Does this Motherboard Support 3 Way SLI?

[ph0en1x26]

P8Z68-V/GEN3


http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68VGEN3/#specifications


Its says it supports •Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support?


Thanks Paul

 

[jdenova007]

It only has 3 PCI-E slots in 8x 8x mode... if you add the 3rd PCI-e slot it gets shared with PCI-e 1 and brings PCI-E slot 3 down to 4x mode....

I think when they say "quad" they mean 2 cards each with 2 cards "inside" of them... some cards are considered 2 in one... so I'm guessing this is "quad" means to them; because it does NOT have 4 PCI-E slots...

Just my guess(I may be totally wrong).... I'm sure someone else will be able to clarify further.

 

[jdenova007]

Actually see this - In early 2006, NVIDIA revealed its plans for Quad SLI. When the 7900GX2 was originally demonstrated, it was with two such cards in a SLI configuration. This is possible because each GX2 has two extra SLI connectors, separate from the bridges used to link the two GPUs in one unit – one on each PCB, two per GPU, for a total of two links per GPU. When two GX2 graphics cards are installed in a SLI motherboard, these SLI connectors are bridged using two separate SLI bridges. (In such a configuration, if the four PCBs were labeled A, B, C, D from top to bottom, A and C would be linked by an SLI bridge, as would B and D.) This way, four GPUs can contribute to performance. The 7950GX2, sold as an enthusiast-friendly card, omits the external SLI connector on one of its PCBs, meaning that only one SLI bridge is required to run two 7950GX2s in SLI.

Taken from here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Link_Interface

 

[COLGeek]

It appears that is will support 3-way SLI, but the GPU in the 3rd x16 slot x1 speed. Note the fine print at the bottom of the page you referenced.

 

[ph0en1x26]

thanks for your replys guys, it appears that it actually doesnt matter what speeds the GPU's are running eg 16x, 8x, 4x, as in the video the 4x slot handled a single card with 2 GPU with little difference, take a look.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSfifE2Domo

 

[ph0en1x26]

It appears that is will support 3-way SLI, but the GPU in the 3rd x16 slot x1 speed. Note the fine print at the bottom of the page you referenced.

it says the 3 rd PCI is default x1, i assume by default it can be changed, IE to 4x when i card is inserted?

 

[jdenova007]

even so... the 3rd slot will run at 1x.... not 4x.... he is showing you the 3rd slot by ITSELF... when you add in PCI-e 1 and 2, it shares their bandwidth and will probably take a big hit going down to 1x. Again, I am not positive.

He also says at the end "how PCI-E speed affects single card performance".... not SLI 18x 8x 1x...

 

[COLGeek]

even so... the 3rd slot will run at 1x.... not 4x.... he is showing you the 3rd slot by ITSELF... when you add in PCI-e 1 and 2, it shares their bandwidth and will probably take a big hit going down to 1x. Again, I am not positive.

He also says at the end "how PCI-E speed affects single card performance".... not SLI 18x 8x 1x...

+1. This is the correct interpretation. Regardless, 3-way is possible and will yield some benefit over 2-way SLI.

 

[ph0en1x26]

+1. This is the correct interpretation. Regardless, 3-way is possible and will yield some benefit over 2-way SLI.

that one card he was running on the 4x slot had 2 GPUs in it... so they were both running at 2x2x like he says, Im not convinced itd run at 1x... just doesnt sound right

 

[COLGeek]

It will run, but just not as "fast" as the other PCIe slots. Essentially, you will be saturating the bus. Really, you can expect more than 100% use of the bus and you will be right there.

 

[Hit-teh-X]

Theres an option in the bios to change the last slot to 4x or 1x. In doing so you loose the eSata port and a few USB3.0 ports I believe.