In the name of retrocompatibility, we have used all kinds of adapters and converters, but that also allows us to carry out experiments like the one Vince shared on his Circuit Rewind channel. With the help of a traditional PCI Express to PCI adapter, Vince decided to test a GeForce GT 1030 and a GeForce RTX 3080, in an attempt to discover the limits of such a configuration…
In the same way we try to run Doom on every conceivable device, we also need to play with hardware. Alternative thermal pastes, cooling mods for graphics cards, Raspberry Pi systems connected to old televisions, sound on the parallel port, ISA slots in modern computers… everything is possible with the right combination of components, time, and patience. What's next on the list? Another classic: using modern graphics cards in old computers. The difference is that Vince from the Circuit Rewind channel decided to take that adventure to the extreme, connecting his graphics cards to a traditional PCI Express to PCI adapter at 33 MHz.
A PCI Express Graphics Card in a Traditional PCI Slot
The first challenge for Vince was to power his video cards with sufficient energy and avoid system errors. The PCI Express to PCI adapter cannot get what it needs from the port, so the solution was to add another PCI Express x16 to x1 adapter, the same ones used in cryptocurrency mining. The reduction to x1 is irrelevant: A PCI Express x1 connection is still faster than a traditional PCI slot. We must add that the PCI bus is shared between devices, which further reduces the available bandwidth. The second adjustment was to change the computer's RAM from 8 to 4 gigabytes, to eliminate mapping and corruption issues.
The tests began with two basic games, INK and Horizon Chase Turbo, both working perfectly on a GT 1030. Ultra Street Fighter IV had synchronization issues and general framerate drops, but it never failed, and reducing graphics helped a lot. Unreal Tournament III ran below 30 FPS, and to everyone's surprise, Doom 2016 didn't explode, with a sub-30 FPS experience. All subsequent benchmarks confirm that the PCI Express to PCI adapter greatly affects the card's performance, even if it's a GT 1030.
In short, yes: The whole setup is ridiculous and no one in their right mind should do something like that for performance... but it works. And the drivers didn't even complain, detecting both cards through two adapters without any issues.
