Adding more GPUs (than your case can fit!)

[Rik]

Hi all.

Anyone ever used something like this...

http://www.ballicom.co.uk/pex2pci4-star ... 91257.html

Looks like a box you can stick 4 cards in and only cost £169 (~$290 usd) which seems pretty cheap. Was wondering about putting in 4 second hand gtx580s in for an inexpensive render farm, (plus 2 on the existing mb)

Would it work?

[dionysiusmarquis]

What's the limit of the driver, OS, or Octane or PCIe design? How many GPUs can you have?

I think Windows and OSX start to have difficulties after 8 GPUs are directly attached, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm remembering correctly. Octane network rendering is limited to 12 per license, but I'm not sure if that applies to directly attached GPUs. My guess is that you'd hit a driver/OS limitation first.

Go for Linux https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topi ... -it-works/

[glimpse]

Hi all.

Anyone ever used something like this...

http://www.ballicom.co.uk/pex2pci4-star ... 91257.html

Looks like a box you can stick 4 cards in and only cost £169 (~$290 usd) which seems pretty cheap. Was wondering about putting in 4 second hand gtx580s in for an inexpensive render farm, (plus 2 on the existing mb)

Would it work?

might work in theory, however not for four cards, 'cos it has 4slot available, & because of physical limitations You might only house two, & I'm not sure how long..they could be..

Other things is that it is conected from 1x - that's for four cards - even if it would work, loading would be slow..

pluss, for this You would need to have PSU, cos that brick is barally capable of powering even a lower-end card =)

interesting (& cheep solutions), but too limmiting.

[mib2berlin]

Hi, it sounds this device extend one PCIe slot to four PCI slots, so useless for GPU´s.
Too bad.

Cheers, mib

[MoGrafik]

Hi everyone,
I've dug up this old thread and I was hoping I could get some further advice please.
I've progressed a little, and I'm going to upgrading to PC that can house a total of 4 GPUs.
I've got hold of the motherboard and power supply, as well as a 3rd graphics card (GTX Titan). I still need to get hold of a few more things though.
I need a case, and I'm currently looking at Corsair 780T, but I'm also wondering what else I might need before I strip down my current PC to build everything back up on to the new motherboard?
I don't know much about cooling and I', wondering what I should do about it? The PC I currently have is an Alienware aurora r4, I think it has liquid cooling, but could I install that into the new case? And would it be enough? Please bear in mind that at some point I'm looking to install a forth titan.
I'm also guessing I'll need to buy a new copy of windows, since the alienware ships with a hardware-specific OEM.
Please let me know what you think ought to be done about cooling, if there are any other bits of hardware I'll need that I've overlooked. Thanks very much for any help!
Thom

[smicha]

Corsair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyPeXUfFKE

looks really good for air cooling and liquid cpu cooling.

Windows licence - if you got yourself new motherboard just call Microsoft support and say you've RMA your mobo (due to burn or something) and they'll activate it for you. That's what I did when replacing the motherboard.

[MoGrafik]

Hey Smicha,
thanks for your advice, looks like the corsair ought to be a good bet then! Would the case come with all those fans? Or are they something that you think would need to be bought separately? Also, do you think they'd be enough to keep it cool running 4 titans?

Thanks for your advice on getting that windows license too! Might have to give that a go!

[smicha]

http://www.corsair.com/en/graphite-seri ... er-pc-case

I built a 4xtitan machine on 900D with more fans. It's huge. 780T should be fine for 4xtitans which exhaust air outside a case. But don't expect high quality materials from Corsair cases. No alloy/aluminium, lots of plastic mounts, 900D lacks of ssd mounts. The metal/steel the cases are made of is rather thin. And if you look at case-labs, lets say to SM8 http://www.caselabs-store.com/merlin-sm8-case/, which costs 400$...it's just night and day difference, and simply you even cannot compare them, it's not fair.

If I were in you shoes and I were to get 4xtitans I would pay extra 200-300$ and get better case.

[MoGrafik]

Hey,
thanks again for the info. good to know the 780T should do the job! It looks enormous, and I've heard the materials are a bit cheapy, but I'm trying to building this thing up on a budget, so it might be the best solution. That Merlin case does look much classier and understated though!
Thanks for the help!

[glimpse]

Mo, that's a nice case! =) if You love the way it looks & it fits Your price range - grab it!

Love reviews from Hardware Canucks - here's the one for this case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IihNgyt-ztE

talking about cooling I'd probably change the fans & go full with Noctuas, providing more air in than out - in that way You would not only prevent internal components from dust, but make sure that GPUs has enough to freshness to sip & stay cool =)

post some picks & impressions after You'll be done with build! =)