LIGHTNINGASIC launching GPU miner. 8X GPU, 16XGPU, UP TO 32XGPU.

[xppb00]

I have been very curious on these multiple-GPU systems. It is really interesting to understand the bottleneck. IMO, there is a protocol between CPU and PCI controller or switch on Mobo. Since end-user level mobos which we have shaved off some extra features. Like you said "tend to take shortcuts". I found some of your resources and they are very expensive. Then I found a server mobo that holds 2 CPU and 10 PCIe cards. I see that CPU is another factor to limit number of PCI. I assume that CPU, expensive PCI switch/controller, and lastly driver are all the bottleneck. BTW, server mobos are not cheap unfortunately.

Say you have 16 GPU system on a single mobo. You need :

16 x 100w per card = 1600watt minimum power supply for cards + 300watt for the mobo = 1900w-2000w power supply.

16 risers, long usb cables, long 6pin cables, a big frame to hold whole system. Plus, a long time to wait loading DAG file.

It looks to me a bulk system that will give an issue easily. A lot of parameters on a single system. Not trusty. It looks good sliced in pieces like 7-6 GPU systems.

Bottomline it is another technology to discover and taste. It is not cheap and easy to digest. Good luck and thanks for supporting community.
   

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[pikachuy]

Any news to that Thunder barebone motherboard? Ball park price range? ETA?

Guess i'll put a hold on to my project of re-doing my rigs with server PSU and pico's until this is available.

[acostaja]

I'm very interested, need some details please:

Watching the Photos and reading your post, I guess your offer is the following:

A PCIe Switch-USB PCIe Riser combo board

and

a Custom Motherboard based on some low-end SOC with 8x PCIe x16 slots and maybe a integrated PCIe switch.

What are the specifications from the Custom Motherboard I need to know before consider your product:

CPU/SOC: ?

Memory (RAM) on board or slots ?

Boot method: USB, DOM, Integrated DOM ?

Supported OS, is a custom-kernel OS provided (to deal the 8 GPU restriction)?

About the Switch-PCIe riser, more details about the card (actual PCIe lines in use, Supported OSs, etc).

may you shown us a video on a working setups please?

I could order 150-300 from either solution (before qualification test - Barebones Boards Only, not interested on the "Case").

[asiabtc]

our gpu  miner spec details publiced.
pls download it.
https://www.mediafire.com/?ni5o21948tyvbnn

[acostaja]

our gpu  miner spec details publiced.
pls download it.
https://www.mediafire.com/?ni5o21948tyvbnn

Sorry but these actually aren't specs, asre just configurations and unverified performance figures, I (we) want: CPU ID, PCIe risers, SWITCH details.

[klintay]

if we purchase now when is the delivery?

1-6 months?

Can we get more accurate delivery date??

[kalang]

wow..its look efficient than 7x asrock,waiting more detail info to purcase

[vapourminer]

if they would make this with a socketed cpu i would be all for it. throw in a "t" series intel cpu with an active heatsink/fan.

i just wonder if at some point the cpu would be too wimpy for some miner algos, especially if you add a 8 card expansion cage.

this mobo would be for the very long term, just upgrade vgas as needed. so upgradable cpu would be sweet and add to its useful life.

[toptek]

CYCone has one out,  so I guess this idea is not new and it depends on price and who they sell to ..

http://www.cyclone.com/products/expansion_backplanes/

[Sequoia93]

That motherboard just looks like it was pulled from a pandaminer. You clearly could not fit two full sized cards next to each other on it with any space in between for airflow.

But the case is clearly custom....

So the board has to be longer to accept 8 cards, but you've already made a case that fits a panda board?

This also is not an ASIC...

and I, like many others, have doubts about running over 8 cards period.

An 8 card board would be great, but this is all sketchy AF to me.

[goen]

I can share you some of my observations, because I am working on a project to get 8+ GPUs into same machine.

Now, I have been confirmed by NVIDIA tech people, that this is possible and it is not limited by drivers or OS: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1004967/cuda-programming-and-performance/max-number-of-cuda-devices/

I have also contacted several manufacturers that are creating pcie expansion backplanes, such as:
- http://amfeltec.com/
- http://www.onestopsystems.com/
- http://cyclone.com/index.php

Out of curiosity, I also ordered that cheap 30 USD 1x to 3x PCIe expansion that is being sold everywhere around. Tested on several various motherboards from low end to high end, it does NOT work!

Then I ordered backplane from amfeltec which has a PLX chip on. It works, no issues at all. But of course, these toys are not for mining. A very simple backplane that has only 4 slots (1x to 4x) costs around 500 USD. And here comes the trick; all ports on backplane works fine, you can put 4 cards on it and it will work, but the total number of GPUs in system matter. And the motherboard I used for testing this backplane supports only 6 GPUs. No matter where I insert 7th card, the system would not boot. This indicate that the real issue is in BIOS and it is not a hardware problem.

