Now that motherboards have just about every device one could want built in (surround sound audio, networking, etc), most of us have a few extra PCI slots laying around in our PC’s that aren’t getting used. Don’t lose out – they can be put to good use as:

• Extra USB 3.1/3.0 ports
• PCIe storage cards – some that can accept up to 8 NVMe drives
• Video capture cards
• Audio cards

I went out and got a Fanblack USB 3.2 Gen 2 pci card that gave me 7 more super fast USB 3.2 and USB-C ports. I tested the ports with some of my devices, and the speeds were dramatically improved from one set of front panel ports that likely used a cheaper and slower USB chipset.

Even better, I moved a bunch of cords to the back of my PC and out of the way. Now the front of my PC is clear of cables and devices and it just gets the odd USB stick.

Don’t let those empty PCI slots go to waste. Just make sure you check your motherboard book and put cards in the right slots so each gets the correct number of internal PCI lanes and doesn’t share with other devices.

Links:

• https://www.howtogeek.com/useful-pcie-cards-to-put-in-your-secondary-pcie-slot/
• https://www.pcworld.com/article/2533393/5-useful-upgrades-for-your-pcs-unused-pcie-slots.html#