Soooo, would this work for mining? PCIe to USB 3.0 controller

[kibblesnbits]

Apologies if it's been posted before.  I tried looking on the forum and didn't see it..

http://plxtech.com/files/products/usbcontrollers/pcie_to_usb3.html

[1714690740]

1714690740

[1714690740]

1714690740

[DeathAndTaxes]

Probably but AMD drivers have a limit of 8 GPUs.  The cost per slot isn't very high for most boards.

$60 board w/ 4 slots = $15 per slot.
$100 board w/ 5 slots = $20 per slot.
$140 board w/ 6 slots = $23 per slot.

If AMD had no GPU limit it might be more interesting.

[tritium]

also it depends how much power can be supplied through the USB3, can it do 75w like the PCIe or would it be limited to low power/low end graphics cards

[DeathAndTaxes]

also it depends how much power can be supplied through the USB3, can it do 75w like the PCIe or would it be limited to low power/low end graphics cards

You could rig up an short extender to supply power via Molex connector. I would imagine it has an external PSU though as all cards use the bus for some power.  Low end cards don't really pull any less than high end ones (~20W to 40W).

[Jaryu]

Probably but AMD drivers have a limit of 8 GPUs.  The cost per slot isn't very high for most boards.

$60 board w/ 4 slots = $15 per slot.
$100 board w/ 5 slots = $20 per slot.
$140 board w/ 6 slots = $23 per slot.

If AMD had no GPU limit it might be more interesting.

isn't the problem in part due to the bios, since this would only boot the card "after" post and inside windows/linux all they would need is to do is release the driver lock on card number and enjoy a 256 card in a single rig :p

BTW are those for sale somewhere? I couldn't find any info on company site and Google didn't turn up anything either.

[kibblesnbits]

That's what I was thinking, it would be a limitation of USB, not PCIe.
The links to merchants are on their website, however some are dead. (not a good sign)
Video looked pretty straight forward, though. 

[Jaryu]

can't find a single product that uses that chip and any attempt to search using the obvious "usb to pci express" or variations with the 3382 chip returns every ad for a pci express usb host controller.... urg...

[N.Olmos]

I think this is the part.

PLX Technology
USB3382-AA50NI G
TWO X1-PORT PCI EXPRESS GEN 2.0 TO USB 3.0 SUPERSPEED PERIPH

One Source
http://avnetexpress.avnet.com/store/em/EMController?action=products&catalogId=500201&storeId=500201&N=0&langId=-1&slnk=e&term=USB3382-AA50NI%22G&mfr=PLZ&hrf=http%3A%2F%2Foctopart.com%2Fusb3382-aa50ni%252Bg-plx-19995644&CMP=KNC-Octopart_VSE

Parts List
http://www.plxtech.com/products/usbcontrollers/partlisting

Download Product Brief
http://www.plxtech.com/products/usbcontrollers/usb3382

[PulsedMedia]

So USB3.0 device to connect 2x PCI-E devices?
On another thread there was just talk about this, i thought i had seen something like this but thinking it had to be a joke or something ...

Anyone know who has these actually on sale and at a price?

[DeathAndTaxes]

That's what I was thinking, it would be a limitation of USB, not PCIe.
The links to merchants are on their website, however some are dead. (not a good sign)
Video looked pretty straight forward, though. 

There are three limits.
1) AMD drivers have a hardcoded limit of 8 devices.  AMD has indicated no intentions of increasing this.
2) Unlike NVidia, AMD drivers are hard linked to xorg (or Aero in windows).  They ARE Graphics cards which we happen to mine.  Not general purpose compute modules which CAN be used as graphics cards.  Neither xorg nor windows support more than 8 graphics cards.
3) There is a BIOS limit as each PCIe device needs to be allocated memory.  Foolishly most bioses are working with very small memory range.  Using USB 3.0 doesn't magic away the problem.  This is simply a USB 3.0 to PCIe bridge.  It will be seen by the BIOS as additional PCIe slots which have devices that need to be initialized.

Issue #3 has been solved by custom BIOS.  Issue #2 has been solved by custom version of xorg which ignores the GPUs (doesn't see them as GPUs).  However these have only been solved on NVidia based systems.

AMD hardcoded device limit combined with hard linking to graphical subsystem of the OS is a project killer.  Without AMD joining the 21st century and treating GPUs as independent computing engines (like NVidia does) you won't have more than 8 GPU per rig.

[PulsedMedia]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

[Jaryu]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

I've seen mother boards with 8 PCIe slots, they just cost too much. And for 8 x 7970s you could get 6 of the 7990s when they come out.

[PulsedMedia]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

I've seen mother boards with 8 PCIe slots, they just cost too much. And for 8 x 7970s you could get 6 of the 7990s when they come out.

I seriously doubt 7990 is only 33% more expensive per card. Try more like 80%.

7970s are damn cheap right now, well for me atleast ...

[Jaryu]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

I've seen mother boards with 8 PCIe slots, they just cost too much. And for 8 x 7970s you could get 6 of the 7990s when they come out.

I seriously doubt 7990 is only 33% more expensive per card. Try more like 80%.

7970s are damn cheap right now, well for me atleast ...

The 7990s have had their price out for more than 4 months. You can just search for it, in 100% of places that talk about it's always the same $ 850 for the basic reference design. If retailers are going to pad the price some then I don't know.

[PulsedMedia]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

I've seen mother boards with 8 PCIe slots, they just cost too much. And for 8 x 7970s you could get 6 of the 7990s when they come out.

I seriously doubt 7990 is only 33% more expensive per card. Try more like 80%.

7970s are damn cheap right now, well for me atleast ...

The 7990s have had their price out for more than 4 months. You can just search for it, in 100% of places that talk about it's always the same $ 850 for the basic reference design. If retailers are going to pad the price some then I don't know.

Exactly like i assumed, that is pretty much double price.

[P_Shep]

Buuuuuuut...

*Could* it be used to add PCIe devices to, say, a Rasberry Pi?

Maybe... maybe...

[P_Shep]

Wait, that would require USB 3.0 on a Raspberry Pi.

Nevermind!

[PulsedMedia]

Wait, that would require USB 3.0 on a Raspberry Pi.

Nevermind!

Doesn't Raspberry Pi have some USB interface?
USB is backwards compatible on that direction too, i think.

[P_Shep]

Wait, that would require USB 3.0 on a Raspberry Pi.

Nevermind!

Doesn't Raspberry Pi have some USB interface?
USB is backwards compatible on that direction too, i think.

Yeah, USB 2.0.

[mc_lovin]

Yes, but you could using these have more than 5x7970 on single rig

But mostly they are just curiosities

I've seen mother boards with 8 PCIe slots, they just cost too much. And for 8 x 7970s you could get 6 of the 7990s when they come out.

you can't have 6x 7990 running in the same box because that's 12 GPUs.