The MSI P67A-GD65 comes with two PCI Express x16 slots, which are controlled by the CPU, not the chipset. The first slot works at x16 when only one video card is installed, but both slots drop to x8 when two video cards are used. They support both SLI and CrossFireX modes.

If you install a dual-slot video card in the first PCI Express x16 slot you will “kill” one of the PCI Express x1 slots, while if you install a dual-slot video card in the second PCI Express x16 slot you will “kill” one of the standard PCI slots.

It is important to understand that the P67A-GD65 has two slots between the two PCI Express x16 slots, meaning that you can install a video card that occupies three slots and still install a second video card in the second PCI Express x16 slot. There are two slots between the second PCI Express x16 slot and the motherboard edge, meaning that you can also install a video card that uses three slots in the second PCI Express x16 slot while still using a standard seven-slot case.

The motherboard has two PCI Express x1 located between the two PCI Express x16 slots and two standard PCI slots.

It is important to understand that the P67 and H67 chipsets don’t support standard PCI slots anymore, and the PCI slot is provided by an ASMedia ASM1083 bridge chip.

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Figure 2: Slots