Is it true that .......

[RockiLocky]

Is it true that you cannot go 3-way SLI with Z97 and previouse lineups and only do so with X99?

[qwertywarrior]

Is it true that you cannot go 3-way SLI with Z97 and previouse lineups and only do so with X99?

well yeah since nvidia requires a minimum of 8 lanes per GPU (in sli) for some stupid reason

but some boards do have PLX chips which give them more lanes

 

every CPU since lynnfield only had 16 lanes

its been 5 years and thats still the case on non E series CPUs

[ImBleu]

Short answer: yes.

 

But you can get away with it on certain motherboards, the more expensive upper-tier of the Z97 boards can natively support 3 way SLI, Nvidia requires a minimum 8x PCIE lane for a SLI setup, however these boards have chips that give them extra lanes, such that would already be apart of the X99 Hexacores. But honestly if you're in the budget for 3x GTX970, just get 2x GTX980 - if you are in the market for 3x GTX980s, you have no excuse not to afford X99.

[Bakersoft]

I all depends on your motherboard. I know an ASUS board that can do it. 

 

Link is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132126

[RockiLocky]

Short answer: yes.

 

But you can get away with it on certain motherboards, the more expensive upper-tier of the Z97 boards can natively support 3 way SLI. But honestly if you're in the budget for 3x GTX970, just get 2x GTX980 - if you are in the market for 3x GTX980s, you have no excuse not to afford X99.

Getting 1xGTX980 now with new build PC and wanted to add 2x980 down the line.

[RockiLocky]

well yeah since nvidia requires a minimum of 8 lanes per GPU (in sli) for some stupid reason

but some boards do have PLX chips which give them more lanes

 

every CPU since lynnfield only had 16 lanes

its been 5 years and that still the casee on non E series CPUs

Could you link me to some boards that are able to do it?

[ImBleu]

Getting 1xGTX980 now with new build PC and wanted to add 2x980 down the line.

 

3x GTX980 is a waste in basically every sense. I'd point you into either 2x GTX980s only, or into 3x GTX970s but I can almost not recommend 3x GTX980 (unless you can really justify it; 3x 1440p Surround?) 

 

Anyway If you are in the market for 3x 980s, you're almost commiting a crime not going with a 5820k, it's only marginally more expensive than the 4790k and can be coupled with the MSI X99S SLI Plus for a cheap-ish X99 rig that'll house your SLI nicely.

[AlwaysFSX]

No, there are Z97 boards with three way support through a PLX chip.

[Bakersoft]

Just remember that for SLI (nVidia) to work it needs at least an 8X port for each card. So if a board ever shows a 4X slot (even if it's a physical X16 slot, it can sometimes be electrically wired for only 4X) it cannot do SLI. But however, it can do Crossfire over X4 slots. Just a bonus AMD has over Nvidia is its multi-GPU support with lower end motherboard manufacturers.

[TheProfosist]

For mainstream platforms only 2 way sli is really suggested.

[TheProfosist]

Just remember that for SLI (nVidia) to work it needs at least an 8X port for each card. So if a board ever shows a 4X slot (even if it's a physical X16 slot, it can sometimes be electrically wired for only 4X) it cannot do SLI. But however, it can do Crossfire over X4 slots. Just a bonus AMD has over Nvidia is its multi-GPU support with lower end motherboard manufacturers.

Most x4 slots go through the chipset and doing link at only PCI-E 2.0 so there is a huge lack of bandwidth and increased latency so I couldn't suggest it.

[KamiKatze]

Your title is attention whoring.

[TheProfosist]

Your title is attention whoring.

Yep