ASUS prime x370 pro: GPU hell

[Eigencentrality]

I got an ASUS prime x370 pro a month ago.  I'm trying to build an inexpensive but powerful rig.  It's going to be for scientific computing and gaming.  I want both high single precision GFLOP and high double precision GFLOP.  Any decent card from Nvidia or AMD developed in the last year or two has huge single precision GFLOP (the RX 580 does something like 6.1 TFLOP).  Game developers don't seem to use a lot of double precision variables, which I don't get, but whatever.  You have to get a gpgpu to build something useful for modern scientific computing.  That means an Nvidia Tesla or an AMD FireStream. 

 

I found an awesome deal on some old Tesla k20 cards.  Plugging these into the x370pro was a complete bust.  I did what I could, and went back and forth with ASUS support for 2+ weeks. They twice referred my case to the "engineers".  I hoped the "engineers" were poly-dimensional beings ASUS had captured and harnessed to do their bidding.  If so, you can tell they don't want to be there.  The interchange between me and ASUS boils down to:

Me: "Doctor ASUS, I can't move my arm!  What should I do?"

Doctor ASUS: "Did you try moving your arm? .... if that doesn't work check if your arm is on the QVL; if not, your arm must not be compatible with your body."

Me: "Seriously?  Not being able to move my arm was the problem.  It can't be the solution.  And, your QVL only lists a left arm from a 3-year old."

Doctor ASUS: "Thanks for coming.  How was your visit?"

Me: "I just told you. [repeats above].  I think your poly-dimensional being ignored me."

Doctor ASUS: "That terrible.  I'm going to give this to some of our other poly-dimensional beings for thorough review."

...

Me: "Doctor ASUS? Are you there?  Any word from Cthulhu and pals?"

Doctor ASUS: "Did you try moving your arm? .... if that doesn't work check if your arm is on the QVL; if not, your arm must not be compatible with your body."

 

I gave up on ASUS support.  I got a good deal on Amazon for two RX 580s.  Those two together will get me a bit of double precision power.  Plus, Crossfire!  And... no.  I can't get the damn mobo to even recognize a second 580.  It only gives me x8 for one card.

I have troubleshooted the sh*t out of this board.  I know the PCIE slots are all capable of functioning.  I've updated and reverted the bios.  I've overclocked CPU, RAM, ..., underclocked, overvolted, undervolted.  The hardware all should work.  But when I try to make it work, it limps along.

 

Please tell me that I missed something obvious.  Suggestions (other than "buy another board/gpu/heatsink/psu/house...")?

[FloRolf]

What cpu are I using? 

[Eigencentrality]

ryzen 3 2200g (stock cooler)

16 GB (2x8) Patriot DDR4 3200

500 W psu bronze

2 x sapphire rx 580 pulse

4TB seagate barracuda hd

[Eigencentrality]

Ryzen 3 only supports DDR4 up to ~3000 MHz

(FYI The 2200g has a base clock of 3.5 GHz and runs smooth up to 4.15 GHz)

[Eigencentrality]

The RX 580 draws ~185W.  Ryzen 3 2200g draws 65W.  Rest of the system is light weight enough.  The 500 W psu ought to be sufficient for 2 RX 580s.  Under load it might be pushing it, but, I'm talking about recognizing the second GPU.  I'll deal with performance when it gets off the ground. 

 

Ambient temp between 69 F (20.55 C) to 74 F (23.33 C).  The BIOS typically shows the CPU between 48 C and 51 C.

 

[Eigencentrality]

51.8 meters above sea level

[FloRolf]

3 hours ago, Eigencentrality said:

ryzen 3 2200g

Your issue is right here and not 

11 minutes ago, Eigencentrality said:

51.8 meters above sea level

Here.... 

 

 

The Ryzen APUs (2200G and 2400G) only have 12 pcie lanes available due to the iGPU. If you wanna use a dual GPU config you need a different CPU (literally any, even first Gen Ryzen).

 

 

Please also use the quote function so I get a notification that you replied or use the tag function @Eigencentrality

[Eigencentrality]

3 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

Your issue is right here and not 

Here.... 

 

 

The Ryzen APUs (2200G and 2400G only have 12 pcie lanes available due to the iGPU. If you wanna use a dual GPU config you need a different CPU (literally any, even first Gen Ryzen).

 

 

Please also use the quote function so I get a notification that you replied or use the tag function @Eigencentrality

Damn.  One reason I got a Ryzen (beside cost) is I thought they all had more pcie lanes than their price-performance Intel counterparts.

 

Thanks so much.

[FloRolf]

11 minutes ago, Eigencentrality said:

Damn.  One reason I got a Ryzen (beside cost) is I thought they all had more pcie lanes than their price-performance Intel counterparts.

 

Thanks so much.

Sure thing mate

 

BTW ryzens are still price/performance kings but you just got unlucky. Next time start a topic on here before you buy the components just so we can quickly check if everything will be working fine

 

[Origami Cactus]

6 hours ago, Eigencentrality said:

Damn.  One reason I got a Ryzen (beside cost) is I thought they all had more pcie lanes than their price-performance Intel counterparts.

 

Thanks so much.

If you got ryzen without Igpu that would have been better, such as the r5 2600.

[Eigencentrality]

On 6/9/2019 at 6:39 AM, Origami Cactus said:

If you got ryzen without Igpu that would have been better, such as the r5 2600.

That's just what I got.  Ought to arrive this evening.

 

The rig still needs an m.2 ssd hd to speed things up.  It will be interesting to see if the Tesla k20 works.

[Eigencentrality]

On 6/9/2019 at 6:39 AM, Origami Cactus said:

If you got ryzen without Igpu that would have been better, such as the r5 2600.

Dual RX-580s work like a charm with the r5 2600.  Thanks again.

 

Gotta get a better heatsink.  The fan on that stock cooler is loud as hell.  Not great cooling either.

[Big Head Tech]

On 6/8/2019 at 9:15 PM, Eigencentrality said:

ryzen 3 2200g (stock cooler)

16 GB (2x8) Patriot DDR4 3200

500 W psu bronze

2 x sapphire rx 580 pulse

4TB seagate barracuda hd

The 2200g has reduced PCI-E Lanes due to vega graphics.

[Eigencentrality]

On 6/9/2019 at 6:39 AM, Origami Cactus said:

If you got ryzen without Igpu that would have been better, such as the r5 2600.

 

Little update: Ryzen 5 2600 works great with the RX 580 cards.  Although, they still only run x8 on the PCIe 3.0 x16 slots: one alone and both together.

 

The Tesla k20 cards refuse to cooperate.  I've tried every combination and setting.  I can't even get them recognized using a x16 to x1 powered riser.  My guesses are the x370 chipset or something else intrinsic to the motherboard can't handle the k20.  Nvidia probably doesn't strain themselves on compatibility issues when it comes to its Tesla line.

[Eigencentrality]

On 6/13/2019 at 11:42 AM, Eigencentrality said:

 

Little update: Ryzen 5 2600 works great with the RX 580 cards.  Although, they still only run x8 on the PCIe 3.0 x16 slots: one alone and both together.

 

The Tesla k20 cards refuse to cooperate.  I've tried every combination and setting.  I can't even get them recognized using a x16 to x1 powered riser.  My guesses are the x370 chipset or something else intrinsic to the motherboard can't handle the k20.  Nvidia probably doesn't strain themselves on compatibility issues when it comes to its Tesla line.

I ended up needed to reset the BIOS by shorting the board.  Afterward, the board worked better than ever.  It finally recognizes a single RX 580 as x16.