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Seekerfinder wrote: do you really find PLX chips problematic? Seeker

For 7 gpus - yes. If I could run 7 980 ti on X99 E WS I'd go with it but there are many problems reported on it.

Thank you so far for all of your advices.

Yambo, i also consider buying the Z10PE-D8 WS from Asus.
First i wanted to buy the ASRock X99 WS-E, Mainboard with a core i7 5960x

but now i am thinking of future upgrading possibilities for CPU also. Not only for the GPUs as i am starting with 2 Cards ( Titan 6GB und GTX 980ti)

Here is my Question and maybe Sebastian also wants to reply..
Or anyone else here - > If i want to start with one CPU and upgrade to a second one in the future:

CPU, 8 Core Intel® Xeon® Prozessor E5-2630 V3

What about the PCie Slots or Lanes? Will all PCIe Slots also go to that 1 CPU if i place it in the rigth socket?
Or will some PCIe slots go the the other empty socket?
Can that board, maybe in Bios, be configured that everything is handled by that one singe Processor?

For me it makes more Sense to buy a dual Socket MOBO that you can upgrade later?!
What do you Guys think?

Chapeaufx wrote:No onboard graphics, but for a single proc motherboard the Asus X99E WS is pretty much the gold standard, if you're watercooling your GTX's you'll get 7 on board, all at 8X.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/X99E_WSUSB_31/

What if i buy a dual socket server board and start with one xeon 8 Core?
Does that run or are only some PCIe Slots ( Maybe the half of them) connected to that one CPU?

I am considering the Z10PE-D8 WS and start with one Intel® Xeon® Prozessor E5-2630 V3 8 Core.

From my Opinion that would have the advantage ob being ablte to upgrade the CPU Power in the Future by adding a second Xeon?!

We (with Yam) gave up 8 gpus for now (going with 4 980 ti on water x99 e ws 3.1) - pascal, warranty reasons, easier to sell in nearest future... All is ordered and next week I'll do some build log photoshoot.

Sure you may go with a single E5 but in the manual you have pricesely written which pci slots will work with which cpu. So if you want to go with 7 gpus 2x E5 are a must.

BTW we were just about to get X10DRX in lian li D8000 - better choice cause Supermicro does not limit you on IO space (after Tutor) but Z10PE shall work with 7 on dual E5.

Any questions - shoot me.

smicha wrote:We (with Yam) gave up 8 gpus for now (going with 4 980 ti on water x99 e ws 3.1) - pascal, warranty reasons, easier to sell in nearest future... All is ordered and next week I'll do some build log photoshoot.

Sure you may go with a single E5 but in the manual you have pricesely written which pci slots will work with which cpu. So if you want to go with 7 gpus 2x E5 are a must.

BTW we were just about to get X10DRX in lian li D8000 - better choice cause Supermicro does not limit you on IO space (after Tutor) but Z10PE shall work with 7 on dual E5.

Any questions - shoot me.

Hey Smicha,
Why the about turn from a dual xeon board for Yambo?

smicha wrote:The reason for dual xeon approach is rather for easy handling 7 and more gpus and x10drx allows for 13 (after tutor). This gives true 80 pcie lanes, not PLX problematic solutions. With 2x E5 2620 v3 and 12 cores this is a reasonable investment, but as we see on other new thread would be nice to benefit from manu gpus while compiling.

Seeker

For 4 gpus we don't need xeons, unless more cpu power is concerned.

And another reason - with 4 980 we are going with x99ews which fits into phanteks primo and all watercooling stuff. With Xeons I'd need X10DRX for 8 gpus and then only D8000 is reasonable and external solutions is a must. So if pascal will occur much faster we'll go with another build with 8 pascals on water on 2xE5 and x10drx.

smicha wrote:For 4 gpus we don't need xeons, unless more cpu power is concerned.

Ah yes, missed that... It's certainly a significantly more economic route.

smicha wrote:And another reason - with 4 980 we are going with x99ews which fits into phanteks primo and all watercooling stuff. With Xeons I'd need X10DRX for 8 gpus and then only D8000 is reasonable and external solutions is a must. So if pascal will occur much faster we'll go with another build with 8 pascals on water on 2xE5 and x10drx.

Would be keen to see your build on x10drx...
Best,
Seeker

As for economics - Z10PE is same price as X99ews and 2xE5-2620v3 only +250EUR to 5930k. So not that much of a difference. The reason was not thinking of expanding 4 980 but rather to sell it in nearest future and get a new 8 gpu monster if needed. And I have a full list of parts ready

Let's see what time brings us but I hope Pascal will be 2x faster (according to my calculations even 3, if you take into account chip area and 16nm process). Anyway we live in great times, at least this is how I see it

smicha wrote:As for economics - Z10PE is same price as X99ews and 2xE5-2620v3 only +250EUR to 5930k.

True but... more ram as well and (for me at least) it will mean another CPU cooler (H100i in my case) but most of all... 2.4 GHz... augh! If it's a pure GPU render station, then ok. But by far the best value for individuals (and some small studios) would be use the same power house for modelling, rendering and post work. That means a 3GHz+ machine today. Then we're into thousands more... It's frustrating that we can't get the best of both worlds at affordable prices - imagine a dual 5960x setup (double-oc'd of course)...

smicha wrote:Let's see what time brings us but I hope Pascal will be 2x faster (according to my calculations even 3, if you take into account chip area and 16nm process). Anyway we live in great times, at least this is how I see it

True... exciting times indeed.

Seeker