3x SLI motherboard for evga GTX 680 classified 's

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lundrog

[H]ard|Gawd
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Looking to add another EVGA GTX 680 Classified to my build, if I do, I will need to find a different motherboard.

What are some good motherboards that do at least 8x 8x 8x with three slots?

My current Specs:

Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor @ 4.8 GHZ
Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard
2X Vengeance Series 8GB DDR3-1600 Kits


Thanks
 
If I'm not mistaken, your CPU doesn't have enough PCI-e lanes to give you 8-8-8.:eek:

The Maximus V board is the latest from ASUS for the Z77 chipset and does dual 8 or 8-4-4.

You may have to go with a board that has the add on pci-e chip like a workstation board. (ie NF200, if I recall)
 
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asus gets my vote, had an asrock way back. was horrid bios, asus has stability, even in there non high end models... asus+
 
NF200 is no longer used due to being PCI-E 2.0 only. The new PCI-E 3.0 chip is some PLX chip.

The Maximus IV Extreme has the PLX chip. So does the Gigabyte G1. Sniper3.

It may actually be better to get a 3820 with an entry level X79 motherboard than it is to get a high-end Z77 board for the 3570k.
 
Thing is my 3570k boots at 5.0, just hot!!!

Give me options for 2011 or X79 motherboards then...
 
Yeah, an i5 3570k at 5 ghz is hard to beat for gaming.

The cheapest X79 board that would work is the ASRock Xtreme4 X79, around $210. The Sniper3 is decently inexpensive though, so I would go with that.
 
I use a Rampage IV Formula and a 3930K.
The board was around 250 I think, at the time.
It has been a great board and would be pretty good for triple GPUs.

I didn't mention one earlier because I figured you wanted to keep your CPU.
4.6 GHz is about as high as my board will go and be stable.
I run it all day long at 4.5.:D
 
Ok guy's, I went a little overboard.... I purchased 2X 680 Classified's.... So i will need to run 4X EVGA GTX 680 Classified cards.

I need a 1155 board that supports four of these and my Xonar STX...


I am thinking of this, as it might have room.....


ASRock Z77 Extreme9


Thoughts?


Thanks!
 
The G1.Sniper3 should be able to handle quad-SLI, as well as the Maximus V Extreme. In fact, those two and the Extreme9 all have the exact same PCI-E layout.

Otherwise, the only board that will give you extra room is the MSI Big Bang Xpower II. You will also need a new case.
 
The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H has a 8x-4x-4x PCI-E 3.0 lane configuration. A 3.0 x4 slot is equivalent to a 2.0 x8 slot which is enough bandwith for any single GPU.

Plenty of people are running 670/680 SLI and 7970/7950 X-Fire on Sandy Bridge CPUs that only provide two 2.0 x8 lanes (16 total lanes if you're running one GPU) for bandwidth regardless of the chipset. Ivy Bridge lets you have two 3.0 x8 lanes (once again, 16 total). These lanes provide the same bandwidth as two 2.0 x16 slots. So what Gigabyte cleverly did with the UD5H was that they left one 3.0 x8 slot unmolested and split the other 3.0 x8 lane into two 3.0 x4 lanes as to provide sufficient bandwidth for Tri-SLI/XFire.

If they didn't engineer the board this way even though there are plenty of 3 slot z77 motherboards, all of them run the PCI-E lane configuration in 3.0 x8-x8 lanes from the CPU and one 2.0 x4 slot (from the PCH) even if you are using a Ivy cpu that 2.0 x4 slot is from the PCH/chipset which I wouldn't trust to run a high end GPU. Running an Ivy Bridge CPU on the UD5H makes a world of difference when utilizing the UD5H with three cards because you'll be able to run them in the PCI-E 3.0 8x-4x-4x configuration which provides enough bandwidth that you won't see a perfomance loss with your 680's even compared to a X79 board.
 
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GigabyteZ said:
The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H has a 8x-4x-4x PCI-E 3.0 lane configuration. A 3.0 x4 slot is equivalent to a 2.0 x8 slot which is enough bandwith for any single GPU.

Plenty of people are running 670/680 SLI and 7970/7950 X-Fire on Sandy Bridge CPUs that only provide two 2.0 x8 lanes (16 total lanes if you're running one GPU) for bandwidth regardless of the chipset. Ivy Bridge lets you have two 3.0 x8 lanes (once again, 16 total). These lanes provide the same bandwidth as two 2.0 x16 slots. So what Gigabyte cleverly did with the UD5H was that they left one 3.0 x8 slot unmolested and split the other 3.0 x8 lane into two 3.0 x4 lanes as to provide sufficient bandwidth for Tri-SLI/XFire.

