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GTX680 3 Way Help Please

Caporegime
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According to the user manual (page 1-5) slots 2, 4 and 6 are only PCI-E 2.0 x1 speed.

If that's the case you won't be able to successfully use them for a GTX 680.
 
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OP
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Thanks for looking 
Ok from looking on the Msi site they give this info

Slots
• 4 PCI Express gen3 x16 slots
- PCI_E1 supports up to PCIE x16 speed
- PCI_E5 supports up to PCIE x16 speed when PCI_E3 is empty, or supports x8 speed when PCI_E3 is occupied
- PCI_E3 & PCI_E7 support up to PCIE x8 speed
• 3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots
- PCI_E2, PCU_E4 & PCI_E6 support up to PCIE x1 speed

Now this is where I get lost, it says in BOLD! 3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots, but then below it says up to PCIE x1? Also if I look at the PCIE Slots on the board the E2, E4 & E6 all look like they have pins over half the socket saying they are 16x slots :s
 
Caporegime
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All the slots are physically x16.

2 of the slots are hardwired for x16 and the other 5 are hardwired for x8 speed (see image below).

However the manual says 3 of these slots only operate at x1 speed.

You could try running one of your cards in one of the slots stated to run at x1 speed (slots 2, 4 and 6) and see what speed they actually operate at.

 
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OP
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Cheers :)

I will have a play tomo, my next problem if I do manage to get a 3rd card installed, will a Sli bridge fit as the gap is 90mm between 2 cards :s

If the Sli bride would be a problem I will need to water cool, do OcUK Stock any water blocks for the 4Gb cards... Thanks
 
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The manual also states it can run • 4 PCI Express gen3 x16 slots lol but like you said it only has 2 16x slots from the photo, interesting to see what performance difference I will get from different slots.
 
Caporegime
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The motherboard comes with various flexible SLI connectors.

You'll have to have a look and see if they'll stretch across the gap between the slots or if you need to get longer ones.

According to EK then if this is your card: GeForce® GTX 680 JETSTREAM (4096MB GDDR5)

these will fit:

EK-FC680 GTX+ CSQ Full Cover Waterblock

EK-FC680 GTX+ CSQ Full Cover Waterblock - Acetal

EK-FC680 GTX+ CSQ Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Plexi

EK-FC680 GTX+ CSQ Full Cover Waterblock - Acetal + Nickel

Check the Cooling Configurator for confirmation.
 
Caporegime
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
25,572
The manual also states it can run • 4 PCI Express gen3 x16 slots lol but like you said it only has 2 16x slots from the photo, interesting to see what performance difference I will get from different slots.

4 cards is at x16, x8, x8, x8 speed using slots 1,3,5 and 7.

Other than a small amount in benchmarks you won't notice a difference between x16 and x8.

The problem is if slots 2, 4 and 6 do only operate at x1 speed.
 
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