MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard with 7 GPU??

[dragonkid]

I am in the process in building a Litecoin Rig, and I am ordering the MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard. From the picture it looks like it can support 7 GPUs. But on a Internet article I read that someone made a 6 GPU rig using this motherboard.

Am I correct in thinking it can support 7 GPU?

[ssateneth]

Yes, this motherboard will detect and support 7 independant graphics cards. The G55 and G45 versions can only detect up to 6 independant graphics cards. This is because in the GD65 version, all 3 PCI-E 16x slots are driven by the CPU, leaving the 1x slots to the Z77 northbridge. In lower versions, the CPU only supports the upper 2 16x slots, leaving the northbridge to support the bottom 16x as well as the remaining 1x slots and whatever else that uses PCI-E lanes, but it doesn't have enough lanes to support everything at the same time, so one of the 2 pci-e 1x slots that are next to each other is turned off.

Requiring ivy bridge vs sandy bridge is a myth. Both processors only have 16 PCI-E lanes available. The only difference is Sandy Bridge is PCI-E 2.1 spec, and Ivy Bridge is PCI-E 3.0 spec, which has no impact on mining speeds or how the lanes are divided between the PCI-E slots.

Now, as far as your OS supporting 7 graphics cards is a whole other story. If you are using radeon 7k series cards and you choose Windows 7, you can run 4 cards using driver 12.8 or higher, or 5 cards using 12.6 or lower. If you choose windows 8, you can run 5 card if you choose driver 12.8 or higher, or you cna get 6 cards working with driver 12.6 which requires special installation steps. I have no experience with linux, you might be able to get all 7 working in linux.

If you are using 5k or 6k series cards, I recommend the 11.12 or 12.1 driver. There is no CPU bug, no need for dummy plugs, and supports 8 gpus in win7 or win8. No experience with linux. Most modern/later drivers have gpu quantity limitation.

Good choice for a motherboard if you choose to run a 7 card configuration, but I recommend feeding additional 12v power into at least 1 or 2 PCI-E slots.

[dragonkid]

Yes, this motherboard will detect and support 7 independant graphics cards. The G55 and G45 versions can only detect up to 6 independant graphics cards. This is because in the GD65 version, all 3 PCI-E 16x slots are driven by the CPU, leaving the 1x slots to the Z77 northbridge. In lower versions, the CPU only supports the upper 2 16x slots, leaving the northbridge to support the bottom 16x as well as the remaining 1x slots and whatever else that uses PCI-E lanes, but it doesn't have enough lanes to support everything at the same time, so one of the 2 pci-e 1x slots that are next to each other is turned off.

Requiring ivy bridge vs sandy bridge is a myth. It is not confirmed.

Now, as far as your OS supporting 7 graphics cards is a whole other story. If you are using radeon 7k series cards and you choose Windows 7, you can run 4 cards using driver 12.8 or higher, or 5 cards using 12.6 or lower. If you choose windows 8, you can run 5 card if you choose driver 12.8 or higher, or you cna get 6 cards working with driver 12.6 which requires special installation steps. I have no experience with linux, you might be able to get all 7 working in linux.

If you are using 5k or 6k series cards, I recommend the 11.12 or 12.1 driver. There is no CPU bug, no need for dummy plugs, and supports 8 gpus in win7 or win8. No experience with linux. Most modern/later drivers have gpu quantity limitation.

Thank you for your reply. I am going to order 7 GPUs. I will be running Linux, if it doesn't work I can always send one back. 

Cheers.

[Grim]

yes this mobo supports 7 gpus

You simply have too look how many PCI-e 3.0 slots the mobo supports which is 3 for the GD65, and only 2 for the GD 55 and 45.

However as stated above the driver is the issue for 7xxx cards.
Besides what ssateneth already stated you can also try the 13.1 driver from TECHPOWERUP !!! which for some strange reason lets you run more cards as well.
(ssateneth stated that elsewhere as well)

[polarhei]

You can connect up to seven if you dare.

However the connection may be in history as some people have modified the input method to speed up the harvesting while using GPUs for XOR operations.

[cryptolaxy]

I am in the process in building a Litecoin Rig, and I am ordering the MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard. From the picture it looks like it can support 7 GPUs. But on a Internet article I read that someone made a 6 GPU rig using this motherboard.

Am I correct in thinking it can support 7 GPU?

isnt that the GD80?

[Aurum]

yes this mobo supports 7 gpus

You simply have too look how many PCI-e 3.0 slots the mobo supports which is 3 for the GD65, and only 2 for the GD 55 and 45.

