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Question about dedicated physx motherboard

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  • Gtx
  • Motherboards
  • Physx
Last response: in Motherboards
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October 13, 2014 6:00:58 AM

ok this is my first time here asking a question.. i hope i'm in the right place and not meant to be in GPU's orsomething.

so let me start of by saying that i'm about to do a new pc build with two GTX 780Ti's in SLI and one GTX 750Ti dedicated to Physx... and yes i know many of you are dying to tell at me about how i don't need a dedicated Physx card but can you please not bother wasting your time.. i'm only interested in the answer to my question.. thank you.

now my question is.. will these cards all work as i intend them to on an Asus ROG Maximus VII Formula motherboard?

i understand that SLI requires x8 minimum lanes to run and for that the board has two of them.

there is another pcie 2.0 x16 slot which runs at x4 and the specifications say this:

"The PCIe 2.0 x 16 slot (PCIEX4_3) shares bandwidth with SATAExpress_E1 connector. The default setting is in Auto mode that automatically optimizes the system bandwidth. If you install PCIe 2.0 x4 device, the system will automatically detect and disable SATAExpress_E1 connector."

i know that a Physx card will be fine on x4... however i'm a bit confused on whether or not this pcie slot is sharing any bandwidth at all with the two pcie 3.0 slots.. as on most motherboards they seem to be and i've looked at quite a few mobos recently looking for something to suit my requirements.

please i just want to know that my dedicated Physx card will work alongside the SLI 780ti's and all i will lose are one or two sata express slots right? which still leaves me with 8 satas for hard drives and whatnot yes?

i know i may have answered my own question.. and as i'm typing here it makes a bit more sense to me... but i'd really like a second opinion before i spend money on the motherboard of course.

thanks a lot for your time... i'd buy you a drink if i could lol

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_FORMULA/specifications/

More about : question dedicated physx motherboard

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a b V Motherboard
October 13, 2014 6:22:38 AM

the quote you've posted is regarding adding an x4 board to a pcie x16 slot. X4 meaning it is physically smaller and takes up 1/4 of the total slot. Your 750TI is 16x. Regardless, it will work fine. And despite what many say, there are performance increases when using a dedicated PHysx card.

http://i0.wp.com/alienbabeltech.com/main/wp-content/upl...
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October 13, 2014 6:44:46 AM

i see.... so if i put a 750 ti into that slot then i won't lose any satas or i will still lose satas? which i don't really care about.

i'm just double checking that the pcie 2.0 doesn't share anything with the two pcie 3.0 slots... because of course a x8/x4/x4 share would really ruin my plans.
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a b V Motherboard
October 13, 2014 7:00:04 AM

no you won't lose any Sata slots.
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October 13, 2014 7:38:32 AM

thanks a lot for clearing that up and putting my mind to rest... it's well appreciated.

i'll take your name and number in case it all goes wrong and i know who to blame haha
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October 15, 2014 4:34:07 AM

The short answer is that you can use 2 GPUs + PhysX + 8 SATA (just not the 2 SATA from the top SATA Express port unless if you run your PhysX card's slot in [x2 Mode]).

Here is a map of how that motherboard's PCIe lanes are distributed.
From the CPU:
* x16/x8 PCIe gen.3 on first physical x16 slot (x8 if second physical x16 slot is occupied)
* x8 PCIe gen.3 on second physical x16 slot
From the PCH's 18 configurable lanes (some PCIe capable, others not):
* 4 SATA gen.3 (top 4)
* SATA Express / 2 SATA gen.3 (bottom SATA Express port) <- uses 2 multiplexed lanes (SATA/PCIe) which can act either as PCIe x2 gen.2 or 2 SATA gen.3
* 2 mid-board USB gen.3
* 4 rear-board USB gen.3 (2 below the RJ-45 and the bottom 2 adjacent to that)
* x4 PCIe gen.2 on third physical x16 slot and ASMedia SATA Express port (top SATA Express port which is powered by ASM106SE chip) disabled OR x2 PCIe gen.2 on third physical x16 slot and ASMedia SATA Express port enabled (PCIe x2 gen.2 or 2 SATA gen.3) <- OR function configurable in BIOS as [Auto], [x2 Mode], [x4 Mode]
* Intel I218V Gigabit Ethernet Controller (uses PCIe x1)
* ASMedia ASM1187e single x1 PCIe gen.2 to seven x1 PCIe gen.2 switch which connects the following:
** 3 x1 PCIe gen.2 slots
** ASMedia ASM1061 SATA Controller (bottom 2 SATA gen.3 ports)
** ASMedia ASM1042A USB gen.3 Controller (upper 2 USB gen.3 ports on the rear above the 2 USB gen.3 ports provided by the PCH)
** mPCIe Combo III card's Wi-Fi controller (unknown brand)
** mPCIe Combo III card's M.2 slot (x1 PCIe gen.2)
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October 15, 2014 7:44:30 AM

thank you very much AggressorPrime... that is the exact answer i was looking for.
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