cutting up a GPU to fit in the shorter PCIx slots

Vaulter98c

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - October 2009
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OK, I swear Ive seen this done somewhere (not sure if Id hace the balls to do it myself) but Im about to close the deal on a 680 LT DFI LanParty board and it has 3 full length and one half length slot. Now, Can I cut a card to fit there and run 4 cards on this board? System will not be used for gaming, solely folding.

If so, can anyone post some info about where to cut and what not? Im not sure if you can but I swear Ive seen it before... maybe Im just crazy

also, on a side note, is the 8800 GT still the best single slot unit we can get? I'm thinking 4 more in this rig whenever I get around to that, but just wondering if anything else is single slot that will work
 
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I've been Thinking about this also. I saw it done on another site but can't recall where or why.

I think you could just trim the card to match a x1 card like a NIC or soundcard.
Depending on the layout of the board you could put a notch in the socket and let the card hang out.

I'm not sure what impact this would have performance wise being a x1 slot though, I've seen it said that x4 is fine for the bigger cards though.

there are some 9800gt cards that are 1 slot, some of them are underclocked low power models though.
 
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I would recommend just cutting out the end of the slot to allow a card with a longer connector to fit in. That way, you'll just be cutting out some inert plastic rather than doing anything to the contacts of the card (which could end up killing it for good if you screw up).
also, on a side note, is the 8800 GT still the best single slot unit we can get? I'm thinking 4 more in this rig whenever I get around to that, but just wondering if anything else is single slot that will work
The 8800GT/9800GT is still the best single-slot card, yes.
 
I would recommend just cutting out the end of the slot to allow a card with a longer connector to fit in. That way, you'll just be cutting out some inert plastic rather than doing anything to the contacts of the card (which could end up killing it for good if you screw up).

This.

Just make sure your dremel-foo is strong.
 
O my dremel foo is very strong grass hopper
That's good news then, I can build a 4 way box when I get back then. That will help make up for the month or 2 I can't fold

I'm gonna need it too just to hang with D , he's getting more stuff everyday
 
What about 1x slots? What's the story again
 
This.

Just make sure your dremel-foo is strong.

I second this, just make sure your dremel-fu is strong, you have plenty of chickens to sacrifice and you're up on your prayers to the computer Gods :rolleyes: Probably the last, but not least suggestion, in the suggestion department, just get the right card to fit in the right slot, d'oh :p

As far as 8800GT is concerned from what I understand nVIDIA just rebranded it the 9800GT :confused: IMO it's still a viable card, but not near a performer as the GTX275 (AFAIK the 9800GT is about 1/2 the price of a GTX275) I've been doing a little research and I think the GTX275 is gonna' be the next best folding GPU because of it's high SP's. (and they drop the price a little, NewEgg has one for USD $199.99)

Somebody please point out the site that explains how to re engineer your PCIe slot GPU card to a non PCIe slot card. Inquiring minds gots to know :D
 
I was refering to single slot cards. I'd love to grab a bunch of 275's, but the money isnt there right now, and by buying 3way boards with a 4th x4 slot, Ive saved a lot of money over buying a 4way x16 board (and 2 slots are side by side, so dualies are out of the option).

This is just for a set up so I can buy 4 8800 GT's and a PSU over the next 2 months so whenever I can get back into folding big time, I'll be able to do so with a ramp to 50k (I hope...)

Once I get that up and running, I think I will actually be able to call it a farm. 9 GPU's , 3 CPU's (4 SMP's) , and a PS3
 
dude (ya, I said dude) could you use that 1x > 16x thing to just pack a system with cards? That would almost offset the price of expensive mobos
 
dude (ya, I said dude) could you use that 1x > 16x thing to just pack a system with cards? That would almost offset the price of expensive mobos
You could, but 1x slots may bottleneck the cards' performance. IIRC, you need at least a 4x slot for a moderately fast GPU.
 
The adapter would do the same as cutting the card itself or notching the socket, one downside is it puts the card up higher in the case (if you have one).

I'm curious how much of a performance hit you would take on a 8800/9800/250 type card.
 
I'm curious too, since the card does t need bandwidth right? All the math is done on board by the sharers. I'm just assuming here. Man if I could find one of those things for cheaper, I'd try it out myself. Wouldn't it not make a difference what slot you use this in? I could test this in a 16x slot and a 4x and compare notes
Hmmm got me thinking now...
 
One of those posts I linked said that 1x slots are only the 1.0/1.1 version. Most of the newer boards are 2.0 version, but only on the 16x/8x slots. That would make some bandwidth difference also.
If I had a bard with the right layout or a single slot gpu I would try it.
 
only board I've got that has the slot already has 2 260's in it, Id get lower numbers anyways just from mixing vards so that would be a bad case study.

board I just bought only has 3 16x slots and 1 4x slot, no ones there either

my current 3 way is just 3 16x slots

I could try this on a 16 slot and compare to a normal card in a normal 16 slot, but I wouldnt have time until end of jusy to play with that

Just for example, there is a foxconn board on newegg, 3 x16 slots and 2 x4 slots, thats 5 cards for 69 $ new!!
to compare, the only 4 slot (775 that is) there costs over 200$ and has potential for 5 cards aswell
There is even a nice i7 5 card board for 175 on there.....
 
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I'd cut a hole/channel in the back of a short slot so that the GPU can fit...

I don't know how much of a problem power supply would be.
 
I think 2x is what ya need for folding. Now I forget if that was v1 or v2.

I would not damage the card. If you mod the mobo everything still works. If you cut the card it is forever nuterd
 
When I first got my 8800GTs last year I had them in a board where I could adjust the PCIe slots bandwidth. For S/Gs I tried out all of them... now this was at PCIe 1.0 specs and using the old 480 point WUs.. they lost maybe 3-5% at x2 and around 10-15% at x1.. didn't affect it at all running at x4. At PCIe 2.0 specs running them at x1, my guess would be it'll be enough of a difference to notice, but it'll be maybe one or two less WUs a day. Nothing big and it'll still probably fold better then a 9600GSO/GT.


 
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