Will this Motherboard Handle Everything?

[SeriousTyro]

Hi all,

 

I am helping my gf build a dual boot windows/hackintosh for her content creation work using Octane (GPU Render) and After Effects.

 

I have minimal pc building experience but have watched a ton of linustechtips so this build will be quite the experience.

 

The pc build is currently: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HfJN8K

• 2x GTX 1080 Ti for Octane
  • First buy one then another in the future
• 64 GB of RAM for After Effects
• 2x 250GB M.2 NVME for Windows and Mac dual boot and fast content transfer

The motherboard is the Asus Strix Z270F

• Data Sheet: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/STRIX_Z270F_GAMING/E12193_STRIX_Z270F_GAMING_UM_V2_WEB.pdf?_ga=2.13433207.1774186167.1506715735-702477231.1506715735

My concern is whether the motherboard can handle everything

pcpartpicker lists the only compatibility issue as:

• "The motherboard M.2 slot #2 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled."
• 
• I crossed in red, my understanding of SATA ports disabled when connecting the two M.2 drives.
• I am somewhat confused for M.2_2. Does it mean SATA5 and SATA6 are disabled and a x4 PCIE channel is used up?
• 

 

Can the motherboard's PCIE handle 2x GPUs, 2x M.2 drives, and WiFi PCIE adapter card?

• 

[JohnMLTX]

First up, the motherboard doesn't impact PCIe lanes, that's all the CPU bottlenecking on the Z270 platform.

 

The 7700K has 16 lanes. That's basically bugger all. You can handle the 2 m.2 SSDs, the Wi-Fi card, and one graphics card without any significant issues, but if you're planning to add a second GPU, you're probably gonna start seeing problems. The only thing there is to switch to a different CPU platform, or stick with a single GPU.

 

Additionally, dual booting Mac OS is going to be an absolute driver nightmare with that setup. 

[SeriousTyro]

Just now, CUDA_Cores said:

next time, use pcpartpicker. It makes it much easier for the rest of us to identify exactly what you have. 

 

Also, if your gf is using this for content creation, she should really consider AMDs X399 platform instead. Yes, GPUs affect performance when you are doing content creation work but unlike gaming, the CPU also plays just as an important role.

 

We know what this PC will be used for, but what is your budget? Depending on the cost, X399 may be pushed out altogether.  AMD ryzen would be a much better choice for more cores/threads then Z270 is X399 isn't in the budget.

Thanks for the response.

The pcpartpicker is listed on the post: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HfJN8K

 

 

The budget is $2500 so it will only include one GTX 1080 Ti if I can get a good deal for $700.

 

From what I've research, Intel is easier to make a hackintosh.

 

 

 

[SeriousTyro]

4 minutes ago, JohnMLTX said:

First up, the motherboard doesn't impact PCIe lanes, that's all the CPU bottlenecking on the Z270 platform.

 

The 7700K has 16 lanes. That's basically bugger all. You can handle the 2 m.2 SSDs, the Wi-Fi card, and one graphics card without any significant issues, but if you're planning to add a second GPU, you're probably gonna start seeing problems. The only thing there is to switch to a different CPU platform, or stick with a single GPU.

 

Additionally, dual booting Mac OS is going to be an absolute driver nightmare with that setup. 

Thanks for the input.

My concern was correct. 

 

I think I'll change my build to 2x SSDs, a USB WiFi adapter, and 2x GPUs due to the 16 PCIE lane limitation.

[SeriousTyro]

56 minutes ago, JohnMLTX said:

First up, the motherboard doesn't impact PCIe lanes, that's all the CPU bottlenecking on the Z270 platform.

 

The 7700K has 16 lanes. That's basically bugger all. You can handle the 2 m.2 SSDs, the Wi-Fi card, and one graphics card without any significant issues, but if you're planning to add a second GPU, you're probably gonna start seeing problems. The only thing there is to switch to a different CPU platform, or stick with a single GPU.

 

Additionally, dual booting Mac OS is going to be an absolute driver nightmare with that setup. 

Would the motherboard be able to handle 2x GPUs and 1x M.2 SSD?

 

The spec sheet says: "M.2_1 socket shares SATA_1 port" while the M.2_2 mentions the PCIE.

 

So does that mean M.2_1 doesn't use PCIE lanes while the M.2_2 does?

[JohnMLTX]

That sounds right. Shouldn't have many issues with that config on Windows.

 

Just curious: have you made a hackintosh before?

[SeriousTyro]

12 minutes ago, JohnMLTX said:

That sounds right. Shouldn't have many issues with that config on Windows.

 

Just curious: have you made a hackintosh before?

Apart from the PCIE lanes, I feel comfortable putting together the PC for Windows.

 

The hackintosh part is a whole another story. I expect to troubleshoot for hours and days getting it to work.

[JohnMLTX]

31 minutes ago, SeriousTyro said:

Apart from the PCIE lanes, I feel comfortable putting together the PC for Windows.

 

The hackintosh part is a whole another story. I expect to troubleshoot for hours and days getting it to work.

Fair enough.

 

One suggestion, a USB3.0 wifi dongle will give you comparable performance to PCIe without needing any lanes. Using that will make the 2x GPU and the M.2 SSD config less prone to bottlenecking.