[pseudoheld]

Hi,
I have an Asus P2 M2A690G (Barebone) and have been wanting to update my Video Card for some time so that 1080p can be offloaded to the gpu. when i opened up the case i was surprised to notice i dont have a normal pcie slot but a pcie x1 slot.
Is there a video card out there that supports HDMI output, vdpau and fits in a pcie x1 slot?
any help would be apreciated...

[burritoboy9984]

You can purchase ANY pcie card, just cut/mill open the end of the connector so it looks like below. Place any 16x card in, and you are done




-Erik

[Smolex]

Found these three cards on newegg.com that fit your qualifications. They are a little pricey and the reviews are mixed as you will see. The first two have native HDMI outputs while the third would require the included adapter. Thanks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814161280

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814131177

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814129152

[pseudoheld]

thx for the answer but tbh i didnt quite understand you...
what do you mean with cut open? what would i have to open up??
i have a pci slot and next to it (not behind it) a pcie x1 slot.
as for the cards on newegg, thx for the info but does the HD4350 handle video encoding? i thought only nvidia did that?

[pseudoheld]

so let me get this straight...basically you are saying that i only need the end bit of the connector? the rest is just for show? or why would i be able to use a 16x in a 1x?
this is what i have inside my case. sorry for the bad shot but its kinda cramped in there

[burritoboy9984]

The first picture I posted above is from your case as well.

The right hand part of the connector is where the "lane" starts. In a 4x/8x/16x slot, it is just longer.

Here is some reading explaining why this works. And here is another review with benchmarks that will explain some more.

You could also get this card if you can find it.

-Erik

Edit: Are you running linux? If so, stick with nvidia. If you are running windows, you can probably get ati to work.

[pseudoheld]

thx for the links, will delve into them.
running ubuntu 10.04 so its probably nvidia for me!
thx again

[burritoboy9984]

It looks like the ion 1x card is in stock here if you don't want to hassle with cutting

-Erik

[pseudoheld]

just finished reading.
so you think that even on x1 it would still manage a 1080p video hdmi output?
my main problem for getting at a card is that im in germany, so i can't use newegg. i'll have to have a look around.
another question:
the x1 slot seems to be near the case wouldn't i maybe have a problem with a x16 card being to far away or to close to the case to fit in?

[burritoboy9984]

a pcie 1x slots allow for 250MB/s of bandwidth, you will be fine

As far as fitting, are you asking about the distance from the slot to the opening where the card would slide through to be outside? If so, that is a standard distance for pcie 1x and 16x cards, not just video cards. The only possible issue I could see would be room to the right of your picture. I would be more worried about the length.

-Erik

[pseudoheld]

yeah i was also concerned about the size. not just the lengths (i think that should be ok) but mostly the depths because (as you can see on the bottom of my pic) there is some cooling array, wich could interfere with the card if it has a big cooler...
i will see if i can get my hands on a x1 g210 somewhere. if not i'll just get the standard g210 and open up the slot. im not really into games (at least not on that special htpc) so the g210 should have enough power for vdpau.
thx again for your patience!

[AyGee]

Hi pseudoheld,

did you manage to integrate a NVIDIA card to the PCIe x1 Slot?
I have the same problem. I own a P2-M2A690G and want to plug in a NVIDIA card for Linux hardware-acceleration.

I am also from germany. So same problem with purchasing and finding GF210 or any other PCIe x1 cards here.

Andy