PCI-e risers

[cisto1999]

Hi,

 

is it possible to connect 5 GPUs via a 16x- shielded ribbon riser cables without worrying about  insufficient power for the PCIe slots or burning them out? Of course i would choose a mainboard which has an additional power-connector especially for PCI-Slots which most of the Intel x299 or AMD x399 MB have.

[cisto1999]

Nobody?

[The Benjamins]

do you mean 5 from one slot? most boards can't do that, and if they can I only seen up to 2 from 1 slot.

[cisto1999]

no... i mean 5 x16 ribbon-riser-cables in 5 different PCI-e slots - some high-end MB do have so many PCI-e slots if i recall correctly.

[pas008]

you mean 5 times 16x to 16x riser cables?

[cisto1999]

 

7 minutes ago, pas008 said:

you mean 5 times 16x to 16x riser cables?

Yes, exactly. If i understood it correctly that shouldn't be a problem anymore with the newer shielded cables from Thermaltake or LianLi in terms of interference.

[PrimeSonic]

Any motherboard capable of supporting that many graphics cards at once would be pretty special.

The PCIe riser cables aren't even going to be a problem.

 

A motherboard that could handle that would need to have an extra power intake just for the PCIe lanes.

The motherboard I have has one of those. It isn't needed when you're running just 1 or 2 graphics cards.

But if you start to push lots of overclocked graphics cards at the same, then the extra power can help with stability.

 

Not to mention that said graphics cards used would also need their own power directly from the PSU, so you'd need a beefy PSU for that anyways.

 

Are you thinking of doing your own "5 gamers 1 CPU" sorta thing?

[cisto1999]

No... i am considering such config as a rendering-rig for Blender.

[PrimeSonic]

Sounds cool.

 

All I can say is that whatever motherboard you choose, that it be one that has additional power delivery for PCIe slots.

Most motherboards don't have (or need) this. But if you want to have that many cards on a single board, you might need it.

Some high end motherboards will have an additional 4-pin plug near the PCIe slots. Those tend to go for higher prices.

But hey, if you're going in on 5 graphics cards, I doubt you'll mind the extra cost for a better motherboard.

 

And the second tip is to also be very selective in your choice of power supply.

Not only will it need to be high enough wattage to support everything under load but also will need to have enough physical connectors for everything.

 

Other than that, just get quality (shielded) PCIe riser extensions and you'll be fine.

The lengths you can go on PCIe extensions without degradation is surprising as seen on this rig.

(see how far the graphics card is form the motherboard)

 

So best of luck with this project.

I'm curious as to how you plan on mounting everything together and what case you'll use to fit it all in.

Share photos as you get them.