pcie riser cables

[steamboat]

I'm building a BAMT rig using 6x 6950's and a gigabyte ud7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128508, my question is this, do i need to buy powered risers or will non powered suffice?

[QuantumFoam]

Not sure on the powered pcie part, but if you are planning to boot off a usb stick, I'd go with a different brand of motherboard as I have heard there are problems with gigabyte boards when booting from the usb ports.

[malevolent]

Not sure on the powered pcie part, but if you are planning to boot off a usb stick, I'd go with a different brand of motherboard as I have heard there are problems with gigabyte boards when booting from the usb ports.

I have a Gigabyte mobo running BAMT from 8 GB QPI (that's the brand name) usb stick.
It's a GA-965-S3.

[steamboat]

yes i am having issues booting bamt w/ via usb. the board boots fine via usb w/ a ubuntu iso, the issue is getting it to recognize .img. i have an msi gd 70 lying around somewhere in one of my rigs i can use but i'm trying to avoid a giant parts swap to get this rig running.

that being said, anyone know if i should use powered risers or will non powered suffice? 

[QuantumFoam]

FWIW I was running 4x5870 and 1x5770 on an MSI 890FXA-GD70 without powered extenders and did not have any problems. I think 6 might be pushing it without extenders but from what I've read on these boards the answer seems to depend on type of motherboard and video card more than anything else.

[DeathAndTaxes]

if you have problems booting via usb make sure MB firmware is up to date. 

[steamboat]

FWIW I was running 4x5870 and 1x5770 on an MSI 890FXA-GD70 without powered extenders and did not have any problems. I think 6 might be pushing it without extenders but from what I've read on these boards the answer seems to depend on type of motherboard and video card more than anything else.

awesome, thanks for the info. i'll give it a shot and if things start blowing up i'll take one out.

if you have problems booting via usb make sure MB firmware is up to date. 

i've tried every bios revision up to and including the beta to no avail. apparently gigabyte has issues booting to that type of usb format. i popped the drive into a cheesy biostar to see if it would work and the rigs humming quite nicely. i think i may have to end up using linuxcoin for that board.


i love being the guy that not only bought a 990 board in anticipation of faildozer, but also bought one that can't use bamt 

[DeathAndTaxes]

i love being the guy that not only bought a 990 board in anticipation of faildozer, but also bought one that can't use bamt 

If it is a board that would appeal to gamers you might try ebaying it and grab more MSI 890FXA-GD70 boards.  Solid for BAMT and great for 3x5970 setup without extenders.

[steamboat]

i love being the guy that not only bought a 990 board in anticipation of faildozer, but also bought one that can't use bamt 

If it is a board that would appeal to gamers you might try ebaying it and grab more MSI 890FXA-GD70 boards.  Solid for BAMT and great for 3x5970 setup without extenders.

it's not a horrible gaming board, but gamers wanting a quadfire capable board and are willing to pay for it are going to go intel. i actually have a msi 890fxa-gd70 sitting in a work rig atm, i just didn't want to have to swap boards out. i am going to have to use extenders though, i have 6 6950's i want to put to good use