30xx Series Founders Edition

[Richard Childs]

I think they've been out so long now they should do a mild lift on the rules to at least 2 per household, fair enough when they were first out but it doesn't make sense still having this rule now. Especially with the 3090 where you need 2 matching cards to do nvlink without making a God awful ugly build.

I've been waiting most the year to get a 2nd rtx 3090 to do nvlink and by them digging in with this rule I'm forced into the hands of scalpers to get a matching FE card

 

[Purgatory]

I think they've been out so long now they should do a mild lift on the rules to at least 2 per household, fair enough when they were first out but it doesn't make sense still having this rule now. Especially with the 3090 where you need 2 matching cards to do nvlink without making a God awful ugly build.

I've been waiting most the year to get a 2nd rtx 3090 to do nvlink and by them digging in with this rule I'm forced into the hands of scalpers to get a matching FE card

You need to make sure if you do use two 3090s they have to be the same type of card or the Nvlink position will not be the same and you will not be able to use the NVLINK bridge.


Also they use to allow you to buy 2 x 3090 cards and one other 3000 series FE or AIB cards before they put the limits on, they had to do it for obvious reasons the scalping and the miners.

 

[gpuerrilla]

You need to make sure if you do use two 3090s they have to be the same type of card or the Nvlink position will not be the same and you will not be able to use the NVLINK bridge.

Im assuming there are specific motherboards by now that endorse SLI for this setup? Either that or you can get varying sizes of bridge to suit the distance apart they are? Either way, I thought they done away with the ribbon/bridge last gen or two meaning the link was achieved in the PCI level but obviously Im wrong on that as linking two 3090's seems to be hard judging by the many popular channels struggling when it was launched back in October time.

 

[Purgatory]

Im assuming there are specific motherboards by now that endorse SLI for this setup? Either that or you can get varying sizes of bridge to suit the distance apart they are? Either way, I thought they done away with the ribbon/bridge last gen or two meaning the link was achieved in the PCI level but obviously Im wrong on that as linking two 3090's seems to be hard judging by the many popular channels struggling when it was launched back in October time.

You can get 3 slot and 2 slot spacing now but they are for the A6000 card and work on 3090s too, with of course the official 4 slot 3090 nvlink too, but so far only one x570 motherboard that does 4 slot spacing and that's the MSI GodLike x570 if you want to use a AMD 5000 series cpu.

NVIDIA NVLink 2021 Update and Compatibility Chart

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/NVIDIA-NVLink-2021-Update-and-Compatibility-Chart-2074/

Basically the A6000 3 slot and 2 slot NVlink bridges will work on 3090s in SLI too. So now you can SLI without a 4 slot space motherboard with the A6000 bridges. (but make sure you have good air flow if not using blower 3090's or water cooled). 4-slot spacing is fine with air cooling FE or AIBs that are none blower, but make sure case has good air flow).

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 4-slot and RTX A6000 2-slot NVLink Bridges

My setup below is basically that a MSI Godlike X570 with two 3090s in. :-

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/foru...-owners-thread.18898762/page-48#post-34846430


Also this new x570 from asus coming out soon looks like it will do 4 slot spacing too so the 4 slot bridge for the 3090 will work and really if doing air setup you want the 4 slot option and 3 and 2 should be water cooled cards only.


ROG CROSSHAIR VIII EXTREME

https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-crosshair/rog-crosshair-viii-extreme-model/


Other options will have to be x299 or the threadripper boards with the right 4 slot spacing if you want to use the air coolers on the cards and the 4 slot 3090 bridge. 3 slot would have worked fine with the blower cards even the 2 slot, but as we know Nvidia nuked the AIBS from making 3090 blower cards.


Most important thing is to make sure to have 2 of the same card as the NVLINK fingers will not line up as they are all spaced differently and even different height cards too so one maybe taller than the other and the nvlinks are solid and will not connect, no more flexible ones as these are highspeed links.


The popular channels made a drama out of nothing really, you just need to make sure the motherboard has 4 slot spacing or the right slot spacing you need if watercooling or using blower cards and making sure to use same cards and all works no problems. Not had a single problem with mine, it just works as Mr Nvidia says..

The channels were using different cards and had to use a riser to get the nvlink fingers to line up and use the bridge. You are thinking of gamers nexus I think, linus did it right first time with same cards and a 4 slot spacing motherboard so no risers needed.

