MSI Z170A GAMING M5 - 7 GPU [SOLVED]

[CryptoOne]

hello,

i'm having high cpu utilization, mostly due to system interrupts.

using z170 gaming m5, and GTX 1060 3GB cards, 7 gpu, 6 gpu, 5 gpu, same issue, tried both windows 10 and NVoc with same issue of very high CPU, and mining crashes.

tried Claymore 9.7 9.4, Ethminer, same issue again.
tried recent nvidia driver, older driver, same issue.

anyone had such an issue, would appreciate the help, it's driving me crazy.  

As I have found out on my board, this is due to the PCIe version. Go into the UEFI and manually set the PCIe version from "Auto" down to "1.0" - this resolved my high cpu load issues.

It took me forever to trace this down because sometimes boots would work great and other times they would do what you are experiencing. Thanks to GPUZ I was able to discover this fix.

PEG 0 & 1 are set and working as gen 1 according to GPU Z, the other 5 PCIE slots / GPUs are working still at gen 3, no matter what i do.

reminder, this is windows 10, any help on this is much appreciated people

[themonkii]

Msi z270a pro uefi w10 gen1 or gen2 or gen3 and 4g enable. After boot black screen/ restart system.

Was uefi enabled when you installed Windows 10? I made a post previous in this thread where I clearly laid out how to get this board setup w 8 GPU's for dual mining. If you follow the process I did to a T - it will work. Deviate from it, and spend days of frustration. LOL, I know - it was 2 weeks of pure hell.

As a side note, In the end, I ended up burning the board due to a short. I would never buy another one TBH.

[BennyT]

With this bone ard I've found that you have to mix and match the PCI E locations. On my Asus I just plug in the cards one at a time and it works. On this board I get 6 working, then 7, then 5, then 6, then 3. When you get 8 cards working it's like you hit the lottery.

I love the board but it's a little bit of a pain to work with. For me anyway.

[kapitank]

thanks talat .         u seem like from middle east ..     me too .. I,m for Egypt ..

but tell me ?   is there is a Celeron Skylake ?     or its I series only ?  i3 i5  i7 ?
will sky lake dual core work ?
Intel Pentium G4400 Skylake Dual-Core 3.3GHz LGA 1151   ??

can u tell me which processor u were using first ?  I don,t want to fall into the same problem

It doesn't work ..... í te with a G4400 Skylake and  when i  turn on the G4 option the system doesn't start    

Ok i made it work. On Windows 10x64 .... it is a pain in the A** .... i modify bios to version 1d ,  Above 4G Decoding set to Enabled.... but most important Windows OS Configuration
Windows 8.1 / 10 = "Enabled"....

It was very hard to install correctly the driver but finally it works

Could  you share  your bios mod??
Thank you!

[BennyAndDeJets]

I'm having trouble booting up with 7 GPUs and I've followed every step in the intro post.  Any recommendations?

[BennyT]

I'm having trouble booting up with 7 GPUs and I've followed every step in the intro post.  Any recommendations?

Try moving around the PCIe chips into different slots and see if you get different results. I always have to do that on MSI boards to get the GPU's fired up.

[Mr.Argful]

I MANAGED TO RUN 8x GPU

I've been reading alot, that it is not possible to run 8x GPU with z170a chipset.
So, i have to say this is not true and i just registered here to write my experience.

I'm running 8x GPU on MSI Z170A Gaming M7. I'm using one of the M.2 Slots to get the 8th one working with an adapter

Furthermore, all the described steps are wrong in my eyes. My solution took several hours and days, because it
was just not possible to boot into windows with most tutorials (always dark grey backlit screen). Windows couldnt boot!

I'm getting some PCIe Splitters now, so i split 1 slot into 3 slots, and then i'm going to try to run 10 GPU on this board!

However, if you want me to describe my solution, just ask.
I'm @ work so i can't proof it now. My Hashrate was 228MH/s in average (using 1 rx 580, 3 rx 570 and 4 rx 480) and 1.250W from the wall.
I know consumption could be better but all cards are different so its very hard to find stable voltages and clocks.
All cards are samsung and i'm using ubermix straps. only 1 hynix card...

Tutorial on how to get 8 GPUS+ working can be requested, i'm gonna write one. Donation will be highly appreciated.

Best regards

Mr.Argful

[BennyT]

People have been running 8 GPUs on this board for over a year.. not rocket science

[Mr.Argful]

People have been running 8 GPUs on this board for over a year.. not rocket science

Obviously not, because i spent hours to find solutions in the internet. Your post is just fictive and not true.
Tons of posts confirm, that they were not able to run 8x GPU on Z170A Gaming M7, so better inform yourself
instead of providing wrong information. Go posthunt somewhere else 


For all others who run into the same messy situation and are desperately trying to find a solution,
just ask me.

Best regards,

Mr.Argful

[Gillzilla]

Many thanks to all of these posts, which I know are a bit dated.

Got a MSI Z170A Gaming M7 and experienced the exact same issues.

Used 'themonkii''s recommended order of adding GPUs to each slot, after making sure I had all the settings configured correctly, and I was able to get all 7 GPUs recognized.

IS THERE A TRICK TO GETTING THE M.2, WITH PCI ATTACHMENT, TO WORK?

I'm running w/ 6 GPUs now because I have to use one of the slots for a WIFI connection (till I get a dedicated line installed upstairs where the rig is going).

But sure would like to be able to use 1 or 2 of the M.2 connections for another GPU.

The M.2 didn't recognize my PSUS WIFI when connected to it, nor did it work / recognize the Nvidia 1060 GPU.

Not sure if there is anything that needs to be configured to activate the M.2 connection, or if perhaps my adapter is crap and just not working.

My thanks to 'themonkii' and 'Benny T' and the others who posted the above, as without it there is NO WAY to get these working. These MSIs are not 'plug and play' to be used for mining, since it's painfully obvious you have to do Houdini tricks to make them work.

TO THIS POINT - Any motherboard recommendations where connecting the MB to the GPUs is very simple / plug & play, and avoid all of these gyrations to get these MSI Z170 (or similar) boards connected and up & running?

I got a ASUS B250 Mining Expert initially, but the MB did not recognize the GPU when connected via the riser. It worked just fine when the GPU was connected to the x16 slot directly to the MB. The support folks at ASUS have really let me down here, because after 3 weeks and a dozen calls / emails, NOT A SINGLE RECOMMENDATION HAS BEEN MADE TO TROUBLESHOOT / DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM (e.g. they asked if I had power to the board (duh), check the risers....when I told them 3 times the GPUs and risers checked out when connected to another MB).

Thanks again for all of ya'lls help w/ these postings.

Gillzilla.

[djdanrt]

Just FYI, I'm running 6 GPU with a G3930(Kabylake) Bios 7977v1E. I'm using SMOS. BIOS settings, Video onboard, PEG 0,1 =Auto, 64bit pci, Above 4G Memory.