PCIe downplugging / Displayport to VGA adapter

[EmilioEstevez]

I'm considering a move to 3 monitors, however i have only 1 PCIe x16 slot on my motherboard and its got an 8800GTS stuck in it atm. This only leaves me with a spare PCIe x1 slot.
Is it possible for me to remove the divider at the end of the slot and stick a larger card (such as an 8400GS) into the slot and have it work (albeit at a lower bandwidth, it only has to run a single monitor that wont be used for gaming)? I know there are several resources on the internet (easily found through google) saying that PCIe downplugging is not possible, however there are plenty of people on forums ive been able to find whilst looking into it claiming it is possible, and pointing to the fact that several motherboard manufacturers leave their PCIe slots open ended for this exact reason, or pointing to the existance of PCIe x1 to x16 extenders.
So does anybody actually know if this is possible or not (and if it will be suitable for my purpose)?

Otherwise I'll probably just buy a 5850, but I'm wondering if when I have 3 monitors hooked up will I need an active adapter for the displayport. Again resources on the internet claim I will need one, however there are plenty of people saying you dont need an expensive active adapter if you are running a monitor with a VGA connection below 1920*1080 (I have a 1680*1050 monitor I could hook up to that slot) and that any cheap displayport to VGA adapter will work.

Thanks.

 

[coupe69]

There's no such thing as far as I'm aware as a PCI-E x1 to PCI-E 16x expansion slot??

Your second card would would still work fine if you placed it in a PCI-E x1 slot but you'd obviously be massively restricted in terms of bandwidth.

Why do you need three monitors just out of interest? What exactly are you trying to achieve?

 

[TAC4U]

Just get yourself the 5850 and save yourself a lot of hassle.

 

[EmilioEstevez]

Im moving house and the new place for all my stuff will have my PC close enough to my TV to be hooked up, so I'd like to do it. Might save me some hassle when watching movies etc on my big tele.
So mainly because its there I don't really NEED to do it but it'll be nice.

So it'll def work then, will I have any issues running a 1680*1050 screen off of it. It'd only ever be used for maybe video and desktop stuff. Any idea about the adapter for the 5850 when using three screens? I'm still considering just doing that anyway but having to buy an active adapter would add £60+ to the price and I'd rather not have to spend it.

The x1 to x16 thing I was referring to
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200157

 

[MissChief]

Just get yourself the 5850 and save yourself a lot of hassle.

THIS.

Far FAR easier and much less hassle. Do you really think it's possible to push something that is designed to use 16 times than bandwidth into something 1/16's of the size?