To prepare infected cells, the human immortalized cell line C8166 (A*01:01/01:01, B*08:01/44:02; C*05:01/07:01) or primary CD8+ cell‐depleted PBMC from three HIV‐1‐uninfected individuals (C6 of A*24:02/29:02, B*35:03/45:01, C*04:01/06:02; C7 of A*11:01/68:01, B*07:02/27:05, C*01:02/07:02; and C8 of A*29:02/30:04, B*41:01/44:03, C*16:01/17:01 genotypes) was optimally infected with HIV‐1 IIIB at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) that yielded maximal infection rates of 68.2% for the cell line and 19.8, 21.3, and 22.3% for the primary cell samples C6, C7, and C8, respectively. Here, CD8A is linked to infection.