Solved! PCI Express port help

betacase

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Hi everyone!

I have a lenovo u330 laptop (P8600 4gb DDR3) which has the Mobil Intel GM45 Express chipset. The laptop comes with a built-in graphics chip (256 mb ati) and a PCI Express port for future upgrades.

My question is, how fast is this PCI Express port (1x, 16x, 16x 2.0?). I can't seem to find out how fast it is from searching the web or reading the documents.

Any help would be most appreciated.
 
Solution
We know from the Ideapad U330 spec sheet
That the U330 has one available Mini PCI Express Slot. (also note the Express Card Slot also handles a PCI-e x1 device)

ss004.jpg


I know that Mini PCI Express Slot is also known as PCI Express Mini card or mPCI-e. And a quick google on those terms gives us the specs of the Mini PCI Express Slot.

ss005.jpg

betacase

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Sep 28, 2009
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18,510
Thanks for the response! Don't think of this as questioning your answer, but do you mind providing the source of your information? Its not that I don't believe you, just I want to see what else I can learn.


Thanks again,

Beta
 
We know from the Ideapad U330 spec sheet
That the U330 has one available Mini PCI Express Slot. (also note the Express Card Slot also handles a PCI-e x1 device)

ss004.jpg


I know that Mini PCI Express Slot is also known as PCI Express Mini card or mPCI-e. And a quick google on those terms gives us the specs of the Mini PCI Express Slot.

ss005.jpg

 
Solution

betacase

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Sep 28, 2009
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Thanks WR2 for the information! If I understand correctly a 1x PCI express lane gives me about 250 mb/s of bandwidth.

The reason this is important is because I want to add either a eSATA card or USB 3.0 card for a external hard drive.

Does anyone have any recommendation which way i should go? From what I've heard is that real world results show esata as faster but usb 3.0 having more potential. Is 250 mb/s below the maximum for both?

Thanks all!
 
Since the PCI Express port is wholly internal (no way to run a jack to the exterior) it's not suitable for the purposes you mention.
You'll need to find a USB3 or eSata Express Card to meet that requirement. Or just stick with your current USB2 ports for your external storage.