PCI-E riser/extensions

[cupkakes]

Hi Folks,

Are there any potential issues with these things?
http://www.xcase.co.uk/Flexible-Single-Slot-PCI-Express-16x-Riser-Card-p/riser-slps057.htm
Can they be chained together and if so, to what length?

Cheers

[Jazkal]

They might be different from these:
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=23397.0

But they look real close.

[hennessy]

These are the ones that one user in this forum recently had trouble with. I think one of the lanes actually caught on fire. But I can't find the friggin thread right now, I know it was called something like "PCIE extension risers NOT to buy".
When I was searching for risers myself, I found an ebay auction where exactly these were sold but the Seller said in the description that they don't run with his mainboard which was the same as mine (MSI GD70) So I kept searching and found these:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220808834813&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
They make a very reliable and solid appeal and the lanes are double, that's what one of the guys said was missing at the other one and because of this they started to burn. At least they run perfectly with my rigs, no trouble so far.

EDIT
lol didn't even think of clicking the link above There you have it. But why won't the search find this thread..? 

[cupkakes]

Nice thanks guys - the price on that one you linked looks better too.

What do you think the limitations would be in regards to hooking 2 or 3 of these things together?

[cicada]

If you're asking about chaining them, at some point you're going to reach a too-high signal to noise ratio and the card will either act funny or not be recognized.

I don't have experience with them, and I'm not very familiar with PCIe specifications, so this could be 20" or 20 feet..

Every coupling you make (by chaining them) will degrade the signal slightly at the very least.

[chungenhung]

how do you chain these things?
If that is possible, we can put 10 or 20 cards in one machine.

[cicada]

how do you chain these things?
If that is possible, we can put 10 or 20 cards in one machine.

Er.. no.. what I'm talking about is connecting two together.. eg, two 12cm extenders become one 24cm extender.

[gellimac]

cheaper one : http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180664163704

[cupkakes]

Thanks, I've been reading about a bit and have seen some folk using x1 extension cables instead and only having the first few pins on the card connected. Would this cause any performance issues?

[cicada]

Thanks, I've been reading about a bit and have seen some folk using x1 extension cables instead and only having the first few pins on the card connected. Would this cause any performance issues?

None at all for mining.  Gaming on the other hand..  The only difference between PCIe 1x and PCIe 16x is the amount of bandwidth available to the card.  Mining uses very little bandwidth, and so PCIe 1x works just fine.

[mikeo]

I've had really good service from CableSaurus (http://cablesaurus.com/) his cable are mostly 19cm in length and he accepts Bitcoin!

[cupkakes]

Thanks guys. Taking into consideration postage costs from the States, and delivery time from Hong Kong / China (I'm in the UK) I'm going to grab a couple of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PCI-Express-PCI-E-1X-Riser-Card-Extender-Cable-Ribbon-/270721665018?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_InterfaceCards&hash=item3f0844c7fa

Should do the trick - thanks again!

[cupkakes]

Extenders arrived today, I had to hack the ends off them with a knife so that the graphics card pins could slot down, but it's now all installed and working fine with no performance reduction at all...

http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/2672/20110716161658.th.jpg

Cooling problem sorted, now I've even got room for a 4th card, chuffed 

[mikeo]

Nice! What's your hashrate with those three 5870s?

[macharborguy]

What is your opinions on one of these (the sales page is actually for two of them though): http://www.9mart.com/products/2-Lots-PCI%252dE-PCIe-PCI%252dExpress-1X-To-16X-Riser-Card-for-1U%7B47%7D2U-Chassis.html

Do these, for the most part, actually work?  Seems a lot nicer than having to mod a x1 to x1 adapter in order to fit the x16 card, as this specific adapter already allows for it.  Just got to get a nice area to mount the second card.  Then again, I have plenty of extra cases collecting dust that I could mount it into.

[fitty]

Extenders arrived today, I had to hack the ends off them with a knife so that the graphics card pins could slot down, but it's now all installed and working fine with no performance reduction at all...



Cooling problem sorted, now I've even got room for a 4th card, chuffed 

I don't think I've seen any setup like that. You're running 3x5870s? How is the heat with them lying flat like that? That seems like a perfect setup.

If you secured it and flipped the whole thing over (drawing air up from below, letting the hot air rise it might be even better. Nice job. =)

[cupkakes]

Yeah I'm running 3 x 5870s at 418MHash/s per card. Each card is clocked at 945MHz core and 315MHz memory (stock voltage), and they run at between 63c - 67c depending on the weather outside (they're near an open window).

I ran them sideways also, as like they were when plugged directly into the motherboard, but with the new spacing apart. They ran about 2.5c - 3c hotter each, so laying flat definitely helps. I hadn't given much thought to running them cover down, I had assumed that because hot air rises that that would cause more of a buildup. Though, now that I think about it, the main exhaust outlets are on the bottom of the casing, so the hot air might be expelled better this way, rather than being trapped in the upper half of the casing.

I might flip one later on this evening and see how the temps run in comparison.

[haploid23]

i have chained two together before, and it works fine. just keep in mind that pci-e signals are not designed to travel across long distances of cable. two 19inch cables worked fine for me, i have not tried 3 yet.

[cicada]

i have chained two together before, and it works fine. just keep in mind that pci-e signals are not designed to travel across long distances of cable. two 19inch cables worked fine for me, i have not tried 3 yet.

Good to know

I'd recommend the last extender in the chain be one with the molex power adapter; a longer chain = higher resistance = more heat in the wire, which could potentially cause some fire-like problems when they're pushing 75W from the mobo socket.

[haploid23]

i also forgot to add that even the small x1 pci-e does not even use all the pins on there. i got a bad on from hong kong, and it was missing some 3.3v and ground pins, but the video card still works fine when using this defective extension. whether or not it's bad for my card or hurt the longevity of it, i do not know.