StarTech.com PCI Express X1 to X16 Low Profile Slot Extension Adapter - PCIe x1 to x16 Adapter, TAA (PEX1TO162)

I needed a way to add a graphics output to an already full server. This allowed me to attach a low profile cheap graphics card to the only 1x slot I had left. Now i have video output when needed on the cheap.

I used this to put a PCIe 2x half height 10G NIC into a PCIe 1x slot on a motherboard with full height case slots. Worked perfectly fine and got full speed. Functionally, it should work great for any half height card even if they have the full 16 lanes on the connector. But since the wiring is only there for the 1 lane, that's all the speed you'll get. But that also leads to one of my criticisms. Since this is really just a PCB and traces, no conversion chips or anything expensive, the price was a bit high. Similar M2 and SATA adapters are usually under $10. The other criticism is that due to the different bracket screw hole locations between full height and half height cards, there's no way to use the half height bracket to stabilize the card. Both the adapter and the half height card just rely on friction to stay in place. The higher price on this adapter would have been fully justified if some sort of adapter had been included to anchor the adapter card in a full height slot that also let the half height card bracket screw on to. For my use, I just used a sheet of kydex and screwed both the adapter and the NIC card to it. Then I cut the end off a full slot blank to attach as a screw anchor point. Looks janky, but anchors it in place well. If you have the need, it functions well as long as you can live with the anchoring / attachment shortcomings.

I'm using this card in my Dell XPS 9100 to add a 2nd PCI x16 graphics card (an HIS Radeon HD 5450) to power a third monitor. I had no problems whatsoever with this adapter.Windows 7 x64 Professional detected the new graphics card immediately and the existing ATI driver for my Radeon HD 5600 card worked just fine. Would definitely buy again as needed (although I'd certainly try and get a PC with more x16 slots next time first!)

Expensive, but it works! Used it with a Gigabye 965P-DS3 motherboard and MSI ATI Radeon HD5450/512MB/DDR3. I had to use a low profile bracket in order to screw the card to the case. Doing this will drop the performance of the card considerably. Don't expect to play 3D games or play HD videos. No problems with Windows 7 Aero and dual monitors.

I tried to use this to replace a video chip that did not have a driver for Win 7 64. It plugged in and the PC found the nvidia 610 video card on boot. Unfortunately I kept receiving "the video driver recovered from an error" whenever the video became saturated. I had to purchase the more expensive adapter card with the outboard power connector to make the issue go away. This does work as advertised but may not be for video applications.

It did not meet my needs so I sent it back & got a ASUS STRIX SOAR Sound Card, in stead of trying to get my legacy sound cardto fit in a PCI.E slot,

I already had a graphics card, but only had PCIe 1x slot available. This adapter is exactly what I needed to use the graphics card that I had in the slot that was available.Graphics Card:AMD Radeon HD 6450Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3I actually have it plugged into the x16 slot, but I need the other x1 slots active and to do that on this board the x16 slot can't be in use. So this did the trick without having to upgrade the motherboard yet. Running 4 monitors total now. 1 monitor attached to this card. Using it for productivity / web browsing. I had a 720p video running on it to test and it looked fine.

I used this to install a mellanox connectx-3 into a x1 slot. I am getting about 5 gbps which is fast enough. The only other option was a USB NIC which I don't think would be as fast or a 2.5G x1 card (definitely slower) then I would have to run cat5e and I prefer fiber. My only gripe is the price. Almost $25 is a lot for something which is basically a x1 riser which you see below $10 all over the place. Minus one star for milking us on the price. So if you want to convert a 10G card to x1 and don't mind being ripped off on price this adapter will work.