Bitcoin Forum

I just read somewhere that if you use a riser (like this one: http://dx.com/p/pci-e-1x-to-16x-riser-card-extension-cable-15-5cm-length-100061) you can actually use newer cards in older mobos without a loss in hash rate. Is this true? I've only read it once and it sounds kind of bullshit.

If it is true, I can save a lot of $$$ on my mobo :)

I dunno but i'm interrested by the answer too..

Saw some comments on the dx link  and ppl said it's great for bitcoin mining.
But i'm not sure because the 1x slot is way slower than 16x.. so i guess the card woudln't perform much

EDIT: I searched and it seems that some people are using those.. Or 4x-16x too. like this one: http://cablesaurus.com/PCIe-x4--%3E-x16-Adapter-Extender-Cable?filter_name=pcie%20x4

I'm still not sure about the performance.. and if all motherboads can support another video card plugged into this extender..

how old the mobos we are talking about?

if a 775 platform is old enough to you,then the answer is yes you can, and there is no impact on your hash rate for both btc or ltc mining.

Awesome! I wasn't looking at a specific mobo, but that's a guideline. What about for AMD mobos? AM3 the oldest?

Nice!

I got an ASUS M2N-E with only 1 PCI-E X16 running a 5830 and i'm thinking about using a riser (x4 to x16 i guess) and add a 6950

Just hooked up my friends bestBuy new ish HP w a 5770 in main 16x and a 1x16 riser connecting a 6850, after fiddling in cgMiner settings boosting fan, memory and intensity we got the 5770 to 196 and the 6850 to 140's for a combined 366 Mh/s gonna get another 1x16 riser for when the 5970 comes in and another cheap PSU.   I'm stuck w my MacPro 2,1 w x2 5770's  (280 in bitminter) and a 5970 I haven't hooked up yet bc I'm waiting on an OEM copy of Win7 or trying to bootCamp/reFIt Ubuntu w/o my 5770's flashed is not showing in boot screen? But apple logo appears.  So anyways 1x16 risers do work minus a few Mh/s as long as ur PSU is good.  We haven't unlocked or overclocked, just pushed about 75% of total power was all.  Staying on the safe side for now.  : )

How would this work if you use a split-riser and then place ribbon-risers at that one?

If that works, you might use 10 or more GPU's at a single MB.

I am talking about something like this:
http://www.opussolutions.net/catalog/images/PCA-22G-A.jpg

You mean add that riser, and then add two more 16x risers in each of those? O_O

Exactly :-)

Would have to be powered risers as I don't think the MB can supply enough power to the cards.
But since PCI rely on bandwith just like your network, and there is not much data going back and forth, I assume it might work.

pci isnt pci-e by any means. if you try to plug in a pci-e card to pci you will probably fry both motherboard and video card.

dont do it.

My bad, should have posted another picture.

Have done a little research, and it seems like the maximum pcie units a regular MB can handle is 8, and the splitters are quite costly.
IOW - Seems like flexible cable risers are the only real alternative to plugging it directly into the MB. But using a 1x -> 16x riser should be doable.

After I got my PSU yesterday, I put two 7970 on my pathetic gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H, so they work till now  :D

Received my risers.. and tried to add the 5850 card .. Windows don't like it.. it's listed as :"unknown device"  in devide manager..
and i tried to reinstall drivers, and even short the pci-e bus pins .. dunno what to do to make it work.. :(

I have found that some older boards just don't like to see newer video cards 58xx and higher.  They would work with a 54xx card and be fine but that would be near pointless for mining. 

That same board is able to see the 6950 that's already installed...
And it can see the 5850 too if installed in the x16 slot..