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Title: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on August 18, 2011, 12:23:08 PM OK, catfish and I have had some bad experiences (read expensive) with motherboards that fail to support four or more GPUs even though they have five or even six PCIe slots. We want this to be a single thread info source on motherboards that have been proven to fully function with four or more cards (and those that don't).
PLEASE, use the following format: WHAT WORKS Motherboard Brand: Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: Power Supply Brand & Model: Number & Model GPUs: Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: WHAT DOESN'T WORK Motherboard Brand: Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: Power Supply Brand & Model: Number & Model GPUs: Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kripz on August 18, 2011, 12:29:13 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-H61M-D2H-B3 1x PCIE16x, 3x PCIE1x. Power Supply Brand & Model: Thermaltake 775W Tough Power Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5850 Extreme Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: Using Risers WITHOUT molex power WHAT DOESNT WORK Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-H61M-D2H-B3 1x PCIE16x, 3x PCIE1x. Power Supply Brand & Model: Thermaltake 700w Lite Power Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5850 Extreme Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: Using Risers WITHOUT molex power 700w Lite Power cannot output more than 550w, computer will hard reset. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on August 18, 2011, 12:32:23 PM WHAT DOESN'T WORK
Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe slots: 890FXA-GD65, 2 x16, 4 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Antec HCP 1200 Gold Number & Model GPUs: 3 5850, 2 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 2 extenders w/molex, 3 extenders without RMA'd this board as defective even though it WOULD support 3 GPUs with stable hashrate. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Jazkal on August 18, 2011, 01:36:32 PM WHAT DOESN'T WORK Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe slots: 890FXA-GD65, 2 x16, 4 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Antec HCP 1200 Gold Number & Model GPUs: 3 5850, 2 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 2 extenders w/molex, 3 extenders without RMA'd this board as defective even though it WOULD support 3 GPUs with stable hashrate. I was thinking of getting this board to run a 4xGPU system, but it does seem to be tricky. Found this post on this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=16474.msg264666;topicseen#msg264666 I'm using a GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 with 4x5830 and I had a fairly fun time getting it to work. I finally managed, though, and it's running correctly with two cards plugged directly into the mobo and two on x1-to-x16 adapter riser cables (one plugged into an x1 slot on the mobo, another into an x16 slot). The key break-through I finally had was swapping around the card configurations until all four could be seen in lspci, then running aticonig --initial --adapter=all -f one or two times with intervening reboots. Eventually all four cards could be seen. Of course this is in Linux (Linuxcoin booting off a USB drive with persistence, specifically), so I don't know how relevant it is to you in Windows. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mike678 on August 18, 2011, 02:03:51 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe slots: 890FXA-GD70, 5 x16(2 x16, 2 x8, 1 x4), 1 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 Number & Model GPUs: 5x5850 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 5 extenders (x16 to x16) not powered. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on August 18, 2011, 02:13:27 PM WHAT WORKS @mike678,Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe slots: 890FXA-GD70, 5 x16(2 x16, 2 x8, 1 x4), 1 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 Number & Model GPUs: 5x5850 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 5 extenders (x16 to x16) Are those PCIe extenders molex powered or not? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mike678 on August 18, 2011, 02:25:44 PM @mike678, not powered I edited my original post as well.Are those PCIe extenders molex powered or not? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: pixilated8 on August 18, 2011, 06:11:10 PM WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3 (2x16, 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850 (Pulling ~615W at the wall) Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5830 Xtreme (Overclocked & undervolted) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Motherboard automatically unlocks 2nd core of Sempron 140. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: haploid23 on August 18, 2011, 10:48:58 PM i'm just going to be lazy with my post and list which motherboards works with 4+ cards that i've personally tested. if you don't already know the motherboard, you can look up the specs
- MSI Big Bang x58 - MSI 890FXA-GD70 - Asus P7P55 WS SuperComputer - Asus Rampage Extreme x48 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: SuperTramp on August 19, 2011, 07:08:04 AM WORKS
Motherboard Brand: GIGABYTE Model: GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128509 PCI Express 2.0 x16: 5 (x16, x16, x8, x4, x4) PCI Express x1: 1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182188 Number & Model GPUs: 4 x Radeon 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 4 Extender Cables (x16,x16,x4,x4) w/o molex. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kripz on August 19, 2011, 09:23:50 AM Quote kripz - have you had any power issues with all four 5850s using only a 775W PSU? Is the PSU running hot / fan racing? Do you have a wall power measurement? (sorry for any thread derailment)... No. Cards are at default voltage and 800/300mhz. It pulls 600w at the wall. PSU is fine and all of it is stuffed into a tub with lid with only a 14cm exhaust and intake fan. I'm using 11.6 with linux so i dont have the one core 100% cpu bug, power usage will probably be 50w or so higher with my $70 Intel G620 CPU if i did, though. WHAT DOESNT WORK Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-H61M-D2H-B3 1x PCIE16x, 3x PCIE1x. Power Supply Brand & Model: Thermaltake 700w Lite Power Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5850 Extreme Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: Using Risers WITHOUT molex power 700w Lite Power cannot output more than 550w, computer will hard reset. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Elder III on August 19, 2011, 02:10:30 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: ASROCK Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 970 Extreme (3x16 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Antec HighPower 750 watt Number & Model GPUs:4 x HD 6770s (various brands) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 1x to 16x Extender, no Molex Also: MSI 890FXA-GD70 - already listed above by someone else so I won't go into details. *Side note - Has anyone been able to get more than 4 GPUs to work with Windows XP Home 32bit? I can get them all installed, all recognized by CCC, HWMonitor, and Trixx, even GUIMiner recognizes them, but anytime I click on "Start" for anything over 2 GPUS they never connect.... any combination of the 5 GPUs will work with just 2, but the third fourth and fifth won't show any signs of life. If I remove any one of the 5 GPUs it will work like a charm and run without problems for weeks. I've tried both 11.6b, 11.7, and 11.8 and nothing works with more than 4. :/ Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on August 20, 2011, 06:50:21 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: ASROCK Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 890FX Deluxe4, 3 x16, 2 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Antec HCP 1200 Gold Number & Model GPUs: Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 1 x16 extender w/o power, EDIT 8/23/11: Switched to BAMT software and tried the 5th 5850 GPU -- been working fine with 5 GPUs for 12 hours, pulling 830W and making 1850MH/s. VERY happy with BAMT! Seems one of the GPUs (not the 5th) could not sustain the 900,300 OC the other cards were comfortable with. Set that card at 875,300 and now seems stable. Easy to do with BAMT. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: jamesg on August 22, 2011, 12:16:34 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: ASROCK Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 970 Extreme (3x16 2x1) -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262 Power Supply Brand & Model: 2 x Sunbeam PSU-ECO750-US-BL 750W -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709021 Number & Model GPUs: 5 x SAPPHIRE 100297-2L Radeon HD 5830 Xtreme 1GB) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 3 x 16x Extenders and 2 x 1x to 16x Extenders Running BAMT and everything is working better than expected. getting 315Mh/s per GPU at 965/300 with the phatk2 kernel. This motherboard is a champ, just bought 10 more. :o Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: amazingrando on August 22, 2011, 11:27:39 PM WORKS Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3 (2x16, 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850 (Pulling ~615W at the wall) Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5830 Xtreme (Overclocked & undervolted) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Motherboard automatically unlocks 2nd core of Sempron 140. I'm trying almost exactly the same configuration, except with 5850's and it's not stable. Are you using 16x->16x extenders for the two 16x slots? Have you noticed any stability issues? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Transisto on August 23, 2011, 01:14:01 AM There no reason why any 1x PCI-e slot wouldn't work.