An interesting expansion backplane is this: http://www.acalbfi.com/nl/Embedded-computing/PCI-PCIe/Bus-Expansion/p/PCIe-x16-Gen-2-Expansion/00000008SX It is the size of ATX motherboard. But keep in mind that this toy costs ~1500 USD.

I also sent query to the companies listed above asking about motherboard compatibility. I was specifically asking whether an Asus X99-E-10G WS (a 500 USD worth motherboard) would work. Their response was:

... I would recommend higher-end desktop motherboards or server-class machines.  Low end desktops tend to have BIOS packages that take shortcuts.  Your Asus mobo may be perfectly fine.  We have successfully used Intel, SuperMicro, Asus, Dell, HP, and Gigabyte with our 16 slot backplane. ...

Bottom line is this; forget about these cheap expansions methods. Even if they work, your motherboard probably will not support it. Cheap motherboards tend to take shortcuts, which would explain everything. If you really want a solution, you will first need pro expensive motherboard. After that, you will need even more expensive expansion backplane. The only pcie switching chips that actually work are PLX and these chips are EXPENSIVE. Ever wondered why motherboards that support 4way CF/SLI are so expensive? Because they pack one or two PLX chips that cost 100 USD a piece. And forget about cheap chinese shit (just look at that 1x to 3x PCIe expansion board, it has some cheap chinese chip on top of it, no wonder it doesn't work). It is also highly unlikely that some chinese company would come out with their own designed motherboard; we all know that all they do is just copy and copy from west world and are incapable of designing stuff on their own.

several months ago i've tried the 1-to-3 multiplier, bought on ebay.
it works fine, mining with 3 nitro rx470.
the mainboard i use was biostar a68n-5000.
i think thats what the card do, multiply a mobo with only 1 or 2 slots.

with other mainboard such as gigabyte 5 slot it can work only 6 gpus.


rgds,

[Yaminat]

I can share you some of my observations, because I am working on a project to get 8+ GPUs into same machine.

Now, I have been confirmed by NVIDIA tech people, that this is possible and it is not limited by drivers or OS: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1004967/cuda-programming-and-performance/max-number-of-cuda-devices/

I have also contacted several manufacturers that are creating pcie expansion backplanes, such as:
- http://amfeltec.com/
- http://www.onestopsystems.com/
- http://cyclone.com/index.php

Out of curiosity, I also ordered that cheap 30 USD 1x to 3x PCIe expansion that is being sold everywhere around. Tested on several various motherboards from low end to high end, it does NOT work!

Then I ordered backplane from amfeltec which has a PLX chip on. It works, no issues at all. But of course, these toys are not for mining. A very simple backplane that has only 4 slots (1x to 4x) costs around 500 USD. And here comes the trick; all ports on backplane works fine, you can put 4 cards on it and it will work, but the total number of GPUs in system matter. And the motherboard I used for testing this backplane supports only 6 GPUs. No matter where I insert 7th card, the system would not boot. This indicate that the real issue is in BIOS and it is not a hardware problem.

An interesting expansion backplane is this: http://www.acalbfi.com/nl/Embedded-computing/PCI-PCIe/Bus-Expansion/p/PCIe-x16-Gen-2-Expansion/00000008SX It is the size of ATX motherboard. But keep in mind that this toy costs ~1500 USD.

I also sent query to the companies listed above asking about motherboard compatibility. I was specifically asking whether an Asus X99-E-10G WS (a 500 USD worth motherboard) would work. Their response was:

... I would recommend higher-end desktop motherboards or server-class machines.  Low end desktops tend to have BIOS packages that take shortcuts.  Your Asus mobo may be perfectly fine.  We have successfully used Intel, SuperMicro, Asus, Dell, HP, and Gigabyte with our 16 slot backplane. ...

Bottom line is this; forget about these cheap expansions methods. Even if they work, your motherboard probably will not support it. Cheap motherboards tend to take shortcuts, which would explain everything. If you really want a solution, you will first need pro expensive motherboard. After that, you will need even more expensive expansion backplane. The only pcie switching chips that actually work are PLX and these chips are EXPENSIVE. Ever wondered why motherboards that support 4way CF/SLI are so expensive? Because they pack one or two PLX chips that cost 100 USD a piece. And forget about cheap chinese shit (just look at that 1x to 3x PCIe expansion board, it has some cheap chinese chip on top of it, no wonder it doesn't work). It is also highly unlikely that some chinese company would come out with their own designed motherboard; we all know that all they do is just copy and copy from west world and are incapable of designing stuff on their own.

several months ago i've tried the 1-to-3 multiplier, bought on ebay.
it works fine, mining with 3 nitro rx470.
the mainboard i use was biostar a68n-5000.
i think thats what the card do, multiply a mobo with only 1 or 2 slots.

with other mainboard such as gigabyte 5 slot it can work only 6 gpus.


rgds,

I heard the expansion cards work with Asrock H81 probtc.

