, the AMD 890FX chipset has 42 PCI Express x1 lanes controlled by 11 engines – just to put things into perspective, the AMD 890GX chipset has 22 lanes controlled by eight engines. This allows this chip to provide a very high-end slot configuration.
On TA890FXE Biostar decided to hook up these lanes like this: the first PCI Express x16 slot (white) always work at x16, independently of how many video cards are installed; the second PCI Express x16 slot (red) always work at x4; the third PCI Express x16 slot (white) always work at x16; and the fourth slot (red) always work at x1. Unfortunately this configuration isn’t clear on the product manual or on the manufacturer website.
It is important to note that motherboards from other manufacturers may use a different configuration. With 42 available lanes it is possible, for instance, to have four PCI Express x16 slots working at x8 at the same time.
At least Biostar used different colors to identify the x16 slots. So if you want to install two video cards make sure to use the white slots. However, Biostar could make a better job identifying which slot runs at x4 and which one runs at x1.
It is important to note that the manufacturer didn’t leave space between the PCI Express x16 slots. You won’t have trouble fitting two dual-slot video cards on this motherboard, but if you want to install three or four video cards the first three must be single-slot solutions. So the use of three or four video cards is more targeted to expanding the number of video monitors than creating a bigger CrossFireX setup.
This motherboard offers support to CrossFireX technology, of course, but not to SLI. The product comes with two CrossFireX bridges.
The motherboard also comes with two standard PCI slots. The absence of PCI Express x1 slots isn’t an issue, since PCI Express technology allows you to install x1 expansion cards on any kind of PCI Express slot, so you will be able to install your x1 cards on x16 slots.
Figure 2: Slots.
Near the first PCI Express x16 slot the motherboard has a standard peripheral power adapter, which should be used to provide more current to the PCI Express slots. The manufacturer doesn’t say when this connector should be used, therefore we recommend you to always install it to the power supply.