You may need to do the pin mod, but other than that. Anything work. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: pixilated8 on August 23, 2011, 03:10:15 AM WORKS Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3 (2x16, 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850 (Pulling ~615W at the wall) Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5830 Xtreme (Overclocked & undervolted) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Motherboard automatically unlocks 2nd core of Sempron 140. I'm trying almost exactly the same configuration, except with 5850's and it's not stable. Are you using 16x->16x extenders for the two 16x slots? Have you noticed any stability issues? I have two 16x->16x and two 1x->16x extenders. No pin-mod for the 1x PCI-e slots. Rock solid stability. Using LinuxCoin booted from 4GB USB, running headless. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Big Time Coin on August 23, 2011, 10:50:27 PM Thank you for this thread.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: amazingrando on August 23, 2011, 10:58:23 PM WORKS Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3 (2x16, 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850 (Pulling ~615W at the wall) Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5830 Xtreme (Overclocked & undervolted) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Motherboard automatically unlocks 2nd core of Sempron 140. I'm trying almost exactly the same configuration, except with 5850's and it's not stable. Are you using 16x->16x extenders for the two 16x slots? Have you noticed any stability issues? I have two 16x->16x and two 1x->16x extenders. No pin-mod for the 1x PCI-e slots. Rock solid stability. Using LinuxCoin booted from 4GB USB, running headless. Thanks pixilated8. With that info, I think I've narrowed down my problem to a bad motherboard. I'm have another one and will test 4 GPUs on it tonight, but it seems like the one I'm having trouble with has trouble even with two GPUs directly plugged on to the board. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on August 24, 2011, 01:25:38 PM I've learned that it is VERY important to first try a 4+ GPU rig at STOCK card clocks, then if that proves stable gradually OC each card until it becomes unstable then back off 10MH/z. Do this for each card until they are all running 24/7, in both mild and hot weather, without a problem. You will likely notice that some cards will OC very well and some will NOT. One unstable card can bring down the entire mining rig. Stability RULES!
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kbdigital on August 24, 2011, 08:45:46 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 990XA-UD3 3 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair AX1200 Number & Model GPUs: 3 x 5850 , 1 x 5770 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: x1-->1x-->x16 extender(w/o MOLEX power) for the 5770 card. Debian Squeeze(6.0.2), AMD SDK v2.4 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: bitlane on August 25, 2011, 02:07:36 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Every Gigabyte/Asus/Intel x58/LGA1366 Motherboard I have tried (P6T/Reg/Green/Deluxe, Gigabyte UDx?) Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: (above) Power Supply Brand & Model: Depends on cards used. Number & Model GPUs: 4x 6870's, 4x 5770's, 4x 6950's *All matching, not tried mix/match* Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Power, x1 & x16 passive cables All of my Mining Rigs are X58/LGA1366 based setups, due to having a shit-ton of money invested into the platform anyways, Refurb Motherboards are often cheap from NCIX and 60w-80w Engineering Sample LGA1366 Xeons are dirt cheap in Dual & Quad-Core configuration. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Dargo on August 28, 2011, 10:02:55 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3; two x16, two x1 PSU Brand & Model: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775w Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5850 (3 are Extreme model, one not) Extender Cables: 3 1x --> 16x; 1 16x --> 16x (No Molex. Cables purchased from www.9mart.com) Running linuxcoin 0.2b (old version). The only issue I had was that the cards in the x1 slots wouldn't mine initially, but rebooting solved this. All four cards are undervolted to 0.95 VDC using Atitweak. Currently getting about 300 Mhps from each card and pulling 450 watts from the wall. I haven't tuned the cards yet, and I'm sure I can get more out of them at the current voltage setting (I'm undervolting for efficiency). Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Brunic on August 29, 2011, 06:24:42 AM WORKING
Motherboard: GA-990FXA-UD7 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3880#ov PCIe Slots: x16 * 6 Cards: 6* Powercolor 6770 Extenders: x16 -> x16 We've tried x1 -> x16 risers in that one and it was a nightmare. It can work, but be prepared for hell. Use x16 -> x16 extenders. USB key can be really problematic with that motherboard. If you get the dreadful "Boot Error" with your USB key, update the BIOS. We've used the F4B and it worked for some. Still, we have some Linuxcoin key that don't work on it, and I really don't understand why. Motherboard: MSi 890FX-GD70 http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890FXA-GD70.html PCIe slots: x16 * 5, x1 * 1 Cards: 4* Sapphire reference 6950 Extenders: x16 -> x16 The PCI-E no 5(the second x16) seems dead on our motherboard. We can't do anything with it. Maybe its a bad configuration from our part... Right now, we've put our 4 reference we had on the 4 remaining PCIe slots, and it works great. The x1 could be used. We didn't, those 4 cards are heating a lot, and we needed the extra space. Motherboard: Biostar A870 http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/content.php?S_ID=523 PCIe slots: x16 * 2, x1 * 2 Cards: 3 * 5770, 1 * 6950 Extenders: x1 -> x16, x16 -> x16 This board is magic. It works. Top quality board for mining. Motherboard: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A79T_Deluxe/ PCIe slots: x16 * 4 Cards: 1 * 6950, 3 * 5770 Extenders: x16 -> x16 Works great, a little costly compared to the Biostar, but it delivers. From our experience, the Biostar come on top and will probably be our motherboard of choice from right now. And it's coming from a guy who bought FOUR GA-990FXA-UD7 with 6 cards on them. I can't understand how this board is sold at 250$ and it can't handle USB boot correctly. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: BkkCoins on August 29, 2011, 06:53:34 AM USB key can be really problematic with that motherboard. If you get the dreadful "Boot Error" with your USB key, update the BIOS. We've used the F4B and it worked for some. Still, we have some Linuxcoin key that don't work on it, and I really don't understand why. I had similar problems with my GA-970A-D3. Some Gigabyte boards have this idiotic BIOS problem that apparently has to do with requiring a Windows "signature" in the boot record. I did much searching around and this is the best I could make out about this. I did find a tool that worked for me with Ubuntu. I have all Ubuntu systems here but I do have a WinXP VM under virtualbox on my notebook. I used this to format the usb key with a universal formatting tool and after that my key booted fine. ... From our experience, the Biostar come on top and will probably be our motherboard of choice from right now. And it's coming from a guy who bought FOUR GA-990FXA-UD7 with 6 cards on them. I can't understand how this board is sold at 250$ and it can't handle USB boot correctly. The "Universal USB Installer" is discussed here, http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ I don't recall which forum thread I originally found out about this but it tool me many hours of trial and error to figure out this works. Apparently the HP formatter tool also works. EDIT: Now that I think about, since this was a while back now, it may have been another tool that actually "fixed" the problem. I'm not sure right now but at the same time I also tried the "Bootice" program that did it. It's a blur now as I did this a month back in the wee hours of the morning. This program can be used to manipulate the MBR on the flash stick and if I recall you need to write a "good" MBR with this before you can boot. http://www.pendriveapps.com/bootice-partition-flash-drive-edit-boot-sector/ Gigabyte are daft beyond words for having this boot problem and I'd seriously consider not buying their products again because of this. This was my first GA board after many years of buying only Asus. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Brunic on August 29, 2011, 07:57:31 AM Thanks BkkCoins, we'll check into that when we get some courage for it. Currently, we're ok, it's just that the bug is incomprehensible. We've worked around 6 hours on it one night, on the verge of depression and ready to return everything when we found that updating the BIOS to F4B worked with some of our USB keys. Not all of them though (even if they all have the same OS on it).
