What are some good uses for non-gpu expansion cards these days?
All I can think of:
Wifi card
USB card
Video capture card
Sound card (for upgrade or in case onboard dies)
LAN card in case onboard dies
m.2 adapter
What else can you guys think of?
Pcie half size cpu “computers”
Used to be a crazy thing back in the day, you can still find them on eBay
I’d like to try it to see how well it could run WoW before it blew up but I need a dummy PC setup to test first
There are PC diagnostic cards for bootup issues beyond hearing BIOS error codes. I have one but it is for the ancient PCI slot.
I have a SATA expansion card - also for the ancient PCI slot.
The industrial industry still uses machinery that needs to interface with a serial or parallel port, so they would need to use an expansion card on a modern PC.
Just looking back over the past 10 years or so the only thing I’ve ever used in them has been wifi cards.
I want to put something in mine just because, lol…just can’t think of anything worthy.
Top contenders are an m.2 expansion slot and a sound card.
Although my system already has ALC1220 on it. So I don’t know.
Oh yeah, POST cards
https://www.amazon.com/Multifunction-LPC-DEBUG-Motherboard-Diagnostic-LPC-Debug/dp/B07S8726PW
You would only need a sound card if you’re going like a big beefy 7.1 surround set up
I wouldn’t put anything like an adapter for pcie since some adapters are cheaply made
99% of the time it’s bluetooth headset so i don’t even think a sound card would do anything
There is wireless remote control card for you to turn your PC on and off too.
https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Wireless-Function-Feedback-ES02-PCIE/dp/B075ZMPKW6
Are MIDI hookups via sound cards still a thing in music production or have other methods been used instead?
Could get one of those cards that let you put a bunch of M.2 SSDs in a RAID configuration for speed and redundancy, but that seems like overkill for most people.
Back in the 90s there were some Macs that supported a 486-on-a-card PC that allowed users to switch between concurrently-running PowerPC macOS and x86 DOS/Windows with a key combo. That exact setup wouldn’t be so useful today, but it’d be interesting if someone made similar alternate-architecture PCI-E cards for use in emulation — PCI-E 3.0 and 4.0 have more than enough bandwidth to host a variety of older CPUs (m68k, PowerPC, and ARM most obviously).
Prob. not going to put anything in there. Just brainstorming what are some things people use anymore.
I’m starting to feel that with USB-C and other IO, the days of those extra slots are numbered.
Yeah I think 99% of users only have a single GPU.
Before I reappropriated my tower as a dedicated living room gaming rig, I had a second GPU for a second monitor to avoid VRAM splitting (originally was running a 980Ti with a somewhat-limited 6GB VRAM) along with a Wifi+Bluetooth combo card in a PCI-E x1 slot, leaving only 2 of the slots on the ATX mobo free. The wireless card remains but I pulled the second GPU because it’s not necessary in a single-screen setup.
But most mid-grade and up mobos these days come with actually really good Intel Wifi+Bluetooth built in so for a lot of people, that use of a slot has been eliminated, leaving that lone GPU.
Thunderbolt and USB-C are nice but two things need to happen for them to fully replace PCI-E:
EDIT: As a sidenote, I think Apple actually got a lot right with the future of desktop PCs with the 2013 “trash can” Mac Pro with 6 TB2 ports, but it was like a decade ahead of its time. Thunderbolt wasn’t yet where it needed to be at version 2, and the accessory ecosystem wasn’t there yet either. If they introduced a similar machine in 2022/2023 with TB4 ports instead it’d probably fare much better.
Are you referring to what you should use them for, or what you can use them for?
If the latter…
USB has all but completely replaced MIDI interfaces. There are (or at least were) adapters to convert USB back to DIN for older MIDI devices but they may not necessarily be 100% compatible. Some are only good for output, for example, despite having both connectors.
Just wondering if it’s going to be more of a vestigial part at some point, kind of like how they still put in that PS2 port nobody ever uses anymore, that finally some boards and starting to omit
It’s useful in liquid nitrogen overclocking, USB ports will go out first when under extreme loads but not the ps2 one
Plus it’s useful for a ryzen setup for windows 7, as no usb drivers are included in the windows 7 install but can easily grab the drivers from the motherboard website and install them, then have the ps2 mouse removed
This Gigabyte Z590 was the first board I have bought that hasn’t had the PS2 combo port. I don’t really miss it, but I can see how it could be useful for some users.
I recommend a PCI serial card with 2 ports instead of a USB to serial adapter as I have issues about 50% of the time depending on the USB chipset of the motherboard for customers hooking up old legacy devices that connect through a serial port. Some computers still have one serial port and others none.
the last time i used a serial port was to incorrectly plug in my null modem cable
Yeah
A) secondary GPU are expensive
B) SLI is gone for nVidia and AMD
So there isn’t much need for a second GPU so yea gamers only have 1…
Maybe SLI is valid for older GPU but not newer one so what’s the point to have it if you can’t use it for that?
Haven’t seen PS/2 port since probably 2004 maybe even earlier… Laptops held onto VGA and PS/2 ports for much longer than desktop Mobo