Title: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: Didz on April 19, 2021, 05:29:38 PM I would like to know if there’s miners who have used a PCI Express 4X Female to NGFF M.2 M Key Male Adapter converter card to connect an extra GPU through M.2 expansion slot?
My understanding is that a normal USB3 PCIE riser card is then installed on the expansion card… so a motherboard with 6 available PCIE slots can connect one or two more GPUs. If yes, is there specific features for compatibility I have to look on the motherboard or CPU? Thank you Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: jims2321 on April 19, 2021, 07:09:53 PM Why not just get a 4 to 1 PCI-E x1 riser card and add more that way?
https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Latest-PCIe-Adapter-Extender/dp/B0796R9VWT Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: Didz on April 19, 2021, 11:57:51 PM Why not just get a 4 to 1 PCI-E x1 riser card and add more that way? https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Latest-PCIe-Adapter-Extender/dp/B0796R9VWT In the Amazon product reviews, few people wrote that it doesn't work. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: jims2321 on April 20, 2021, 02:13:16 AM It cost $60.00. Try it out and if it doesn't work return it. Amazon has a pretty liberal return policy. Looking at the m.2 to pci adapter its not rated much better. But you have options, so I will leave it at that.
Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: Stanlo on April 20, 2021, 05:55:33 AM Why not just get a 4 to 1 PCI-E x1 riser card and add more that way? https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Latest-PCIe-Adapter-Extender/dp/B0796R9VWT In the Amazon product reviews, few people wrote that it doesn't work. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: Vann on April 20, 2021, 08:05:52 AM Why not just get a 4 to 1 PCI-E x1 riser card and add more that way? https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Latest-PCIe-Adapter-Extender/dp/B0796R9VWT In the Amazon product reviews, few people wrote that it doesn't work. Same goes with the m.2 adapters, though typically the splitters are more compatible than the m.2 adapters which requires you to configure the slot in PCI-E mode instead of SATA mode in the BIOS. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: poby on April 20, 2021, 09:21:54 AM I would like to know if there’s miners who have used a PCI Express 4X Female to NGFF M.2 M Key Male Adapter converter card to connect an extra GPU through M.2 expansion slot? My understanding is that a normal USB3 PCIE riser card is then installed on the expansion card… so a motherboard with 6 available PCIE slots can connect one or two more GPUs. If yes, is there specific features for compatibility I have to look on the motherboard or CPU? Thank you I've been running 3 rigs x 8 cards for the last 4 years using 7 pcie slots + 1 M2 slot, using a NGFF M.2 to PCI-E Slot USB port. Not sure if that's what you talking about but yeah it works fine. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: batsonxl on April 20, 2021, 01:33:02 PM Why not just get a 4 to 1 PCI-E x1 riser card and add more that way? https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Latest-PCIe-Adapter-Extender/dp/B0796R9VWT In the Amazon product reviews, few people wrote that it doesn't work. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: FP91G on April 21, 2021, 11:50:59 AM I would like to know if there’s miners who have used a PCI Express 4X Female to NGFF M.2 M Key Male Adapter converter card to connect an extra GPU through M.2 expansion slot? It is better to purchase a motherboard with 6-8 PCI-E connectors or more for building mining farms. My understanding is that a normal USB3 PCIE riser card is then installed on the expansion card… so a motherboard with 6 available PCIE slots can connect one or two more GPUs. If yes, is there specific features for compatibility I have to look on the motherboard or CPU? Thank you A large number of adapters lead to additional failures. Most miners who cost a mining farm for several years try to avoid additional adapters, but some miners use them. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: miner29 on April 21, 2021, 02:44:42 PM There are huge difference between a FARM and a hobbyist/home miner.
The adapters work fine and are not a problem long term. When planning more than a few rigs it is good advice to reduce the number of adapters etc...but once up and working ive seen no problems with them. But if i had 100's of rigs i probably would avoid. Ive got almost 40 rigs and the few that have these have never given me a single pit of trouble. YMMV. Title: Re: Is it recommended to use M.2 expansion slots to connect an extra GPU? Post by: Didz on May 07, 2021, 01:53:03 AM Success!
I succeeded to plug a 7th GPU on my motherboard with the "NGFF M.2 To USB 3.0 Transfer PCI-E Riser Card Adapter". Thank you guys for answering my question and giving your personal experience. So in return here's how I did. First I contacted the manufacturer of the motherboard to ask if it's possible to use the M.2 Key slot to connect a GPU. It's not possible with all the motherboard apparently. Here's my motherboard: PRIME Z390-A ASUSTeK Then I bought this M.2 Card Adapter to connect into the M.2 socket of the motherboard: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/122990821026 So as usual, you plug the GPU on a riser and the USB cable you remove the PCIE X1 and instead plug it on the M.2 Card Adapter". See photo: https://i.imgur.com/FyD8Lg2.jpg It's important to power properly the GPU so like always, I use the VGA cable of my of PSU to plug into the GPU and the riser with this 8 Pin PCI-E to 2 PCI-E 8 Pin (6 Pin + 2 Pin) Power Cable. I always buy that cable from that seller on Amazon and never had issues: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08KP9R92V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Then in the BIOS of my motherboard, in order to configure M.2 slot in PCIe mode, I go to BIOS > Advanced > Onboard Devices Configuration > M.2 PCIe mode and changed the dropdown to ‘Enabled’. Et voilà ! I noticed I could add another M.2 Card Adapter on my motherboard (same process) to have 8 GPUs but for now I will monitor closely how it goes with my 7th GPU. Plus, not all my mining rig frames are made for 8 GPUs which is now an issue. Hope it can help other miners. |