Just trying to get a few things sorted with the GPUs

[The Print Craftsman]

So I have my build up and running.  But I'm trying to get everything working correctly.  I bought the Tiachi X299 Motherboard by Asrock.  I put the i7-7740X Kaby Lake Chip in it with 16 PCI lanes.  I also installed an M.2 NVMe Drive for my boot up drive.  It really rocks!!!  Toms Hardware says... 

 

Fed by the CPU’s PCIe controller, a PCIe-based (e.g. NVMe) drive will force the graphics card slots into x8/x0/x4/x0 mode when installed alongside a 16-lane (Kaby Lake-X) processor. On the plus side, the Taichi is also the first X299 motherboard we've tested that bypasses the bandwidth sharing problem of the chipset’s DMI by directly linking an M.2 slot to the CPU.

 

So exactly what does this mean?  I have 2 GPUs installed.  I remember both of them lighting up when I would turn the computer on.  But now that I have the M.2 Drive formatted and Windows installed on it the 2nd GPU does not light up anymore.  I'm not saying it isn't working necessarily but it doesn't light up with all the RGB lighting like it did at first.  Also, I have a third GPU that I want to add as well.  I assumed I could just pop it into the last empty slot available.  But now I'm wondering what the X8/X0/X4/X0 means?  My Auros GTX1080 is installed in the first slot.  My GTX1070 Seahawk is installed in the third slot.  And it looks like I could install a 2nd GTX1070 into the last slot.  I'll attach a picture.

 

But before I install the third card I want to be sure I can even run it?

 

Also, is the 2nd card not lighting up significant?  And how should I go about confirming that they are installed correctly and showing up correctly?  I looked in the BIOS and couldn't find anywhere the cards were shown.

[Siedge]

I use HWMonitor to show my currently installed GPUs (But device manager works just as good :D)

[The Print Craftsman]

 

15 minutes ago, Siedge said:

I use HWMonitor to show my currently installed GPUs (But device manager works just as good :D)

Thanks Siedge.  They do both show up in the Device Manager and indicate they are working properly.  Also, I downloaded the Nice Hash miner and it sees both of them as well.  So I guess I'm good to go.

 

I'm waiting on my 2nd Radiator and larger Reservoir.  But when they get here I want to put a 2nd GTX1070 Seahawk in that last empty slot.  Can I do that?  Or is my Kaby Lake 16 PCI lane chip going to prevent me?

[Siedge]

2 minutes ago, The Print Craftsman said:

 

Thanks Siedge.  They do both show up in the Device Manager and indicate they are working properly.  Also, I downloaded the Nice Hash miner and it sees both of them as well.  So I guess I'm good to go.

 

I'm waiting on my 2nd Radiator and larger Reservoir.  But when they get here I want to put a 2nd GTX1070 Seahawk in that last empty slot.  Can I do that?  Or is my Kaby Lake 16 PCI lane chip going to prevent me?

Can you tell me how what they are currently running at (x16, x8.. etc)

[The Print Craftsman]

9 minutes ago, Siedge said:

Can you tell me how what they are currently running at (x16, x8.. etc)

At the risk of sounding ignorant I am going to ask where I would find this information in the Device Manager.  I see both cards.  When I double click on them it gives me a small properties window with 5 tabs (General, Driver, Details, Events, Resources).  But I can't for the life of me figure out where the number of lanes they are using is displayed?

[Siedge]

Just now, The Print Craftsman said:

At the risk of sounding ignorant I am going to ask where I would find this information in the Device Manager.  I see both cards.  When I double click on them it gives me a small properties window with 5 tabs (General, Driver, Details, Events, Resources).  But I can't for the life of me figure out where the number of lanes they are using is displayed?

Hey don't worry, no such thing as stupid questions. Honestly for that you'll need to download GPU-Z

[The Print Craftsman]

Just now, Siedge said:

Hey don't worry, no such thing as stupid questions. Honestly for that you'll need to download GPU-Z

O.K.  I'll do that.

[The Print Craftsman]

5 minutes ago, Siedge said:

Hey don't worry, no such thing as stupid questions. Honestly for that you'll need to download GPU-Z

O.K.  Got it downloaded and running.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - Bus Interface: PCIe x16 3.0 @ x8 3.0

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 - Bus Interface: PCIe x16 3.0 @ x4 1.1

 

When I switch cards from the 1080 to the 1070 in the GPU-Z app.  The x4 3.0 changes to x4 2.0 and then to the x4 1.1.  Not sure what the implications are?

 

[The Print Craftsman]

Just now, The Print Craftsman said:

O.K.  Got it downloaded and running.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - Bus Interface: PCIe x16 3.0 @ x8 3.0

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 - Bus Interface: PCIe x16 3.0 @ x4 1.1

 

When I switch cards from the 1080 to the 1070 in the GPU-Z app.  The x4 3.0 changes to x4 2.0 and then to the x4 1.1.  Not sure what the implications are?

 

I assume the other 4 lanes are being used by my M.2 NVMe drive?

[The Print Craftsman]

Just now, The Print Craftsman said:

I assume the other 4 lanes are being used by my M.2 NVMe drive?

So that may mean I can't run a third card?  I'm beginning to understand why one of the forum members asked me WHY OH WHY did I buy a 7740X!  I may want to consider upgrading it to the 8-Core Skylake.

[Siedge]

3 minutes ago, The Print Craftsman said:

So that may mean I can't run a third card?  I'm beginning to understand why one of the forum members asked me WHY OH WHY did I buy a 7740X!  I may want to consider upgrading it to the 8-Core Skylake.

Okay to answer your original question, No you can't run a third card with that cpu, and secondly you may see some performance loss on that 1070 though I believe it would be very minimal. but yeah with current configuration you should be just fine but no additional cards are going to work

[The Print Craftsman]

Thanks for the help! I suppose if I took the M.2 Drive out and used a regular SATA driven SSD I could probably add the third card?  But I think before I do that I'll just upgrade my processor.  I hadn't planned on upgrading so soon but I just didn't realize the 7740X was going to be SO LIMITED.  I guess I just missed that while doing my homework. lol.