I don't want to derail the topic, but this Gigabyte bug needs a sticky topic for it, or a wiki, or something with all the solutions people found for it. For those who buy those boards, it's really a major problem. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: RavenDD on August 30, 2011, 02:55:57 AM What does not work:
Gigabyte P67A-D3-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128487 While it does work with 3, it's picky about which. Sad, since it has 5 PCI-E slots in all - quite attractive for the price if all worked. Confirmed on multiple boards. If a bios flash fixes, of course I will update this. ~RdD Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: abracadabra on September 01, 2011, 03:32:31 AM What does not work: Gigabyte P67A-D3-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128487 While it does work with 3, it's picky about which. Sad, since it has 5 PCI-E slots in all - quite attractive for the price if all worked. Confirmed on multiple boards. If a bios flash fixes, of course I will update this. ~RdD powered pci risers? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: RavenDD on September 06, 2011, 04:03:01 AM Tested with powered and unpowered from cablesarus.
0, 1 and 4 work, with anything in 2 and 3 it boot loops. I will re-test this again some time - right now the kids are all behaving, so I'm not gonna mess with them. 8) ~RdD Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: abracadabra on September 06, 2011, 12:53:03 PM Tested with powered and unpowered from cablesarus. 0, 1 and 4 work, with anything in 2 and 3 it boot loops. I will re-test this again some time - right now the kids are all behaving, so I'm not gonna mess with them. 8) ~RdD Maybe presence pins need shorting? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kripz on September 22, 2011, 10:01:00 AM p67 chipset only has 21 lanes.
Looking at the gigabyte website, it doesnt specifically say that the 2 16x slots will run in 8x when both are used. So assuming that it doesnt, you have 16x + 4x + 1x, we are now full. I'm guessing you could run the 2 16x slots and any of the 1x slots (total 3 cards). Code: 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) If you use a 1x -> 16x riser in the 16x slot (or tape the card) i think it will work. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: sadpandatech on September 26, 2011, 01:02:42 PM I've come to the conclusion that the best option for dedicated miners is the Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3 logic board. It's attractively priced (i.e. cheap), will take a cheap CPU and RAM but also accept a fast CPU if required later, and the four PCIe slots all work in all configurations with plain unpowered x1 -> x16 extenders. I certainly agree and for anyone having a hard time finding this board. For some reason a LOT of the searches for that model GA came up with 4 different board layouts, prices, etc etc. But, http://www.comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=167014 (http://www.comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=167014) Our price: £49.81 (€56.29, $74.72 ) Thank you everyone for all their work in this thread. Will try and add some of my testing soon. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: amazingrando on September 26, 2011, 06:49:47 PM WHAT WORKS Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3; two x16, two x1 PSU Brand & Model: Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775w Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5850 (3 are Extreme model, one not) Extender Cables: 3 1x --> 16x; 1 16x --> 16x (No Molex. Cables purchased from www.9mart.com) Running linuxcoin 0.2b (old version). The only issue I had was that the cards in the x1 slots wouldn't mine initially, but rebooting solved this. All four cards are undervolted to 0.95 VDC using Atitweak. Currently getting about 300 Mhps from each card and pulling 450 watts from the wall. I haven't tuned the cards yet, and I'm sure I can get more out of them at the current voltage setting (I'm undervolting for efficiency). I have 12 A870 and A870U3 board. Two of them cannot handle 4 GPUs. One can handle only two and the other can handle 3. I will be RMA'ing those and replacing them. Of the 10 that can handle 4 GPUs, all are very solid. My config is (2) x8->x16 in the x16 slots and (2) x1->x16 in the x1 slots. GPUs vary but are mainly 5850's and 5830s. PSU is 1000W Coolmax. Running Ubuntu 11.04 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kripz on September 27, 2011, 10:05:28 AM I've come to the conclusion that the best option for dedicated miners is the Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3 logic board. It's attractively priced (i.e. cheap), will take a cheap CPU and RAM but also accept a fast CPU if required later, and the four PCIe slots all work in all configurations with plain unpowered x1 -> x16 extenders. I certainly agree and for anyone having a hard time finding this board. For some reason a LOT of the searches for that model GA came up with 4 different board layouts, prices, etc etc. But, http://www.comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=167014 (http://www.comeuro.net/webshop/product.php?productid=167014) Our price: £49.81 (€56.29, $74.72 ) Thank you everyone for all their work in this thread. Will try and add some of my testing soon. Pair it with a celeron. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116410&Tpk=g440 Quote Sandy Bridge Based Single-core Processing The Intel Celeron G440 processor includes one execution core at 1.6 GHz to provide basic computing performance at a low TDP of 35W. The innovative 32nm fabrication technology optimizes thermal performance for reduced power consumption and noise. With graphics! Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: cablepair on September 27, 2011, 12:33:37 PM MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70
thats all you need to know. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on September 27, 2011, 03:30:41 PM NOOOOOOOOOO to GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD7
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=38872.msg475736#msg475736 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: hmongotaku on September 28, 2011, 05:49:58 AM a noob question, but windows still limited to 4 gpus?
