K9N2 SLI PLAT 1 vid card for PhysX only make both cards run at 8x?

Question

Hi all. I'm on the fence here as to what to buy. My current setup is (hopefully) displayed
in my signature.
Here is my concern as copied from the K9N2 Sli Platinum Manual:
"• 1 mazarine PCI Express x16 slot with x16 operation (PCI Express Bus SPEC V2.0 compliant)
• 1 light-blue PCI Express x16 slot with x8 operation (PCI Express Bus SPEC V2.0 compliant)
• When 2 PCI Express x16 slots are all installed, the PCIE x 16 lanes will auto arrange form x16/ x0 to x8/ x8. Do not use the light-blue slot when only one PCI Express x16 card is installed."
Is this normal for most SLI mainboards? I was thinking of upgrading in one of two ways:
1) Just purchase a 9600GT for PhysX only and pop it in the other PCIE 16x slot
                          OR
2) Go all out and buy another GTX 260 Core216 SC card, new Power Supply, and new PCIE Sound Card
   and SLI the 2 cards together.
With option 1, will my GTX 260 get slowed to 8x ?? That may defeat my whole purpose for getting
another vid card and dedicate it for PhysX; would it slow the main card down enough to impact it greatly?
With Option 2, the reason for a new sound card is a second "2 slot" vid card means I'll only be able to use
one of the 2 PCI slots. Currently, I have a Fax Modem and a SB Audigy SE in them.
I use the modem on a regular basis to send/receive faxes, so I will have to replace the sound card.
Anybody know if a Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium PCIe can fit in the 1x slot between 2 SLI'd Vid cards?
The 1x PCIE slot on this board is between the 2 16x slots, not the ideal spot I fear.
If it won't fit between, my ONLY other choice would be to use the on board sound, which I am
not fond of doing.
My whole intention here is to play Cryostasis better than it does now, AND hopefully be ready
for any newer games that incorporate PhysX. As it is now, I got Cryostasis free when I bought
my new vid card, nice of eVGA to do that
If I do this, I want it to be pretty future proof:
I don't want to make EITHER investment solely for one game only. I'd prefer to
go with option 2, but I REALLY don't want to find out AFTER I buy everything that
I can't fit the new sound card between the 2 SLI'd cards :(
Any help on this will be GREATLY appreciated,
thank you.

Answer 1

Quote
Is this normal for most SLI mainboards?
Yes it is
Quote
With option 1, will my GTX 260 get slowed to 8x ?? That may defeat my whole purpose for getting
another vid card and dedicate it for PhysX; would it slow the main card down enough to impact it greatly?
Yes, but that's not really slowdown read here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=115732.0