x16 vs x8 pci-e motherboard/GPU setup does it matter?

[ASyme1]

I myself was very much leaning toward MSI Big Bang II for my next build... however, going that route would require a XL ATX case - which the pickins are pretty slim for those.. the CoolerMaster Cosmos II would be the obvious choice - jesus, does that look like a sweet-ass case!!.. but I have a beautiful, very expensive, monolithic and gynormous Lian-Li PC-V2100 Plus - that I spent something like $450 on just four years ago... and dammit - I am determined to build my next workstation in this same case!

Edit: Rappet - thanks for the heads-up on Asus Rampage IV!! This clearly looks like the one I will want.. it is only Extended ATX (which my current Asus MB is and will fit right into my existing case) and not XL ATX like the Big Bang II. Nice!.. I need to tweak my shopping cart!

But regardless, it will be real nice to get away from dual cpu workstations.. I have had 4 now -- my god are they expensive to build and replace parts for. ECC ram alone is so expensive next to regular ram... buying two cpus.. motherboards don't have the bells/whistles of high-end gaming mbs... did I mention I f-ing love octane and GPU rendering in general?!!!

I have the CoolerMaster Cosmos and it is a rockin' case! I bought it about 3 years ago and it performs so well I never needed an upgrade. It handles everything I have ever thrown at it. Still really clean inside the case and minimum dust. Thanks for the info on the CoolerMaster Cosmos II.
So glad for Octane, never could get into the dual CPU workstation good riddance and long live intelligent unbiased rendering

I just bought the Corsair 550D case and think its the nicest case I've ever purchased. Very impressed. Excellent quality, great sound deadening. I'm going to buy these from now on for my shop.

Alec

[FrankPooleFloating]

Hi Alec - you are able to get the 4 cards in that case without problems? (I assume you remove top drive cage) Did you stick two 140mm on side - pointed at cards?.. what are your (new) temps like at full throttle render?

Please advise - I now have the Asus Rampage IV Formula (4 dimm version - which is regular ATX) in my cart and this case would actually work... much smaller than my Lian-Li, which would take some getting used to.. but dang - this does look like a great little case!.. and so cheap!

Also, I am a little jealous of your portfolio. Very, very nice. How many artists do you employ?.. or is it just you?

[ASyme1]

Hi Alec - you are able to get the 4 cards in that case without problems? (I assume you remove top drive cage) Did you stick two 140mm on side - pointed at cards?.. what are your (new) temps like at full throttle render?

Please advise - I now have the Asus Rampage IV Formula (4 dimm version - which is regular ATX) in my cart and this case would actually work... much smaller than my Lian-Li, which would take some getting used to.. but dang - this does look like a great little case!.. and so cheap!

Also, I am a little jealous of your portfolio. Very, very nice. How many artists do you employ?.. or is it just you?

Hi Frank-
I didn't have any issues at all with this board or case. Didn't remove anything. Just sort of crammed them all in there and they've been rendering almost non-stop for a week now. No extra cooling, nothing. Attached is a GPU monitor at full load. This has been running about 20 hours or so now. So, the temps look fine.

Thanks for the props! FUSE is six full time artists currently. I'm thinking of adding one or two in the new year as work allows.

Good luck with your build. I highly recommend this mainboard / case combo. It's pretty awesome for a four card set up.

Alec

[FrankPooleFloating]

Thanks a bunch Alec!.. really great info.. of course, you are in Minnesota - which is something like 30 degrees colder than the rest of the country at any given time.... perhaps we should add 15-20 degrees to our expected GPU temps. j/k

[esan]

This has been the exact thread ive needed! Im actually not going to be limited by the mobo slots themselves, but wondering if i should splurge on PCIe lanes on the CPU. Im anticipating the Ryzen 9 3950x, and going with Dual 2080Tis, since AMD announced TR 3 will release with the new Ryzen ive wondered if i should sacrifice some single core speed to get the most out of the GPUs with the new Threadripper 3 and its obscene number of lanes (assuming reasonable to good clock, waiting to hear those specs). But sounds like i shouldnt feel like im throttling my GPUs too much going with 3950x, and if anything only consider the threadripper for future scalability.

[FrankPooleFloating]

No it isn't. Look at when the last post (me) was. You should be looking for newer info.