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on September 28, 2011, 12:50:08 PM a noob question, but windows still limited to 4 gpus? No.Up to 8 GPU supports in Windows 7 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: jjiimm_64 on September 28, 2011, 09:44:58 PM a noob question, but windows still limited to 4 gpus? No.Up to 8 GPU supports in Windows 7 I got 5 gpus to load in windows... but the guiminer only showed 4. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on September 29, 2011, 02:13:50 AM Check device manage if their is 5 GPU's.
Actually only GUIMiner can able to detect more than 4 GPU's, AOCLBF will say put card number manually. Seems CGminer also detects more than 4 GPU's. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: hmongotaku on September 29, 2011, 05:39:26 PM thanks for the confirmation, was freaking out that I might actually have to learn linux to run 5 gpus on a setup.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: amazingrando on September 29, 2011, 09:07:02 PM Has anyone used a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 (not the -D3 version, but -UD3)? Considering getting a few of those.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Brunic on October 23, 2011, 02:51:31 AM Has anyone used a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 (not the -D3 version, but -UD3)? Considering getting a few of those. I didn't use them, but like I said earlier in this topic, if you want to boot with an USB key, this brand of motherboard can really be a pain in the ass. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: likuidxd on October 23, 2011, 09:29:06 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: Big Bang Masrshal B3 8x PCIe x16 slots Power Supply Brand & Model: Antec HC 1200 & Antec HP 750 Number & Model GPUs: 8x 5870 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 8 x16 -> x16 Risers no molex Works in BAMT & Windows 7. LinuxCoin final periodically crashes after 15mins to 1 hour. 1550W, 124V & 15Amps at peak load 3.2GHs. This thing is a beast but a major pain in the ass build & not recommended to anyone that isn't technically inclined or hasn't built quite a few rigs. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: minero1 on February 16, 2012, 03:30:08 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: EVGA Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: P55v/P55Sli 2 x Pci-e x16; 2 x Pci-e x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Artesyn IBM blade server PSU 1000W Number & Model GPUs: 2x 5970 & 2x 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 2 x16 & 2 x1-> x16 Risers no molex WHAT sort of WORKS Motherboard Brand: MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 790FX-GD70 4 x Pci-e x16; 1 x Pci-e x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Artesyn IBM blade server PSU 1000W Number & Model GPUs: 2x 5970 & 2x 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 2 x16 & 2 x1-> x16 Risers no molex Only works if you plug 4th card to x1 Pci-e, plug it in the 4th x16 pci-e and it boot loops Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: BinaryMage on February 16, 2012, 05:03:52 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-EP45-UD3P; 2 x16, 3 x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: OCZ ZX1250W Number & Model GPUs: HD 5870 Reference (AMD) x5 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 2 x16 to x16 extenders w/o power, 3 x1 to x16 extenders with molex power Tested and working on both Ubuntu and Debian (BAMT). Note that X output is piped to the card on the first x16 slot and basic standard output (terminal w/o X) is piped to the first card. (on an x1 slot) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: check_status on February 16, 2012, 08:30:00 AM MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 MSI 890FXA-GD70 Been trying to buy one off Ebay for my target 'under $100' and those suckers are always goin for 110-140, with alot of snipers. **sons-of-bitchesthats all you need to know. This board has got to be broken to sell under $100. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: cmg5461 on February 16, 2012, 11:05:18 PM just a suggestion, but could you make a list of the mobo's that work? :D
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mikeo on February 17, 2012, 01:16:48 AM No, I'm done with this thread. Some else is welcome to aggragate the info here though.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: check_status on February 17, 2012, 01:51:43 AM How do you determine what's working when you have conflicting reports on some boards?
P.S. Try Googling "ga h61 d2h-b3". That board does not compute. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: malevolent on February 24, 2012, 10:47:48 PM WHAT WORKS
1) Motherboard Brand: Asus Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: P5Q-E, 3x PCIe x16 and 2x PCIe x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850v2 Number & Model GPUs: max. 5GPUs tested so far: 3x HD 5850 1GB @ 945/280/1.088 + 1x HD 5830 800/200/0.9V + 1x HD 6770 @ 825/180/0.82V Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 5850s and 5830 on extenders and HD 6770 in PCIe x16 slot none of the extenders are powered PCIe x1 slots require shorting pins (A1-B17). Max. 4 GPUs under 12.1, 5 GPUs (all pcie slots are used) under previous driver versions. 2) WHAT WORKS Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-965-S3, 1x PCIe x16 and 3x PCIe x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Tagan TG1000-U33II 1000W Number & Model GPUs: 3x HD 5870 between 910 and 1000/210 + 1x HD 5850 900/300 all stock voltage Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 5870 on normal unpowered extenders, 5850 in slot NOTE: the x16 slot stopped working (no device in that slot gets recognized) after a few weeks and now only PCIe x1 slots work Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: e21 on February 24, 2012, 10:56:11 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: ASUS Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: P8P67 WS Platinum 1503 BIOS, 4 PCIE-16X + 3 PCIE-1X Power Supply Brand & Model: KingWin LAZER 1050W Number & Model GPUs: 3x 6950 + 3x 6570 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: 3x 6950s using 1X risers, no power, 3x 6570s seated in X16 slots, no risers All 6 GPUs recognized and mining on Windows 7 64bit @1.57GH/s, 11.12 driver (12.1 DOES NOT WORK!) 2.5 SDK. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ZPK on April 03, 2012, 10:25:00 PM WHATS WORK