[vapourminer]

I heard the expansion cards work with Asrock H81 probtc.

read about another adapter at techpowerup. turns 6 slot mobos into 8 slot mobos.

https://www.techpowerup.com/233317/biostar-releases-accessory-to-convert-your-gaming-pc-into-a-pro-mining-rig

8 cards with an adapter. works with the following mobos: RACING H170GT3, GAMING H170T, Hi-Fi H170S3H, Hi-Fi B150S1, Hi-Fi B150S1 D4, or TB150 PR

i would rather go with the lightning board if i can find 8 single slot cards. much neater and smaller package.

[pikachuy]

case is crap, can we buy board only ??

yes.
you can only buy the board.
lead time 3-4 weeks.

So, any updates to this? 4 weeks has passed...

[revelacaogr]

The Ultimate Bitcoin Mining Motherboard


With the huge popularity of cryptocurrency mining (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin), ASRock is launching a new motherboard with an incredible 13 PCIe slots. During Computex, ASRock will demonstrate the soon-to-be-launched H110 Pro BTC+ motherboard that is dedicated to serve mining users and show how to mine cryptocurrencies and earn Bitcoin efficiently.


http://www.asrock.com/news/index.asp?ID=3625

[generalt]

The Ultimate Bitcoin Mining Motherboard


With the huge popularity of cryptocurrency mining (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin), ASRock is launching a new motherboard with an incredible 13 PCIe slots. During Computex, ASRock will demonstrate the soon-to-be-launched H110 Pro BTC+ motherboard that is dedicated to serve mining users and show how to mine cryptocurrencies and earn Bitcoin efficiently.


http://www.asrock.com/news/index.asp?ID=3625

That looks very interesting.  Thanks for the link

[redmonski]

Your website has an error upon payment, please fix.

[dagarair]

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE.  His name is Jack by the way.

I like to think at least some know me on here and my word has a little merit hopefully.  Here is my story:

So I ordered units (panda miner type) he supposedly had in stock April 15th I sent him almost 70K down payment for 70 of them. I went to china to meet him in May and he shows me no production units, refuses to take me for factory tour and shows just a junk prototype and says there is a motherboard issue and they are delayed etc. Nothing but excuses. I knew for a fact there was no MB issues as I had visited the actual mfg facility the day before.  Today is June 11th and I finally got most of my $ back after showing him fake orders etc that I had in hand people waiting for 1000's of units. That way he was motivated by greed as an act of good faith to refund my initial deposit. I sent 68,750 total I got back 64,786 because of course he goes to the most expensive exchange and says that's the BTC rate. At least I got back most of my $ but DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE HE IS A SCUMBAG SCAMMER.

He might have other stuff, but he don't have 8x miners, trust me.  I flew down to China to see with my own eyes.  I am damn lucky I got my $ back.

[kurbeks]

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE.  His name is Jack by the way.

I like to think at least some know me on here and my word has a little merit hopefully.  Here is my story:

So I ordered units (panda miner type) he supposedly had in stock April 15th I sent him almost 70K down payment for 70 of them. I went to china to meet him in May and he shows me no production units, refuses to take me for factory and shows just a junk prototype and says there is a motherboard issue and they are delayed etc. Nothing but excuses. We knew for a fact there was no MB issues as we had visited the actual mfg the day before.  Today is June 11th and I finally got most of my $ back after showing him fake orders etc that I had in hand people waiting for units. That way he was motivated by greed as an act of good faith to refund my inital deposit. I sent 68,750 total I got back 64,786 because of course he goes to the most expensive exchange and says thats the rate. At least I got back most of my $ but DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE HE IS A SCUMBAG SCAMMER.

He might have other stuff, but he don't have 8x miners, trust me.  I flew down there to see with our own eyes.  I am damn lucky I got my $ back.

Thanx for sharing this. And sad about your loss

[iamnoobplzhelp]

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE.  His name is Jack by the way.

I like to think at least some know me on here and my word has a little merit hopefully.  Here is my story:

So I ordered units (panda miner type) he supposedly had in stock April 15th I sent him almost 70K down payment for 70 of them. I went to china to meet him in May and he shows me no production units, refuses to take me for factory tour and shows just a junk prototype and says there is a motherboard issue and they are delayed etc. Nothing but excuses. I knew for a fact there was no MB issues as I had visited the actual mfg facility the day before.  Today is June 11th and I finally got most of my $ back after showing him fake orders etc that I had in hand people waiting for 1000's of units. That way he was motivated by greed as an act of good faith to refund my initial deposit. I sent 68,750 total I got back 64,786 because of course he goes to the most expensive exchange and says that's the BTC rate. At least I got back most of my $ but DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DUDE HE IS A SCUMBAG SCAMMER.

He might have other stuff, but he don't have 8x miners, trust me.  I flew down to China to see with my own eyes.  I am damn lucky I got my $ back.

The broken English, shady responses, and crappy pictures weren't enough?

Well, I got some snake oil that I think might solve all your problems...