building a new desktop - what kind of motherboard?

[olek]

i am trying to determine what kind of mobo to buy to start configuring an optimal desktop for octane.

i've read the 4x GPU is optimal but are there motherboards that have room for 4 x16 PCIE GTX 400's cards?

as I am looking through different products and those slots seem to be too close together to use them alll with these big cards.

does anyone have a 4x GPU set-up on a single workstation and can give some pointers?

is having 3x GPU's OK?

is there any difference between Z68 and x58 systems for this purpose?

[Refracty]

I have 4 cards installed on an ASUS Rampage Extreme III.
It can not provide 4 times x16 speed for loading (only 4 times x8) but for me it is a perfect board. Check also the EVGA classified.
I used the Mobo for 4* GTX 460 air cooled wich got hot but still below 100 degrees. With my new cards I had to switch to watercooling. I can post some pictures if you are interested.

[gabrielefx]

I have 4 cards installed on an ASUS Rampage Extreme III.
It can not provide 4 times x16 speed for loading (only 4 times x8) but for me it is a perfect board. Check also the EVGA classified.
I used the Mobo for 4* GTX 460 air cooled wich got hot but still below 100 degrees. With my new cards I had to switch to watercooling. I can post some pictures if you are interested.

I would like to build a 4xGTX580 (evga) liquid cooled system too, but with full 4x16x (I think I need the evga SR2)

Any suggestions about the liquid cooling system? I saw many videos and photos but I don't understand what are all the components: radiator, pump, reservoir, pipes, joints, diameters, lengths, etc.
I could buy 4 evga with waterblock embedded, but how connect 2 processors + 4 gtx all together? How can I calculate the power? how big must be the radiator? Do I need single radiators inside the case or one big external unit?.

[ahhhchuen]

I was stuck with this question also.

For mobo there are more option then I expected when I googled "dual NF200". Those are the ones that truely support 4xpcie16(digital).

However I would like to avoid water cool because of bad workmanship risks ruining whole investment in just 1 incident with no mercy. I saw people with air cooled system with temperature reached just a bit less than 100. (4 cards)

There seems a solution with silverstone JT12 but it's not out yet. A good air cool case with flexible pcie for double width gpu cards.

So to me a perfect multiple gpu workstation still in the air.

[gabrielefx]

I was stuck with this question also.

For mobo there are more option then I expected when I googled "dual NF200". Those are the ones that truely support 4xpcie16(digital).

However I would like to avoid water cool because of bad workmanship risks ruining whole investment in just 1 incident with no mercy. I saw people with air cooled system with temperature reached just a bit less than 100. (4 cards)

There seems a solution with silverstone JT12 but it's not out yet. A good air cool case with flexible pcie for double width gpu cards.

So to me a perfect multiple gpu workstation still in the air.

2 Cubix with 2 16x pci gen2 cost $4,698.00...$2,349.00 each

1 Tyan barebone with motherboard, case, 3 redundant power supply costs 3.500€ about and you can fit 8 GTX. Then you need two xeons, ram and hd but the system is a lot better because expandable...but noisy. Nvidia certified.

1 Supermicro silent with 4 pci2 xpress 16x costs 1.500€...you need two xeons, etc... Nvidia certified

[olek]

With my new cards I had to switch to watercooling. I can post some pictures if you are interested.

absolutely. thanks!

[jitendra]

I have 4 cards installed on an ASUS Rampage Extreme III.
It can not provide 4 times x16 speed for loading (only 4 times x8) but for me it is a perfect board. Check also the EVGA classified.
I used the Mobo for 4* GTX 460 air cooled wich got hot but still below 100 degrees. With my new cards I had to switch to watercooling. I can post some pictures if you are interested.

Hey,
Can you please post some pictures?
I am also curious to know which case you used ? The 4th graphics card with double thickness is quiet difficult to fit due to the usb, firewire , and other ports just below the slot.
Jitendra

[picajol]

You guys are instaling 4 graphic card inside your case?
Wow!
Wich chasis you have?

[steveps3]

The Asus P8P67 WS Revolution is probably what you want. It is a workstation motherboard. It is the board that I'm probably going to get.

The speed of the pci lanes really makes very little difference. Even on high end games the speed only makes marginal difference to frame rate.

[Refracty]

Hey,
Can you please post some pictures?
I am also curious to know which case you used ? The 4th graphics card with double thickness is quiet difficult to fit due to the usb, firewire , and other ports just below the slot.
Jitendra

Hi,
here are some photos of the Octane Workstation that I have tuned a bit.
HafX Case with 3 GTX 590s plus a GTX 580 (3GB) for larger scenes.
The GTX 580 is below.

The Radiator is outside so there is a good cool airflow inside the case.
The cards don't run hotter then 61 degrees and the sound is still ok even when working under full load.
I was lucky to convince my client to use Octane for the current project. So this is the machine I go with. No renderfarm needed any more
All in one case.
Refracty