Sempron 145 ... UCC OFF ASRock 970 Extreme 4 2GB ram + HDD 2.5" 250Gb 6970(950/340)+5870(950/300)+5850(900/300)+5870(950/300)=1590+ mhs avg... *DEAD PSU Chieftec BPS-1200C - work <3 months *NEW PSU Corsair AX1200 *DEAD Gigabyte 5850 *DEAD Sapphire Dual-X 7970 06-40G 1/2 fan stop Win 7 x64 SP1 WHATS WORK Core E4400 Gigabyte 945P-S3 rev 1.0 2Gb ram + 250Gb HDD 5870 (950/300) + 2*5850 (shit work on 900/300,350) + 5770 (950/300) = 1378 mhs avg PSU Corsair 750WTXV2 Win 7 x64 SP1 (maybe go to BAMT in future) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: tnkflx on April 10, 2012, 07:37:59 AM WORKS: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 with 4x ATI 6990.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: fabrizziop on April 11, 2012, 12:59:32 PM WHAT WORKS
MSI 785G-E53 (1 16x, 3 1x) Tested with 4 5830s, running for 1.5 months now!. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ModusPwnd on April 13, 2012, 09:17:15 AM Has anyone used a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 (not the -D3 version, but -UD3)? Considering getting a few of those. I didn't use them, but like I said earlier in this topic, if you want to boot with an USB key, this brand of motherboard can really be a pain in the ass. Older post, but I will echo the words. I have that model of mobo packaged up for return right now because it wont boot off of my USB key (not sure if its the UD3 or D3...) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ModusPwnd on April 13, 2012, 10:04:26 AM WHATS WORK Sempron 145 ... UCC ON 2 core 3ghz ASRock 970 Extreme 4 2GB ram+250Gb 2.5" HDD 6950(70)+5870+5850+5770=1440mhs avg.....want to build 6970+5870+3*5850(or maybe 6970+2*5870+2*5850)...no money....))) PSU Chieftec BPS-1200C open rig Win 7 x64 SP1 I have the same board, and it does work with 4 GPUs. I am actually running 5 on one right now. (same CPU too) BUT, the last two I have bought have a bunk PCIe x16 slot! Both of the last two I bought had a bad PCIE4 slot, that is the middle x16 slot. I have a third coming from NewEgg right now... I hope it works, because I like this board otherwise! Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: jamesg on April 13, 2012, 10:21:09 AM I have the same board, and it does work with 4 GPUs. I am actually running 5 on one right now. (same CPU too) BUT, the last two I have bought have a bunk PCIe x16 slot! Both of the last two I bought had a bad PCIE4 slot, that is the middle x16 slot. I have a third coming from NewEgg right now... I hope it works, because I like this board otherwise! I've had a couple of the asrock 970 boards come a little flaky. I just bought 20 of them so I had extras when I was building out my rigs. They also sell these boards at amazon. If you have prime, you can same of the shipping charges. http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-MB-970EX4-970-CrossFireX-Motherboard/dp/B0058HUQJ0 If you only need 4 PCIe slots on a board, you could also check this one out as it is $30 cheaper. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: rograz on April 14, 2012, 07:24:13 PM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130645&Tpk=MSI%20Z77A-G45
looks interesting, you don't see that many boards with 7 pci-e and especially not in that price bracket Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: superfastkyle on April 25, 2012, 09:15:52 AM MSI 970a-g46 works good with 1x to 16x extenders
4 5850 sapphire about 480 watts with undervolted sempron Anyone know how to get 1x working MSI 990XA-GD55 I've tried the pin shorting trick and added a molex adapter. Asrock 970 Extreme3 I can only get one of the 1x slots working with extender so just 3 slots with this one Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Bigal on April 30, 2012, 03:20:19 AM Asrock p67 extreme 4 3-16x 2-1x 5 total all work
ABit IL8 Intel 945P ICH7 1-16x 3-1x 4 total all work Gigabyte p35-ds3l 1-16x 3-1x 4 total, all work however this board will not boot into bamt but I do have it running ubuntu 11.04 I'm using 16x-16x and 1x-1x extenders in their respective slots in all the above Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mdude77 on April 30, 2012, 05:47:02 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: ECS Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A885GM-A2, four 16x, two 1x Power Supply Brand & Model: One Antec 750, one Antec 500, one Ultra 600 Number & Model GPUs: four 5870s, two XFX, one Sapphire, one ATI Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: two 16->16, two 1->16, no molex power Note: the 750 is powering two 5870s and the MB and HDD, the 500 and 600 each have one 5870 of their own. I'll be putting them on a new Antex 620 in the near future. Using customer external setup, with a normal box fan blowing on it. The 500 and 600s use a paperclip power on switch. :) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Scared on May 02, 2012, 04:37:52 AM MSI 970a-g46 works good with 1x to 16x extenders 4 5850 sapphire about 480 watts with undervolted sempron Anyone know how to get 1x working MSI 990XA-GD55 I've tried the pin shorting trick and added a molex adapter. Asrock 970 Extreme3 I can only get one of the 1x slots working with extender so just 3 slots with this one Sounds like you may have a bad motherboard. I've had no problems getting both 1x slots working with that motherboard. I have 7 rigs running 4 x 7970 with the Asrock 970 Extreme3. It's a great motherboard and inexpensive. You can pick it up for $79.9 at newegg.com. You will need two 1x to 16x risers and a custom shelf to hold the two cards on the risers. I've had a lot of issues with Gigabyte and MSI motherboards and have found Asrock to be better and cheaper. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: hmongotaku on June 18, 2012, 01:18:36 PM What Works:
Motherboard: MSI-790FX-GD70 Power Supply Brand & Model: OCZ ZX 1250 Watt modular Power Supply Number & Model GPUs: four 5850s... now 3 5850 + 1 5970 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: none, but you can do them since 4x 5850 runs really hot and if you OC prepare to have brunt out fans in a few months, on 70+% speed for 24/7. I added spacers inbetween the card ends to get air in. I suggest a spot fan or a extra fan blowing on these also, drops temps 10-15 degrees. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: flatronw on June 22, 2012, 10:28:17 AM I am going to be very precise here because there are other post on this Forum that say these boards work with more than 4 Cards and that is why I bought two of these F--cking things.
