Using a riser card

[andicole0]

I have one spare 16X PCIe slot that I'd like to try an old video card in to see if PhysX will run better with it. The problem is the spare slot is next to the second 980 TI and I have nowhere else to move things to. If I use a riser cable the 3rd GPU will be hanging in the case but not blocking the 2nd 980TI air flow.

Are 16X riser cables OK and if so what's the difference between the £5 ones and the £20 ones.
Andi.

 

[Baboonanza]

I am running a 290X on a cheap 23cm riser right now. But I won't say they are problem free. I have bought ones before that didn't work and this one had to be wrapped in copper tape to give it some shielding, but then it runs directly under the motherboard so you might be ok without.

If you are buying an unshielded ribbon cable (the grey ones) then there really isn't any difference as far as I know, the more expensive ones are identical to the cheaper ones.

Higher quality shielded cables are difficult to get in this country, the 3M one is basically unavailable and the Lian Li one here: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian-li-pw-pci-e38-high-speed-riser-card-cable-black-ca-720-ll.html is out of stock and expensive.

 

[andicole0]

Thanks for that at least I'd be confident of it working for my test purposes, cheaper than a new motherboard!
Andi.