running GPUs off m.2NVME

[Pesky Ngon]

so I saw an LTT video about using an m.2 in an old laptop to gain performance but that isn't my intended use case. (video 

)

I have a desktop that I use as a workstation/gaming rig. for my work I need as many GPUs as I can get, but ive already populated all the 16x slots. but in this video he says you can get 4 lanes from each m.2. I have 2 m.2 slots...theoretically would I be able to run 2 extra cards from here? another thing that im wondering about, as you plug in more GPUs it reduces the lanes available. on my board its: 1GPU=one x 16lanes. 2GPU=two x 8lanes. 3GPU= two x 8lanes + one x 4lanes.

so seeming as this riser is meant to use 4lanes (each) would that mean I have less lanes overall, and if so how can I tell which ones will be reduced? (mobo is x370 gaming pro carbon)

[GoldenLag]

get a lane splitter and split the 16 lanes of each 16x slot into 4x lanes and 16x slots . 

 

what CPU and board are you using?

 

if you need a lot of GPUs then running them all in 4x mode is the way to go. 

[Pesky Ngon]

1 minute ago, GoldenLag said:

get a lane splitter and split the 16 lanes of each 16x slot into 4x lanes and 16x slots . 

 

what CPU and board are you using?

 

if you need a lot of GPUs then running them all in 4x mode is the way to go. 

hi, thanks for the suggestion. as I said the mobo is a x370 gaming pro carbon. the cpu is a 1600X. the idea you suggested sounds great, but if I can do that to the main pcie slots...could I do the m.2 slots as well to get even more GPUs?

[GoldenLag]

Just now, Pesky Ngon said:

hi, thanks for the suggestion. as I said the mobo is a x370 gaming pro carbon. the cpu is a 1600X. the idea you suggested sounds great, but if I can do that to the main pcie slots...could I do the m.2 slots as well to get even more GPUs?

shure, though i would look into guides on this as i dont think every mobo likes using the NVME slots. iirc the video mentioned that it wont work on all laptops. 

 

look into your workload to see if you can run even lower amount of lanes without inpacting performance in your workload. 4x barely impacts some GPUs and doesnt impact them in certain workloads. Workloads like mining doesnt care about the amount of lanes and can run 1x no problem. 

[Pesky Ngon]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

shure, though i would look into guides on this as i dont think every mobo likes using the NVME slots. iirc the video mentioned that it wont work on all laptops. 

 

look into your workload to see if you can run even lower amount of lanes without inpacting performance in your workload. 4x barely impacts some GPUs and doesnt impact them in certain workloads. Workloads like mining doesnt care about the amount of lanes and can run 1x no problem. 

yeah, its rendering so 4 lanes should make little to no difference with the cards im using. so its just a case of how many cards I can cram into one system for as little cost as possible. this board is fairly high quality, its meant to be a "premium" board, so I have high hopes for the m.2s working well. 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

12 minutes ago, Pesky Ngon said:

hi, thanks for the suggestion. as I said the mobo is a x370 gaming pro carbon. the cpu is a 1600X. the idea you suggested sounds great, but if I can do that to the main pcie slots...could I do the m.2 slots as well to get even more GPUs?

it is possible, I saw people do sli / crossfire (on x370) using m-itx board by m.2 and pciex16

[Pesky Ngon]

13 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

it is possible, I saw people do sli / crossfire (on x370) using m-itx board by m.2 and pciex16

that's great, thanks for the info.