Both the Gigabyte boards I have, as listed below behave in the same manner. Does not Work Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 V1.1 (Bios‘s F5 to F8) (MB Ser. No’s 115100014366 & 115100014364) 4 GB Ram 1333Mhz (1 Stick) AMD X2 260 Corsair 1200W 80Gb HDD Xubuntu 11.04 - 64 bit Drivers 11.6 SDK 2.4 Does not ever see more than 3 Cards. (lspci, aticonfig --lsa) Will run 3 Cards direct off PCIE x 16_1 , PCIE x 16_2 , PCIE x 8 These are the only slots you can populate using double width cards inserted directly into the slots. Will NOT run the same cards on the same slots when connected with 16 x 16 extender (Powered or un-powered) Will run same cards and extenders in PCIE x 16_1 , PCIE x 4_1 , PCIE x 4_2 (appears to be a Latency issue, no adjustment for PCIE Latency available in Bios’s listed above) Shorting presence pins, 1 x 4 extenders, etc etc, nothing seems to work. _________________________________________________________________________ Does Work MSI 990FXA-GD80 (MS-7644 V2.2) (Bios E7640AMS V11.5) 4 GB Ram 1333Mhz (1 Stick) AMD X2 260 Corsair 1200W 80Gb HDD Xubuntu 11.04 - 64 Bit Drivers 11.6 SDK 2.4 All physically exactly the same components as above on the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 V1.1 board except the Motherboard changed to the MSI 990FXA-GD80 board. 4 Cards (AMD 5850) on 16 x 16 extenders (un-powered) connected into all four PCIE 16 way slots on the board. No presence jumpers. Changes required:- PCIE Latency set to 96 in Bios. All cards recognised immediately after boot by:- sudo aticonfig --lsa Less than one hour after walking thru my front door with the MSI board I was mining on 4 Cards @ 393 M/H on all cards, exactly the Hash rate I was getting per card with 3 Cards on the Gigabyte board -------------------------------------------------- Edit:- now 1 day later, I have 5 x 5850's mining on the board. Fifth card is on slot marked as PCI_E3 using 1 x 4 Extender (Powered) and A1 jumpered to B17 on the Slot. Same routine as before, recognised by "sudo aticonfig --lsa" immediately after boot. no screwing around! --------------------------------------------------- So, if you are a Noob, and you have a deeply masochistic streak, you obtain real gratification from hours of self flagellation and stress, then the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 V1.1 is tailor made for you. On the other hand, if you want something that simply works “out of the box” spend the extra bucks and buy the MSI 990FXA-GD80 (MS-7644 V2.2) In fact buy anything other than a Gigabyte board even if you simply want reliable USB Boot! With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, having bought the two Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 V1.1 in January and since spent 100‘s of hrs searching for remedies. While all the time 25% of my Hash power is un-usable sitting in the cupboard and 50% of the remaining hash power is off-line about 3-4 hrs a day while I try unsuccessfully, various fixes to make the Gigabyte board see more than 3 cards. The extra bucks is something I would have paid happily! Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ssateneth on June 25, 2012, 11:29:28 AM WHATS WORK Sempron 145 ... UCC ON 2 core 3ghz ASRock 970 Extreme 4 2GB ram+250Gb 2.5" HDD 6950(70)+5870+5850+5770=1440mhs avg.....want to build 6970+5870+3*5850(or maybe 6970+2*5870+2*5850)...no money....))) PSU Chieftec BPS-1200C open rig Win 7 x64 SP1 I have the same board, and it does work with 4 GPUs. I am actually running 5 on one right now. (same CPU too) BUT, the last two I have bought have a bunk PCIe x16 slot! Both of the last two I bought had a bad PCIE4 slot, that is the middle x16 slot. I have a third coming from NewEgg right now... I hope it works, because I like this board otherwise! Are you plugging cards direct into the slots or using a riser? Also some boards are really picky and insist certain cards be plugged in certain slots, complaining that you need to populate certain slots first to enable crossfire/SLI, and refuse to boot further unless you do what it tells you to do. Anyways, if you are using risers, you will probably need to short PCI-E presence pins. also make sure your risers arent defective or broken. Bending them a lot or plugging them in/unplugging a lot is very stressful on risers and can break the delicate solder points for the wires unless both ends are 1x physical width, which makes them effortless to plug in/unplug Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: TechCF on June 29, 2012, 12:27:15 PM Asus f1a75-m le works with four (going to try a fifth in a few weeks when I get my pci-to-pcie adapter for my puny 5570). The four includes the APU. Only had luck with these in Linux, in Windows I only get two adapters. Running BAMT. Force onboard video. Running dual power supplies. Running w/out molex extenders, and did not need shorting for the 1x pcie adapter cable.
A6-3500 + 5850 + 5850 + 7970 for 1100 MH/s. (Bad performance due to driver/SDK because of the 7970). EDIT: Typo Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: runlinux on June 29, 2012, 12:29:47 PM Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 - Can't use the bottom x16 slot as it disables the 3 x1 slots... Everything worked once I figured that out. 2x 6950's and 2x 6870's
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: bulanula on June 29, 2012, 12:31:48 PM Asus f1a75-m le works with four (going to try a fifth in a few weeks when I get my pci-to-pcie adapter for my puny 5570). The four includes the APU. Only had luck with these in Linux, in Windows I only get two adapters. Running BAMT. Force onboard video. Running dual power supplies. Running w/out molex extenders, and did not need shorting for the 1x pcie adapter cable. A6-3500 + 5850 + 5850 + 7990 for 1100 MH/s. (Bad performance due to driver/SDK because of the 7990). AFAIK that has not been released yet. How on earth do you have one ? Please share a picture because I am dying to see my next mining cards ! Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: TechCF on June 29, 2012, 01:57:39 PM Sorry, that was a typo.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ChanceCoats123 on July 05, 2012, 08:29:42 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 2x16, 3x1 Power Supply Brand & Model: Dual PSU setup Number & Model GPUs: 2x5870, 1x5850, 2x 5830 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: Extenders yes, Powered no. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Aseras on July 06, 2012, 12:58:54 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand:MSI Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots:big bang xpower 2. 7 pci express. 3x16 4x8 Power Supply Brand & Model: corsair hx 1000, upgraded to fsp aurum pro 1200 Number & Model GPUs:5 5870 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?:direct. Used 6 with x16 plain extenders to test. Ok too. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: TechCF on July 18, 2012, 10:11:04 AM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Asus Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: F1A75-M LE - 2x PCIe 16x, 1x PCIe 1x, 1x PCI Power Supply & Brand: MIST 400w & HP 475W Number & Model GPUs: A6-3500 + 2x 5850 + 7970 + 5570 Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: One 1x-to-16x w/Molex for the PCI to PCIE adapter, one 1x to 16x extender, and one 16x extender. http://i47.tinypic.com/2ylvbly.jpg Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mxc0bbn on April 23, 2013, 12:05:04 AM Anyone want to update this? I'm looking for a good mb to put four ATI 7950s in...
Thanks Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on April 23, 2013, 01:42:22 AM Hello
WORKS: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3, sempron 145, 1x 4GB DDR3, 1x HDD, Sentey 750W 80+ PFC PSU 4x Sapphire 7850 1GDDR5 (dual cooler) 2 cards running on 16x powered risers (works with and without power) 2 cards running on 1x to 16x powered risers (only works with power) on 1x slots 2 and 3. image:http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8229/miner1share1.jpg Win7 x64 and GUIMiner BTC This thing eats 440W from the AC outlet, and produces 1GH on BTC Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: bcpokey on April 23, 2013, 04:07:53 AM Hello WORKS: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3, sempron 145, 1x 4GB DDR3, 1x HDD, Sentey 750W 80+ PFC PSU 4x Sapphire 7850 1GDDR5 (dual cooler) 2 cards running on 16x powered risers (works with and without power) 2 cards running on 1x to 16x powered risers (only works with power) on 1x slots 2 and 3. image:http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8229/miner1share1.jpg Win7 x64 and GUIMiner BTC This thing eats 440W from the AC outlet, and produces 1GH on BTC Did you make that housing yourself? I like it, clean and space efficient. I wish I had tools to make my own. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on April 23, 2013, 10:39:44 AM Hi, yes I did it myself, it was time consuming to do it but I wanted something really strong, that I could fit in a rack later (its 44 cm wide for a reason :D ) and, if I need it, dissasemble entirely with ease (the entire case is screwed in the aluminium directly).