However as stated above the driver is the issue for 7xxx cards.
Besides what ssateneth already stated you can also try the 13.1 driver from TECHPOWERUP !!! which for some strange reason lets you run more cards as well.
(ssateneth stated that elsewhere as well)

Is there a reason for choosing 13.1 (TechPowerUp) versus 12.1 for Windows 7 or 8.1 

[crazyates]

This still the best MB for 7 GPUs? Anyone had any experience with this MB in Linux?

[ssateneth]

I'm getting an awful lot of PMs concerning scrypt mining and motherboards. Please, stop PMing me. I don't GPU mine anymore, let alone scrypt, and haven't for months. Anything that I mentioned on the boards is more or less a copy paste from other people's experiences. If your motherboard isn't detecting video cards, you need PCI-E presence mod (search for it). If it still doesn't detect, it is an isolated problem with the motherboard model and you need to consult your motherboard manual or manufacturer to see if certain slots are turned off when others are populated. If you have graphics cards getting detected but have some sort of driver problem or yellow ! mark, it is a driver or OS problem and you will likely need to move to Linux to get all your GPU driver installed. Windows does not support >4x R290 or >4x R290X, or any other video card that has come out past the release of the 13.1 driver (Includes the Radeon 7790, and probably all the newer R7/R9 series. -Maybe- not the 280X since it's just a rebadged Radeon 7970). To get them all installed, you need Linux. I cannot support you with this, because I have never used Linux. Please, search the forums.

[gtraah]

Does this need any shorting of 1 x pins, Or

Are you saying ALL 7 x GPUS Fit without any issues or modification

[aryanet]

I am in the process of setting up 6 GPUs on this motherboard using Linux. But I bought the case and power supplies for 6 GPUs, so I gave up on the idea to run 7.

I know that if you want to use the 7th PCI-e slot on this motherboard, you need to have a 3rd generation Intel Core processor, and Celeron won't work. That is an extra $100, so I thought I'll buy a second MB with that if I was happy with my experience.

About even using 6 Cards, I got some powered riser cables to power them separately as I read people have fried their MBs by not doing that.

[Cameltoemcgee]

I am in the process of setting up 6 GPUs on this motherboard using Linux. But I bought the case and power supplies for 6 GPUs, so I gave up on the idea to run 7.

I know that if you want to use the 7th PCI-e slot on this motherboard, you need to have a 3rd generation Intel Core processor, and Celeron won't work. That is an extra $100, so I thought I'll buy a second MB with that if I was happy with my experience.

About even using 6 Cards, I got some powered riser cables to power them separately as I read people have fried their MBs by not doing that.

Are you sure you need a non celeron processor?

[BitTrade]

Are you sure you need a non celeron processor?

Curious about this as well... does anyone have a source for this?

[Don007]

Sounds great, 7 GPU's on 1 mobo.

What GPU's are you going to choose? You should use Powered risers indeed, to control the hear. Please post pictures if your mining rig is ready

[aryanet]

I am in the process of setting up 6 GPUs on this motherboard using Linux. But I bought the case and power supplies for 6 GPUs, so I gave up on the idea to run 7.

I know that if you want to use the 7th PCI-e slot on this motherboard, you need to have a 3rd generation Intel Core processor, and Celeron won't work. That is an extra $100, so I thought I'll buy a second MB with that if I was happy with my experience.

About even using 6 Cards, I got some powered riser cables to power them separately as I read people have fried their MBs by not doing that.

Are you sure you need a non celeron processor?

The bottom PCIex16 slot on the Z77A-G65 Mobo has a sticker on it which reads: "Due to bandwidth allocation limitation, it is strongly recommended for users to install 3rd Gen Intel Core processors to enable functionality in the third PCI Express slot"

I think I misinterpreted their "recommendation" but the manual claims the 3rd generation Celeron enables it as well. The power will be split across 3 slots. If you are using 1, it acts as a 16pin PCIe, if you are using 2, it acts as 2 8pin, and if 3, the top one slot will be 8pin and bottom 2 will be 4 pin.

I setup my rig. I have 5 out of 6 R9 280x cards working and their optimal hashrate. What I notice is that the card connected to the 2nd PCIe x16 is not detected. I am using all powered risers and am using latest Catalyst Beta drivers and SDK with Ubuntu Saucy PXE booted over network. I think somehow, the 1st PCIe x16 is acting as a 16 pin so it is not distributing the power to the other slot enabling it. Currently I am trying to troubleshoot this problem. I was not going to use 7 cards BTW.

I have a celeron G1620 which is a Ivy Bridge CPU (http://ark.intel.com/products/codename/29902/Ivy-Bridge) so it should have enabled all 3 slots. I wonder if there is a BIOS magic.