Do I need to use PCIe slot 1?

Yes - sorry I wasn't clear. Of the 4 slots available, do I have to use slot 1 (the closest to the CPU and cooler?) In slot 1 the video card hits the cooler fins. Thanks!

Again, I wasn't clear, though you've given me the answer I was looking for. It's the video card that is the problem. I'll go for two of the other slots. What was adding to the confusion is that all the configurations shown in the ASUS MB manuals (whether using 1, 2, 3 or 4 cards) show slot 1 being occupied, so I thought this was a requirement. By the way, both of the boards available to me have (4) PCIe-X16 slots.

The full build is:

-either- ASUS Rampage IV Extreme -or- ASUS P9 X79-E WS MB

Intel Core i7-3960X
Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3 8GB x 8 (64GB total) RAM
Corsair AX 1200i PS
ThermalRight Archon SB-E CPU cooler
Intel 520 Series 480GB SSD (for OS and all software)
(4) 3TB Seagate Barracuda HD (12TB total storage)
a whole bunch of Noise Blocker case fans
Corsair 800D case

This build started in August of 2012 and was halted when my work schedule and the start-up problems I was having collided. It's languished until now, when my previous build is starting to show its age. My work schedule is still crazy but If I let the old system fail I'm in deep doodoo.

Here's where the problem started: I first bought the Rampage and ran into the conflict between the video card and the cooler. Of the 6 expansions lots, 2 are X16, 3 are X8 and one is X1. The only X16 slots are numbers 1 & 4. With the video cards I bought I wanted to be able to use X16 slots, so I shelved the Rampage for another project and bought the P9, which has (4) X16 slots. Unfortunately, it doesn't have switches to turn individual slots on and off. I tried using the other slots in pairs, but kept running into start-up problems.

By the way, I tried a series of coolers, including Armageddon, NZXT Havik and Noctua NH SE 2011 and the ThermalRight was the best fit. Part of the problem with the coolers is that the first three all hit the top heat sink on either of the MBs. The ThermalRight is tall enough to clear the heat sink. Unfortunately it overhangs slot 1.

And yes, water cooling is a definite option, but if I have trouble finding time to put together an air cooled system, I definitely can't tackle the water cooling right now. Ironically, back in 2012 I was accumulating parts for doing just that, so I have all of it ready to go. When the time crunch happened I even went for a Corsair H100, but I wasn't confident about the build quality and returned it. If coolant was going to leak all over my ridiculously expensive new computer parts, I wanted it to be from some fitting "I" forgot to tighten ;-)


Thanks, StoneKany. I'm going to try the other slots. coastie65 and k1114 - thanks for weighing in. I'll let you know how it goes.

Later.

Hi StoneKany,

I downloaded the manual and it's a newer date than the one I got with the MB, but I don't see where it says I can use slots 2 & 4. The table at the top of page 2-10 shows all configurations using slot 1. Did I miss something?

By the way, I'm using the two cards to run 4 monitors. I have the SLI connecting strap in place, but I'm not sure it's necessary, since I've got the monitors plugged into both cards. Can you give me some feedback about this?

Thanks again

The system is fully disassembled right now, so I could go with either MB. The reason for bringing this up right now is so that I can start down the right path and not waste any more time trying to get the wrong MB to work for me.

Maybe a different MB altogether would be a better way to go, the problem with that is that I haven't yet found a MB supplier that gives clear instructions or clear specs so I could figure out before I commit what parts are going to fit together properly. It's been pretty frustrating and it's why I gave up over a year ago. If my current system wasn't showing its age I wouldn't be making this change right now and would just put it off longer.

I'm going to go for the P9. On page 2-9, where it says, next to slot 3 & 7, "(single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode...)" I thought it meant that if I use those slots for dual it would run at x8 speed. I take it from your response that I misread that.

Maybe it's too much to ask, but why can't the MB manufacturers make their manuals clearer? A simple paragraph with a clearer explanation of how these slots work would have saved me a lot of time. I've only used Gigabyte and ASUS MBs so far, but I've had several models from each and the manuals were consistently just as hard to squeeze the secrets out of. Yeah - too much to ask.

Thanks again!

So here's the system:

ASUS P9 X79-E WS MB
Intel Core i7-3960X CPU
(2) EVGA GTX 690 GPU
Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3 8GB x 8 (64GB total) RAM
Corsair AX 1200i PS
ThermalRight Archon SB-E CPU cooler
Intel 520 Series 480GB SSD (for OS and all software)
(4) 3TB Seagate Barracuda HD (12TB total storage)
a whole bunch of Noise Blocker case fans
Corsair 800D case

I'll let you know how it behaves

Yep - tried every configuration I could. The fan is oriented vertically with the air flow directed to the rear of the case. When I oriented it horizontally (air flow upwards) the fit was even worse. The Corsair RAM sticks are pretty tall.

Well, it's the 4th cooler I tried, each time getting one taller than the last, but it's hard or impossible to get accurate specs from the manufacturers - believe me, I tried. At least this one clears both the RAM and the MB heatsink.

This should work as long as using the P9 3rd & 5th slots works. And if they don't I'll use a pair of the x8 slots.

I won't have time to do both setups. I'll get a shot of the first setup when I assemble it. If it works I'm going to call it good and go with it. Wish I had time for more, but this is the busy season ;-)

Here's the update (and a new problem):

One thing I forgot to mention is that when I realized that water cooling was going to take too much time I researched and chose the best air cooling system I could find. With all factors figured in, this turned out to be the Thermalright Archon. It's a monster, with two 140mm fans, but it fit above the Dominator Platinums with their tall heatsinks. Unfortunately this was when I learned that I had to use slot 1 on the ASUS board and there was no way the Archon was going to work. Up on the shelf it all went.

Now I've returned to the project and what I decided to do was to downgrade my CPU cooler ambitions to a Thermalright Venomous X, which shows decent results in the comparison tests and, since I'm not planning to OC, should adequately keep the temps at bay. I'll use two fans (it comes with one) and it's not a perfect fit with the ram, but it's slender enough that two slim fans will fit. Best of all, it's miles away from MB slot 1.

The new problem that has come up:

I'm assembling again and I noticed something that I didn't see back when I started this project - I had bigger fish to fry at the time. The manual identifies a 4-pin power connection on the board for powering the DIMM modules. It's a non-standard terminal for power lines (the same size as a chassis fan connector) and I need to know if the standard 6-pin connection immediately next to it on the board, used for supplying extra power to the board in the event of using 4 graphics cards (I'm using two), will actually stand in for the smaller 4-pin power line. The problem is I don't have a 4-pin power line cable available that would fit this socket. I'm using a Corsair AX1200i power supply, which has modular cabling, but none of the supplied cables have this terminal and ASUS didn't supply an adapter with the MB parts kit.

If the two power sources are not interchangeable, does anybody have an idea how I can connect this to the AX1200i?

Thanks!