I cut the parts with a bench circular saw (from a friend, I don't own one, the only thing I have is a small bench black & decker driller machine) that was it. I'm building the second one right now :) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: Marrs on April 23, 2013, 08:38:40 PM Hi, yes I did it myself, it was time consuming to do it but I wanted something really strong, that I could fit in a rack later (its 44 cm wide for a reason :D ) and, if I need it, dissasemble entirely with ease (the entire case is screwed in the aluminium directly). I cut the parts with a bench circular saw (from a friend, I don't own one, the only thing I have is a small bench black & decker driller machine) that was it. I'm building the second one right now :) Take pictures and write up a walk-through, please! :-) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mxc0bbn on April 24, 2013, 07:21:28 PM With 4 7950s you should be making >2gh/s
? Why only 1gh/s Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on April 24, 2013, 07:58:07 PM With 4 7950s you should be making >2gh/s ? Why only 1gh/s Well..., I already had 2x 7850 I used with hashcat a lot, so I decide for this first miner stick with those cards, so I bought 2 more identical ones. I'm building the next rig, they will have 2x 7950 now :D (and 4 x 7950 when I bought another PSU) and I want to compare power consumption vs production because my measures doesn't match what I have read on the forum, so I will have to test both combinations and see which ones are more power efficient. Money is about the same because 7850 costs half the 7950's. will do the tests and post here this weekend (if my cards arrive on time :D ) Quote from: Marrs Take pictures and write up a walk-through, please! :-) Sure, give me time I will prepare something and post here. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: mxc0bbn on April 24, 2013, 08:35:13 PM I'm starting to re-think the 4gpu on one motherboard scenario...
Based on pricing for mb/psu...would you recommend just buying two mb/cpu/psu (750w) and just building two systems instead of one? I don't mind the extra work I just want to make sure and get the most performance out of them and it's starting to seem like putting more gpus on a single mb makes me have to cool them alot harder as well as the components being a lot more costly than components for 2/mb... opinion? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on April 25, 2013, 01:58:12 AM Hello
I don't think I am in a position to recommend you, I have been mining for only 1 month, this miner is the first one fully assembled by me (although I have 2 more (just 5830 on a small motherboard over a cardboard box :D which I use for testing because they are not cost effective (consumes too much power)). That aside, I think that you should think what weights more for you, MH/s vs Power consumption or MH/s vs Hardware cost. In my case is the first, because, for now, power cost is something I will have all the time, hardware is something I buy and I can use for other things besides mining, so I still have to test the performance of two 7950 vs four 7850 to tell you more precisely what is best in terms of power usage vs MH/s However I will, in the end assemble 4 to 5 GPU per rig, because I think it's more power efficient, but still don't know which cards will I use. the power consumption of the motherboard, processor and hard drive is quite significant, so the more GPU per computer the better, IMHO. please if someone with more experience than me think different, comment, i will love to hear your educated point of view. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: meyerbtc on April 25, 2013, 01:13:38 PM Still not clear to me. Is there a motherboard which can support 4 x HD7950 without having to short A1-B17 pin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36061.0)?
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: qiuness on April 25, 2013, 09:49:30 PM Hi,
does anyone have any feedback on? GA-H61M-D2-B3 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3773#ov 4 Slots.. should hold 4 cards Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on April 26, 2013, 03:25:08 AM Still not clear to me. Is there a motherboard which can support 4 x HD7950 without having to short A1-B17 pin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36061.0)? I am using Gigabyte GA 970A-D3 motherboards, has 5 PCI-E ports (one 16x, one 4x (with 16x size) and three 1x), I'm using 4 cards on this mobo, and no jumper necessary, but I'm using cablesaurus powered extender cables, they are not cheap but works perfectly.but this is under windows 7 x64, I still haven't tested under linux, booting from USB which is my finally goal. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: batman, not crabman on April 26, 2013, 01:10:17 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 990 FXA-UD3 Power Supply Brand & Model: FSP Aurum Pro 1200W Number & Model GPUs: 4 x 6950 (1 each of ASUS, XFX, MSI and Sapphire) Extender Cables w/Molex Power? 1 x PCIE 16x extender and 3 x PCIE x16 to x1 extenders. No molex power extenders. Tried a 5th 6950 (XFX) but it wouldn't work. The MB has 6x PCIE slots total, would have been nice... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7216.msg1950922#msg1950922 Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on April 26, 2013, 01:28:07 PM WHAT WORKS Can you try connecting the 5th & 6th slot using 16x extender cable with molex connector?Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: 990 FXA-UD3 Power Supply Brand & Model: FSP Aurum Pro 1200W Number & Model GPUs: 4 x 6950 (1 each of ASUS, XFX, MSI and Sapphire) Extender Cables w/Molex Power? 1 x PCIE 16x extender and 3 x PCIE x16 to x1 extenders. No molex power extenders. Tried a 5th 6950 (XFX) but it wouldn't work. The MB has 6x PCIE slots total, would have been nice... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7216.msg1950922#msg1950922 Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7, has 6 slots, but so far i can make it to work in only FOUR cards, but with different slots which confuses me. Yesterday i can able to connect 3 cards using 16x extender cable WITHOUT molex connector in 16x_1, 16x_2, 8x_2 & i hope i can make it work in 8x_1 slot also using 16x extender cable(which i don't have). But this is opposite to me due to this https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=38872.msg475736#msg475736 Here i used 16x & 4x slot, instead of yesterday 16x & 8x. I hope maybe with 16x extender cable with/without molex can make this board to use all the 6 slots Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: batman, not crabman on April 27, 2013, 01:48:44 AM I don't have any of the extender cables with a molex connector, I'd never heard of them when I ordered my parts. Do you plug your power supply into them to boost the PCIE power?
I guess it could help when running a lot of cards. Maybe it can work with more than 4 cards... :) I busted one of the PCIE slots and bent one of the pins (the TCK one I think), is it important? Otherwise I only have 5 slots that work. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on April 27, 2013, 06:06:10 AM Yes, cables with molex to boost power to pci-e.
Mother boards are designed with the idea to play games, watch in high definition..... Its not designed to run 100% 24/7 to mine. http://cablesaurus.com/PCIe-x16-Extender-Cable-w-Molex-Connector I don't know what you saying by TCK, maybe a pic will be better to show busted slot & bent pin. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: batman, not crabman on April 27, 2013, 12:07:33 PM Ok thanks.