If they didn't engineer the board this way even though there are plenty of 3 slot z77 motherboards, all of them run the PCI-E lane configuration in 3.0 x8-x8 lanes from the CPU and one 2.0 x4 slot (from the PCH) even if you are using a Ivy cpu that 2.0 x4 slot is from the PCH/chipset which I wouldn't trust to run a high end GPU. Running an Ivy Bridge CPU on the UD5H makes a world of difference when utilizing the UD5H with three cards because you'll be able to run them in the PCI-E 3.0 8x-4x-4x configuration which provides enough bandwidth that you won't see a perfomance loss with your 680's even compared to a X79 board.
Click to expand...

OP is going with quad-SLI.

nVidia does not allow x8/x4/x4 tri-SLI configurations regardless of PCI-E revision. Only AMD will allow that.
 
What about a pcie 1x extender ? What board would work with one? If I switch sockets ? Options?
 
Ok,

What board that does 4 way sli has the best sound ?

Looking to run some nice headphones off of it.

At this point I need to consider ditching the sound card.
 
I think I am going with a asus p8 z77 ws. I'm at micro center and they have it in stock.
 
Tsumi said:
OP is going with quad-SLI.

nVidia does not allow x8/x4/x4 tri-SLI configurations regardless of PCI-E revision. Only AMD will allow that.
Click to expand...

He's going triple SLI, not quad. He has 2 and is adding one....per his sig and post.

Also, the p8z77-ws allows x16/x16, x16/x8/x8, x8/x8/x8/x8.

You only have 40 pcie lanes available in ivy bridge, and as far as I know that is the only limit.

I'd love to see a link to this amd vs nvidia tri SLI limitation...because I googled the crap out of it and can't confirm what you're trying to say.

OP - good call on the WS. I love mine, rock solid stable with a BLCK and Mult OC, air cooling, and 4x8GB 2000MHz OC'd RAM.
 
Good choice on the MB. The WS series is solid as a rock and support quad-SLI well.
 
Goros said:
He's going triple SLI, not quad. He has 2 and is adding one....per his sig and post.

Also, the p8z77-ws allows x16/x16, x16/x8/x8, x8/x8/x8/x8.

You only have 40 pcie lanes available in ivy bridge, and as far as I know that is the only limit.

I'd love to see a link to this amd vs nvidia tri SLI limitation...because I googled the crap out of it and can't confirm what you're trying to say.

OP - good call on the WS. I love mine, rock solid stable with a BLCK and Mult OC, air cooling, and 4x8GB 2000MHz OC'd RAM.
Click to expand...

Try reading.

lundrog said:
Ok guy's, I went a little overboard.... I purchased 2X 680 Classified's.... So i will need to run 4X EVGA GTX 680 Classified cards.

I need a 1155 board that supports four of these and my Xonar STX...


I am thinking of this, as it might have room.....


ASRock Z77 Extreme9


Thoughts?


Thanks!
Click to expand...

In any case, you are wrong, IB only has 16 PCI-E lanes. Extra lanes on high end motherboards require the use of PLX chips.

There is no Z77 board that can support quad-SLI 680s with a sound card. There simply isn't enough room on the board, you need XL-ATX, and there are no XL-ATX Z77 boards.

However, the Gigabyte G1.Sniper3 does have the Creative chipset with headphone amps built into the board, so while it might not be as good as the Xonar, it will be better than the regular Realtek stuff.
 
Tsumi said:
Try reading.
Click to expand...
whoops, missed his second post.


In any case, you are wrong, IB only has 16 PCI-E lanes. Extra lanes on high end motherboards require the use of PLX chips.

There is no Z77 board that can support quad-SLI 680s with a sound card. There simply isn't enough room on the board, you need XL-ATX, and there are no XL-ATX Z77 boards.

However, the Gigabyte G1.Sniper3 does have the Creative chipset with headphone amps built into the board, so while it might not be as good as the Xonar, it will be better than the regular Realtek stuff.
Click to expand...

You are correct, I was thinking of the x79-ws. I have both WS boards, got my lanes confused.

I thought the sniper and the ftw were both eatx boards? And I thought there was a ceb in the form of the asrock OC? All z77? Doesn't matter, not enough lanes.

Have to go to SB-E 2011 to get enough pcie lanes and space to do what he wants.
 
Ok , I picked up the asus p8 z77 ws motherboard. Going to either return the xonar or use it elsewhere,
 
E-ATX extends the board deeper into the case. It doesn't increase the number of expansion slots, which is the same 7 as ATX.

XL-ATX increases the number of expansion slots to 9.
 
Alright guy's,

I bought the Asus P8Z77 WS

I installed this last night.

End result. ( From Cell )

Photo%20Mar%2003%2C%202%2011%2028%20AM%20%281%29-X2.jpg


You see I have cables ready for the next two cards. I had to buy one standard power cable that splits into a 2x PCIe 8 plug.

Things to do.

1. Install 2x EVGA GTX 680 Classified's when the arrive.
2. return the sound card , as I am within my return date.
3. buy a power supply that supports 8, PCIe 8 connectors, and that supports the power needs.
 
My result.

Ok all. Here it is! My Fingers still hurt from installing it all. :D

Spec's are in my SIG.

Caseedited-XL.jpg
 
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