Pcie 16x to duel 8x posible?

[ETHREAL1]

So I’ve been thinking about trying to do one of the smallest multi GPU rigs ever and I have an idea but I’m not sure if it’s posible...

 

can I turn one full pcie 16x slot into two pcie 8x slots?

 

so my plan is to take something similar to the dans case (i will probably make it with protocase or something) witch is an itx case and turn that 16x slot into two 8x slots side by side in the same place ware a duel slot video card would be, i intend to accomplish this by liquid cooling two 1080 ti’s and making them both single slot. But i dont know if i can turn that 16x slot into two 8x slots, that’s the current problem.

 

does anyone know if this is posible?

[Camelsmaycry]

I think no 

 

but why not go with micro atx?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Passively? No. That is, you can't wire up a single slot into two.

 

Otherwise you can get a PCIe backplane that will plug into one slot and split it up into multiple slots. But that's more of a server thing so you probably won't find something that'll work with your case if you're using a standard desktop.

[Glennieboyyy007]

i'm guessing you mean the build (appearance) is 2 times a pcie x16, but they operate both in x8.

there are some pics on google of those so they exist, but i cant find one for sale

[DrJones]

You can get a riser card to physically spilt the 16x into 2 8x slots. The problem is that the mobo won't be able to detect and utilize both cards properly. Is mATX an option?

[ETHREAL1]

5 minutes ago, DrJones said:

Is mATX an option?

Not really... that would defeat the purpose of this indever, I would just use something like the Project Orthrus case that’s being prototyped the idea was to in a manner of speaking take the dans case A4-SFX make it a little taller for a rad and shove two GPUs in it...

[ETHREAL1]

30 minutes ago, DrJones said:

 

You can get a riser card to physically spilt the 16x into 2 8x slots. The problem is that the mobo won't be able to detect and utilize both cards properly. Is mATX an option?

 

That’s what I was afraid of, so I would need some intermediary device to extend the pcie bus... right?

[Camelsmaycry]

2 minutes ago, ETHREAL1 said:

That’s what I was afraid of, so I would need some intermediary device to extend the pcie bus... right?

even if you found a way running this thing would be a HUGE headache 

 

mATX is your best bet 

[DrJones]

15 minutes ago, ETHREAL1 said:

That’s what I was afraid of, so I would need some intermediary device to extend the pcie bus... right?

Yeah you would need some sort of controller (I have no idea what exactly though). Those riser cards are hardly used anymore, and never for consumer applications. I don't think they were ever intended for GPU use or anything like that.

 

The next issue that comes up is actually mounting the cards.

[ETHREAL1]

19 minutes ago, DrJones said:

The next issue that comes up is actually mounting the cards.

That is not an issue with the case I plan to model the case I will be making... (Dans case A4-SFX)

1 hour ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Otherwise you can get a PCIe backplane that will plug into one slot and split it up into multiple slots. But that's more of a server thing so you probably won't find something that'll work with your case if you're using a standard desktop.

I’ve found some but they all seem to use a proprietary connection to extend the bus.... not a standard pcie 16x...

[Biggerboot]

If the mini itx board has m.2 maybe you could use that for an extra pci-e slot with an adapter.  (Correct me on this)

IDK if sli would work, but you may be able to pull off AFR.

[Mirgus]

http://www.ameri-rack.com/ARC2-PELY423-C7_m.html

 

This is what u are searching, but u will need a Mainboard thats Support it

 

ASRock Z270 itx

ASRock Z170 Fatal1ty ITX (Bifurcation out of the box)

ASRock Z170M-itx

ASRock X99 ITX (Bifurcation support via special firmware on request)

ASRock Z87E-ITX

 

Gigabyte Z270-gaming5

Gigabyte Z170N

 

And some more on AMD ryzen side

 

[ETHREAL1]

5 hours ago, Mirgus said:

 

http://www.ameri-rack.com/ARC2-PELY423-C7_m.html

 

This is what u are searching, but u will need a Mainboard thats Support it

 

ASRock Z270 itx

ASRock Z170 Fatal1ty ITX (Bifurcation out of the box)

ASRock Z170M-itx

ASRock X99 ITX (Bifurcation support via special firmware on request)

ASRock Z87E-ITX

 

Gigabyte Z270-gaming5

Gigabyte Z170N

 

And some more on AMD ryzen side

 

That’s great and what I’m looking for but question, how did you find out/ware is it listed as supporting bifurcation? And how would I find out what boards in the future support it? (coffee lake as an example)

 

also im assuming so but.... this will support SLI with the bifurcation right? 

[Mirgus]

Well if u go with ASRock the chances are high thats it will be supported again. Some manufactures list features in their data sheets when they announce new mainboards and yes, Sli cf will work