See pinout here for the TCK pin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express I pulled out one of my cards and the PICE slot came with it :) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: dishwara on April 27, 2013, 12:31:24 PM thats bad.
Try connecting 5 cards using FIVE 16x extender cables, then see windows detects 5 cards or not. If windows detects then its good. If windows detects only 4 card, then that board can accept 4 cards only. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: batman, not crabman on April 30, 2013, 01:59:09 PM I don't have 5 x16 extenders, I only have 1 and I can't really be bothered ordering more as I've got plenty of x1's and it seems to (mostly) work. My 5th card is just in my everyday pc for now, I just have to start and stop mining when I use it. Thanks though.
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: chungenhung on April 30, 2013, 06:12:19 PM WORKS I have a mix of 5870 and 5850, overclocked, no voltage change. the mobo fried up within a few weeks.Motherboard Brand: Biostar Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: A870U3 (2x16, 2x1) Power Supply Brand & Model: Corsair TX850 (Pulling ~615W at the wall) Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 5830 Xtreme (Overclocked & undervolted) Extender Cables w/Molex Power?: No Motherboard automatically unlocks 2nd core of Sempron 140. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: chungenhung on April 30, 2013, 06:14:42 PM I've learned that it is VERY important to first try a 4+ GPU rig at STOCK card clocks, then if that proves stable gradually OC each card until it becomes unstable then back off 10MH/z. Do this for each card until they are all running 24/7, in both mild and hot weather, without a problem. You will likely notice that some cards will OC very well and some will NOT. One unstable card can bring down the entire mining rig. Stability RULES! Yes, especially with multiple rigs. I have mine all running stock speed and stock voltage.Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: bitminer1 on May 02, 2013, 01:43:39 AM Does anyone know if the Asrock970 extreme 4 will work with 5 gpus's in a win 64 enviro easily?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262) Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: MrBilling on May 10, 2013, 05:28:56 PM Does anyone know if the Asrock970 extreme 4 will work with 5 gpus's in a win 64 enviro easily? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262) I dont know about Windows but that mobo is listed on the BAMT hardware compatibility list as working with 5 GPUs. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: MrBilling on May 10, 2013, 05:32:57 PM WHAT WORKS
Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-970A-D3; two X16, 3 X1 PSU Brand & Model: Silverstone 1200W SST-ST1200-G Evolution Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 7950 21196-00-20G Boost Models Extender Cables: 2 X16 extenders, 2 1X to 16X adapters, works unpowered or powered tried to put 5 th card in wont finish booting. NOT the boot problem other Gigabyte boards have. It will boot it just locks up. Tried underclocking cards. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: induktor on May 11, 2013, 12:56:44 PM WHAT DON'T WORK:
ASUS M4N75TD with PCIe Powered risers (in the 16x ports and in the 1x ports) If I connect the molex, the motherboard doesn't even post. If I did NOT connect the molex, the motherboard sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't start. same behavior with 16 to 16x extenders that with 1x to 16x extenders. tested with Sapphire 7950´s this mobo doesn't like extenders :( WHAT WORKS: Curious, the cheap Gigabyte 78LMT-S2 motherboard works with 2x 7950 using: 1x 16x to 16x powered riser, and 1x 1x to 16x powered riser. Interesting option as this motherboard is really really cheap, and for 2x 7950 is not a bad choice!! However, comparing it with the Gigabyte 970A-D3 the performance is lower. What I mean, is that in widows 7, the second card (in the 1x connector) is about 80% load, not more, ever, and with the bigger mother 970A-D3 load is 99% in every slot, probably has to do with limited bandwidth of the 78LMT-S2 , dunno. Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: demigo on May 22, 2013, 12:53:05 PM MSI 970a-g46 works good with 1x to 16x extenders 4 5850 sapphire about 480 watts with undervolted sempron Anyone know how to get 1x working MSI 990XA-GD55 I've tried the pin shorting trick and added a molex adapter. Asrock 970 Extreme3 I can only get one of the 1x slots working with extender so just 3 slots with this one I have the same problem with MSI 990XA-GD55. did you succeed somehow? Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: ampbuster on May 28, 2013, 04:32:55 PM WHAT WORKS Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-970A-D3; two X16, 3 X1 PSU Brand & Model: Silverstone 1200W SST-ST1200-G Evolution Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 7950 21196-00-20G Boost Models Extender Cables: 2 X16 extenders, 2 1X to 16X adapters, works unpowered or powered tried to put 5 th card in wont finish booting. NOT the boot problem other Gigabyte boards have. It will boot it just locks up. Tried underclocking cards. How do you use a PSU Brand & Model: Silverstone 1200W SST-ST1200-G Evolution to power up 4 GPUs? , it only has 4 pcie slots and each of your cards take 2 slots each right? could anyone answer this? im building a rig with the problem of finding a psu that supports 4 gpus Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: erpbridge on May 28, 2013, 05:40:57 PM A lot of cards (for example, Gigabyte HD7950) come with a 2xMolex->PCIe6 and a 2xMolex->PCIe8 adapter, in case your PSU doesn't have the proper cabling. In that case, you can string your PSU 4 PCIe8 to each of those video cards, then split up your separate molex arms and run them with the PCIe6 adapters.... 4 cards, 2 molex needed for each to supply a PCIe6.... Most PSUs have 6 or 8 molex connectors.
WHAT WORKS Motherboard Brand: Gigabyte Motherboard Model & PCIe Slots: GA-970A-D3; two X16, 3 X1 PSU Brand & Model: Silverstone 1200W SST-ST1200-G Evolution Number & Model GPUs: 4x Sapphire 7950 21196-00-20G Boost Models Extender Cables: 2 X16 extenders, 2 1X to 16X adapters, works unpowered or powered tried to put 5 th card in wont finish booting. NOT the boot problem other Gigabyte boards have. It will boot it just locks up. Tried underclocking cards. How do you use a PSU Brand & Model: Silverstone 1200W SST-ST1200-G Evolution to power up 4 GPUs? , it only has 4 pcie slots and each of your cards take 2 slots each right? could anyone answer this? im building a rig with the problem of finding a psu that supports 4 gpus Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: cryptomining on November 27, 2013, 04:08:45 PM asus m2npv-vm
Title: Re: Motherboards: What Works w/Four or More GPUs? List Them Post by: kostja on November 29, 2013, 10:45:07 AM How much 7990 work with Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055QYKRI/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0055QYKRI&linkCode=as2&tag=blog0200-20)?
4 GPU picture (http://gigabyte-latino.com/FTP/Partners_Materials/Product%20Photos/AMD/MB%20only/AM3+/990FXA-UD7/+4VGA/990FXA-UD7+4VGA-2.jpg) |
