No mobos with PCI-E x4, x8 and x16?

dan_aka_jack

dan_aka_jack

dan_aka_jack

Associate
Joined
8 Mar 2004
Posts
409
Location
London, UK
Hi there,

I need to run four PCI-E cards in one machine:


  • an x16 graphics card
    an x8 RAID card
    an x4 video editing card
    an x1 RAID card

But I can't seem to find an boards which would support all these cards! I believe the Nvidia 680i might be able to support all the cards that I want but I've read bad things about drivers for the nVidia 680i chipsets.

I'll be running a quad-core processor and I'd definitely like to be able to upgrade to 45nm processors in the future so ideally I'd like to use a P35-based mobo.

The DFI INFINITY 975X/G has two x16 PCI-E sockets and one x4 socket which would work for me. But I don't think that the DFI Infinity will accept 45nm CPUs in the future.

Humpf.

What I want is a P35-based board with two x16 sockets, one x4 socket and at least one x1 socket. Does such a thing exist?!?
 
Thanks for the reply. Wow - quad x16. That's nuts!

Are there any other boards which would fit the bill? That board is a little over my budget.

Unfortunately I have to make my purchase this weekend so I can't hold off for a few months.
 
It won't give you true quad 16x, but actually 8x8x4x8x, so the 680i board is more suited as it's 1x16x1x8x16x.

Personally if I was clocking the quad core I would go with the 680i board (making sure it's an upto date revision). Though you may be sunk once Penryn comes out and you're looking to upgrade.

Jokester
 
dan_aka_jack said:
What I want is a P35-based board with two x16 sockets, one x4 socket and at least one x1 socket. Does such a thing exist?!?
Click to expand...
Nope, the chipset doesn't have enough PCI-E lanes.

I doubt that either 975X or current 680i mobos will support Penryn so if you are buying now you have to decide whether you want the PCI-E lane config that you want or Penryn support.
 
You probably already know this, but the chipset determines the amount of PCI-E lanes that are available. Thus there's a limited amount which is why most boards are much of a muchness.

What might work is if you find a board with less integrated peripherals. As far as I understand when I was looking in depth at nForce 4 boards, some had PCI-E lanes eaten away by additional network cards or RAID built into the motherboard. So perhaps look at the basic, budget, economy type boards that OcUK don't sell, in case there's one that has so little built into the board it has more lanes open. Just a thought, I think it's a long shot though.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks loads for the replies.

I did a bit of snooping around and I think the the P35 chipset has 18 PCI-E lanes so you're right - I am screwed. 16+8+4+1 = 29

To be honest, I haven't bought the PCI-E 8x RAID card and drives yet and I might never do so. It's more likely that I'll want to upgrade the CPU to a 45nm core rather than go with a fat RAID card so I'll stick with a good P35 board.

Thanks loads for your replies,
Jack
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom