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I just tried everything to get a fifth card running on my MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard.  It won't work.

I have an Antec 1200 Watt power supply.
A Phenom 840 processor.
2 GBytes DDR 3 memory.
Running Ubuntu 11.04 off an SSD drive.

I can connect 4 cards to the 16 x slots and it works.  I use 16 x extenders that have been tested and work.  When I add the fifth card it never works.  I've tried it in the 1x and 16 x slot.  I tried all four settings (32, 64, 96, 128) of the BIOS parameter PCI latency.  I tried a 1x extender that had the two pins shorted like has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum.  I added the lines to the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf such that a fifth card is present.  When I boot into graphics failsafe mode the fifth card is seen as revealed by the command, 'lspci |grep VGA'.  But when I boot in to normal mode the same command doesn't show a fifth card.  I've also run the aticonfig initialize command.

I know others are able to make this work.  Could one of you please tell me the secret?

2 bitcoins for an answer that works, it's not a lot but it's a lot to me.

Sam

I run 5 5850's on x16 -> x16 extenders. Changing the pci latency timer to 96 and the most recent video drivers fixed my problems.

Are the two pins on the extender shorted? Or is it done on the MoBo?
I believe that is for connecting a 1x extender into a 16x slot, and the 16x slot on the MoBo gets this done to it!

Have you exchanged the 5th card for one of the others, to confirm it's not a dead card?

Are your extenders molex powered? Mobos aren't made to run 5 GPU's @ 75w PCIe power each. It may be an over current issue!

I have many of these motherboards....love them.

I use linuxcoin, but I am pretty this will work for you to.

in a root window   

it should be the same thing as the initialize command, but that doesn't work for me. removing the xorg file and rebooting does..  Please keep in mind that I use linuxcoin and the initial boot up will set the proper drivers for all the cards.

I have a couple of these motherboards with 6 cards running.

Thank you for the ideas.  They are all things I have already tried.

I've been using my extender cables to put some space between my cards.  Now I'm out of extender cables.  So I will revisit this problem after I have purchased some new extenders.

Sam

Ok, your config should work, or at least it does on my end and I have the same hardware and I just went ahead and put all of that together just to make sure you dont have some odd hardware config issue. No problems, Best thing to do is this

Check to make sure your power is balanced. Do not over load connectors and do not use Sata->6pin adapters as they dont work worth crap/all.
Check your risers and make sure they are not damaged and the same goes for your board.
From experience, touch the top of your ethernet port. Get a shock? RMA the board.
Install a copy of Win7 and see if everything works with only installing the ati 11.9 drivers and cg miner. Check to see if devices install first.

From experience, pcie latency is not an issue on these boards. They run on both stock 64bit and 32bit, never tried anything higher. Sometimes the 1x slot has issues and causes a dead miner, I avoid the slot all together, but if you must use it only clock a 5830 to around 850ish at the max.

Report back and let me know. Also, sometimes identical builds are just not the same. I have multiple 890fxa-gd70s with 6 5830s and the same cards on the 890fxa-gd65 boards with same hdd, psu,cpu,ram and some are just odd. Its as if, to each rig its own.

DONT PLUG 5 CARDS DIRECTLY INTO YOUR MOBO, i fried a crappy gigabyte cause it draws 75 watts from the mobo. You need POWERED extenders for more than 4 cards, although i use them on the 4th for extra peace of mind.

5830s wont do anything to this mobo

I looked, i see :) But i still would try it....

Why such a board also? I payed £45 MSI 870-45, military grade with a lowly athlon x2 250 and 512mb ram. There not being used so why pay so much for stuff thats..... not being used???

Didn't see an answer to this question.

are you using powered extenders?  I have not had any luck installing more than 4 cards in a mobo without powered extenders.

I would have to disagree with this, I have had 6 cards in 2 of my rigs for about a month.  5x5870 and 1 6950    clock 920/300  (900/800 6950)

your requesting 450W (6x 75W) through your PCI-E, i dont know what board you have but some will with top quality voltage regs and what not but you maybe stressing them and shortening there lifespan. for the sake of getting a power molex on the extender its not worth risking your mobo failing, I fried a gigabyte (yes i know, there crap). I also GAINED BACK 100+ m/hash when i connected a power molex'd extender to one of my rigs, which was telling me that the mobo was struggling provide 300W, never mind 450 you are drawing :) If its working fine, But my advice of MAX 4 is one well worth noting :)