 

[gpuerrilla]

Ahh thanks mate, thats best info I seen in ages but last time I looked was before xmas so will note!

I would have needed a new board to make it happen which is why I think I left it to mature. Not in a hurry but my case should be grand and if boards drop a bit another 3090 would be possible if the stars aligned!

 

[Purgatory]

Ahh thanks mate, thats best info I seen in ages but last time I looked was before xmas so will note!

No problem mate, it's easy and works well and really enjoying working on it and gaming on it with the supported games. It's a totally different experience from the last setup and that was highend too. I really didn't want to go threadripper route as I don't really make use of 32/64 cores and 64/128 threads and wanted cpu with fastest single thread performance and the 5950x was the perfect cpu and then the finding out only one x570 board has the right 4 slot spacing for the NVLINK for the 3090 the msi godlike x570 ( at the time there was no A6000 bridges with 3 or 2 slot spacing).

But seems like now ASUS has realised their is a space for another 4 slot spaced x570 board, because the Godlike x570 is now really hard to get and when you can get it they are priced anywhere from £1500-2000 now .. even used ones .. I was trying to order a second one for a second build that was same as one I have, but then decided maybe not now... so hoping ASUS price theirs in a sensible way, but people are saying it will be £1000/$1000 board too.. The crosshair viii extreme x570, will have to wait and see what the street price will be and how good it really is, seems lacking in some areas but good in others compared to the MSI GodLike x570. It has 5 m.2 but only 3 are ver 4.0 and other 2 are 3.0, where the Godlike has 5 x 4.0, but again you need to use the pci card for the other 2 and same with asus they have a dimm like expansion card for the 2 x 3.0 m.2. Win some lose some with each board, looking forward to the reviews of it but not sure I would buy an asus anything after reading their warranty reasons for refusing to rma, anyways.


ROG CROSSHAIR VIII EXTREME

https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-crosshair/rog-crosshair-viii-extreme-model/



Are you thinking of doing a dual 3090 build ?



This is a good read :-

Quad GeForce RTX 3090 in a desktop - Does it work?

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Quad-GeForce-RTX-3090-in-a-desktop---Does-it-work-1935/



They have many more good articles comparing many types of cards and setups.


Another good read :-

Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 NVLink Performance Review

https://www.servethehome.com/dual-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3090-nvlink-performance-review-asus-zotac/

 

[gpuerrilla]

Are you thinking of doing a dual 3090 build ?

Absolutely. I do some data analysis at work but for heavy stuff would just go on my desktop (work laptop fills up when large data sets are in RAM). I was going to invest some spare time into more development in case more job opportunities sprung long term. When not using my rigs I would mine for the pocket money, a 3090 would be like 2 or even 3 weaker cards plumbing up a machine so having dual 3090s would be as good as some peoples 5 card rigs.

It would be on air though so I would have to get a wide spaced gap for the air flow.

 

[heatonpkmassive]

I think they've been out so long now they should do a mild lift on the rules to at least 2 per household, fair enough when they were first out but it doesn't make sense still having this rule now. Especially with the 3090 where you need 2 matching cards to do nvlink without making a God awful ugly build.

I've been waiting most the year to get a 2nd rtx 3090 to do nvlink and by them digging in with this rule I'm forced into the hands of scalpers to get a matching FE card

Disagree on lifting the rules at this point, there are still plenty of people who still don't have a card due to these drops happening during the working day. Not everyone can just drop everything and go buy a graphics card. I know of a load of people who want one but bemoan the fact these drops ALWAYS happen during the working day.

 

[gpuerrilla]

Agree ^. Although I have seen some drop in the evenings and I recall one site dropped some cards at like 4am

 

[mr-fluff]

Agree ^. Although I have seen some drop in the evenings and I recall one site dropped some cards at like 4am

couple of months or so back there were pretty regular 3rd party drops at crazy times.

 

[Gerard]

Disagree on lifting the rules at this point, there are still plenty of people who still don't have a card due to these drops happening during the working day. Not everyone can just drop everything and go buy a graphics card. I know of a load of people who want one but bemoan the fact these drops ALWAYS happen during the working day.

They mostly occur during the week but have appeared on a saturday before, was just after 9am iirc.

