Which motherboards can support 4-6 graphics cards?

[N[e]wBie]

is MSI the only viable brand? What about gigabytes? Are the small PCI slots (not the pci-express) usable for these cards?

[Colin Miner]

this one will manager 5 cards without power risers with 2 x 1kwt psu ?
(r9 290)
MSI FM2-A85XA-G43

How much is that roughly?

$138.84 (inc US delivery)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYSD8R2/ref=as_li_

[Colin Miner]

is MSI the only viable brand? What about gigabytes? Are the small PCI slots (not the pci-express) usable for these cards?

The 1xPCI-e little slots need an adaptor to fit a 16x card, use one like this one on ebay use the ebay powered ones in the post below
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-Extension-Cable-1X-To-16X-Riser-Extender-Card


Or hack the card to fit the slot and short some pins to identify the card as a 1x slot version
http://lifehacker.com/5951156/convert-a-pci+e-x16-video-card-to-fit-a-x1-slot-with-a-diamond-cutting-wheel


as for gigabyte, try http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00518M74I/ref=as_li for the Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard



You can use all the slots EXCEPT the two arrowed (PCI) as they only run at 33MHz which is useless for a GPU.

[takagari]

this one will manager 5 cards without power risers with 2 x 1kwt psu ?
(r9 290)
MSI FM2-A85XA-G43

How much is that roughly?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=MSI+FM2-A85XA-G43

Unpowered riser's really? hmmm

[Colin Miner]

this one will manager 5 cards without power risers with 2 x 1kwt psu ?
(r9 290)
MSI FM2-A85XA-G43

How much is that roughly?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=MSI+FM2-A85XA-G43

Unpowered riser's really? hmmm

Sorry, my bad. Don't use unpowered risers for GPUs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-16X-to-1X-Adapter-Riser-Card-Flex-Extension-Cable-w-Molex-Power


lmgtfy.com still makes me smile 

[takagari]

this one will manager 5 cards without power risers with 2 x 1kwt psu ?
(r9 290)
MSI FM2-A85XA-G43

How much is that roughly?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=MSI+FM2-A85XA-G43

Unpowered riser's really? hmmm

Sorry, my bad. Don't use unpowered risers for GPUs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-E-16X-to-1X-Adapter-Riser-Card-Flex-Extension-Cable-w-Molex-Power

I hate questions like that, lol.
Suggestions on the best FM@ AMD CPU for that mobo? seen some cheap 3.2Ghs dual core's, would that suffice the rig?

lmgtfy.com still makes me smile 

[Colin Miner]

Suggestions on the best FM@ AMD CPU for that mobo? seen some cheap 3.2Ghs dual core's, would that suffice the rig?

I would go for cheapest processor that's compatible, you don't need fire breathing processors for mining. That way you will ROI more quickly. But resale value is always a consideration unless you mine it to death  


http://www.msi.com/product/mb/FM2-A85XA-G43.html#/?div=CPUSupport


The 340X Athlon X2 FM2 (Trinity) versions should be on the cheap side
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=fm2 athlon amd x2

[N[e]wBie]

I am in Thailand and there is a very limited supply of motherboards available here, I don't know anywhere that ships here. I am looking for a motherboard and processor; I have all the other parts, but they are just sitting around! Will
GB Z87-D3HP (Intel 1150) http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4519#ov
be a decent choice? I don't have many other options; they seem to lack AMD boards here. Asrock Extreme 3 is available but I think it would only support 3 GPUs, is that right?  What intel processor would be decent?

[ibrahim11]

Isn't asrock extreme4 970 good? I'm gonna buy that. How many gpu's can fit on that?

[empoweoqwj]

I am in Thailand and there is a very limited supply of motherboards available here, I don't know anywhere that ships here. I am looking for a motherboard and processor; I have all the other parts, but they are just sitting around! Will
GB Z87-D3HP (Intel 1150) http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4519#ov
be a decent choice? I don't have many other options; they seem to lack AMD boards here. Asrock Extreme 3 is available but I think it would only support 3 GPUs, is that right?  What intel processor would be decent?

I bought MSI in Panthip Plaza in Bangkok ......

[N[e]wBie]

I am in Chiang Mai, jedicool is ignoring me and invadeit is out of stock
I think ASrock extreme 4 is one of the best mining boards, AFAIK. I don't know which of the ones available here are decent though.

[barkinos98]

Soon im going to buy either the Z87 G55 or the Z87 G45 Gaming from MSI.
Both boards are identical, except the latter has a different color scheme, is a tad more expensive and has better audio, all which shouldn't matter for mining. No extra accessories except the gaming one has a door hanger, and thats about it.
Has 3x full size and 4x x1 sized PCIE, wihch im thinking of filling with 7 of R9 290s.
And yes you should ue powered risers for x1 sized ones (smallest) but idk about the x16 ones, you might not need to.

[kaz911]

Soon im going to buy either the Z87 G55 or the Z87 G45 Gaming from MSI.
Both boards are identical, except the latter has a different color scheme, is a tad more expensive and has better audio, all which shouldn't matter for mining. No extra accessories except the gaming one has a door hanger, and thats about it.
Has 3x full size and 4x x1 sized PCIE, wihch im thinking of filling with 7 of R9 290s.
And yes you should ue powered risers for x1 sized ones (smallest) but idk about the x16 ones, you might not need to.

Watch out for R290 cards compatibility with different motherboards. I have 2 brand new MB's that will not run the R290 (Sapphire) with setting that generate > 400 kHash. One is Gigabyte Intel based Z87X-OC - the other is an Asrock 970 Extreme 4 AMD based. I tried all R290 (Sapphire x 2, ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte) firmware combo's before I gave up and plugged it into a ASUS X79 based board where each run at 880-900 kHash. And that was even without any risers and only 1 card in different PCI-E slots (yes tried every combo to get that crap working)

So I would recommend getting a full right of return on the board if it wont run.  My 7970 Rig runs fine on the above MB's without hardware failures.

here are my Sapphire R290 BFG settings for 880-900 k - "--worksize 256 --lookup-gap 2 -I 20 -g 1 --thread-concurrency 32765 --gpu-engine 1000 --gpu-memclock 1250-1500 --temp-target 83 --auto-fan --gpu-fan 25-100 --gpu-powertune 20 --temp-overheat 95"

Rig runs stable with max temperature of 83 - usually about 81/82. Fan speed around 70-80% average in 24 Deg C room.

[empoweoqwj]

I am in Chiang Mai, jedicool is ignoring me and invadeit is out of stock
I think ASrock extreme 4 is one of the best mining boards, AFAIK. I don't know which of the ones available here are decent though.

Ah .... much less selection in Chiang Mai for sure. You've been round the Panthip Plaza there presumably? I know its very small comparitively but there are several shops that sell "gaming hardware" - one might do MSI boards.