 

[GhostDog1981]

Disagree on lifting the rules at this point, there are still plenty of people who still don't have a card due to these drops happening during the working day. Not everyone can just drop everything and go buy a graphics card. I know of a load of people who want one but bemoan the fact these drops ALWAYS happen during the working day.

They need a device called a Mobile Phone and have Payment details lodged in their phone wallet.
If they can't work that out then they shouldn't bother with PCs/GPUs etc.

 

[GhostDog1981]

They mostly occur during the week but have appeared on a saturday before, was just after 9am iirc.

I've managed to get a 3080 and 3X 3090s by using my phone and at work (ooh I'm nipping out to take a call etc/excuses)- its not difficult.

 

[Joxeon]

Disagree on lifting the rules at this point, there are still plenty of people who still don't have a card due to these drops happening during the working day. Not everyone can just drop everything and go buy a graphics card. I know of a load of people who want one but bemoan the fact these drops ALWAYS happen during the working day.

At this point though they could always ease restrictions just for the 3090 as its not like scalpers will be going after that one now and it's also the only one capable of SLI so it would make sense of having a limit of 2.

I've managed to get a 3080 and 3X 3090s by using my phone and at work (ooh I'm nipping out to take a call etc/excuses)- its not difficult.

Isn't it limited to one per household and card name/address though or are you like a Frank Abagnale?.

 

[GhostDog1981]

At this point though they could always ease restrictions just for the 3090 as its not like scalpers will be going after that one now and it's also the only one capable of SLI so it would make sense of having a limit of 2.



Isn't it limited to one per household and card name/address though or are you like a Frank Abagnale?. .

But I bought 2X 3090s when we were allowed to my home and then sold both for £600 profit to buy the AiB 3080 for £1470 (during peak madness) which brought down the real life price to £870 and I bought the 3rd 3090 FE after that to another relatives address

 

[heatonpkmassive]

I've managed to get a 3080 and 3X 3090s by using my phone and at work (ooh I'm nipping out to take a call etc/excuses)- its not difficult.

But that's the point, you can do that. I can sometimes do that, depends what I'm up to. But I know quite a few people who can't and who still want a card, it's difficult for them because they're not even allowed to use their phones at work. And they don't have bad jobs as such, they can afford the cards, they just can't ever get one if the drops occur on working weekdays.

 

[Sarge2255]

I think 1pc is fair stops Scalpers / miners , how would they know who are genuine buyers ? Increasing it would only make it worse availability to the genuine people anyway look at the auction site even with 1pc still getting loads scalping

That's correct , except if you want SLi 3090s , they should make it 2 3090s per customer and one of any other card. Stops the miners and scalpers !

 

[Sarge2255]

Absolutely. I do some data analysis at work but for heavy stuff would just go on my desktop (work laptop fills up when large data sets are in RAM). I was going to invest some spare time into more development in case more job opportunities sprung long term. When not using my rigs I would mine for the pocket money, a 3090 would be like 2 or even 3 weaker cards plumbing up a machine so having dual 3090s would be as good as some peoples 5 card rigs.

It would be on air though so I would have to get a wide spaced gap for the air flow.

This one is a serial miner, 1 card per household!!

 

[gpuerrilla]

That's correct , except if you want SLi 3090s , they should make it 2 3090s per customer and one of any other card. Stops the miners and scalpers !

You make zero sense as per usual sarge!

This one is a serial miner, 1 card per household!!

Check the salty boy @Purgatory

 

[CuriousTomCat]

I think they've been out so long now they should do a mild lift on the rules to at least 2 per household, fair enough when they were first out but it doesn't make sense still having this rule now. Especially with the 3090 where you need 2 matching cards to do nvlink without making a God awful ugly build.

I've been waiting most the year to get a 2nd rtx 3090 to do nvlink and by them digging in with this rule I'm forced into the hands of scalpers to get a matching FE card

I'm still desperately trying to get my 1st FE (3060 Ti) and so are lots of others. I'll be furious if they relax the rules so soon.

I get the Telegram notifications but I have a full time job during the day and I work with clients etc so sometimes it takes a few hours to attempt a purchase. I'm always too late.

That proves 100% that there are plenty of other people still buying their 1st! What about doctors, paramedics, school teachers etc. I'm sure it's hard for them to get their 1st FE card.

Once the FE cards start to remain in stock for 48 hours then yes, it's time to relax the rules.