SB-E only has 40 lanes. Only 2 cards can run at x16 at any given time. If you buy a mobo with 3 slots like I did, it's x16,x16, x8. 4 slot mobos usually default to x16, x8, x8,x8.

SB-E only has 40 lanes. Only 2 cards can run at x16 at any given time. If you buy a mobo with 3 slots like I did, it's x16,x16, x8. 4 slot mobos usually default to x16, x8, x8,x8.

Sorry, I wasn't being clear.
I'm assuming he does the registry hack so that PCIE is enabled.
Remember that PCIE 3 is twice as fast as PCIE 2.

So, the cards would run at PCIE3 x8 (4x8 = 32 lanes used)
which is the same as all cards running at PCIE2 x16

As I said earlier, running 2 cards in sli or crunching gains nothing from SB-E
however running 3 or more does make use of the extra bandwidth available, and does see performance gains.

It's also important that x79 boards are designed to run 4 cards, and have the extra molex connectors for PCIE power that many/most p67 z77 boards don't have. This is really important for crunching. Maxing out the cards without that connector runs a high risk of frying the PCIE slot and/or the 12v line in the 24pin motherboard connector.


this[url] http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?279308-Vega-s-*Heavyweight*-display-and-computer-edition-2012&p=5081386&viewfull=1#post5081386[/url] thread has some interesting info/videos on the topic at hand.

One other factor to consider in a 1500W PSU if you choose to continue down this path is feeding it.

1500W is about as much as you can safely draw from a dedicated 120V, 15 amp wall plug circuit. I believe the electrical code only lets you load a circuit to 80% of its rating with plug in devices which limits you to 12 amps at 120v. A dedicated 20 amp circuit would handle it fine with the proper (#12 AWG) power cord. A 220V circuit would be even better as all the efficiency curves I have seen are better when fed with 220V.

Using more power efficient GPU's is, of course, a more prudent idea. The savings in electricity will pay for the more expensive cards fairly quickly.

Is 1500 watt for the entire outlet? meaning I should only run one extension cord from one wall outlet per 1500 watts. This seems very important to me. I dont mind running extension cords from other places in my house. If the outlets are on the same breaker then its beyond my knowledge anyways. I guess I will end up buying an extension cord with this build. Im starting my intel build with core 2 quad, altho it only has one gpu slot, I want to be sure I can handle the intel build before I spend bigger bucks. I also dont want to melt my sockets as I did by plugging two air conditioners to a strip so if you got some info 2 share 8D

You say 15 amp wall circuit plug so I assume you mean more than one outlet, directly from the breaker box. Is this the case? I dont really understand my breaker box and just kinda pray I dont start a fire. Can more than one outlet come off the circuit? def buying extension cord.

You can have many outlets on circuit. In most bedrooms, all of the outlets are on 1 circuit. Bathrooms and kitchens usually have more of a 1 circuit to outlet relationship. With a dedicated 20A circuit, you will have 1 outlet directly connected to a 20A breaker in the box. Using the 80% rule, you could draw 16AMPs on that circuit or (110V * 16AMPs) = 1760 Watts. You can draw more than that, up to a max of 2200 Watts but the breaker would trip at anything greater than 20AMPs.

Your breaker box is just a power distribution box. All of your power comes in on one line, a 220V line at around 200 AMPs. The breaker box splits this 220V feed into 2 110V feeds. In the US we typically call this 120 but it is usually more like 110V. You can also add double gang breakers that touch both 110V legs in the box to get 220V power for water heaters, ovens, stoves, dryers, etc.

If you overload a circuit, it will trip the breaker (no big deal, that is what the breaker is designed to do), just reset and try again. If it happens again, you have overloaded the circuit and you need to get that extension cord.

I have a Core 2 Quad over clocked by 50% + 2 GTX 580s overclocked to 962MHz and a 21" monitor on one outlet with no problems. You might be shocked to see just how much a singled 110V outlet will provide.

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Thx - Paul

Note: Please don't use driver version 295 or 296! Recommended versions are 266 - 285.

well I found my outlet map, the person who lived here before me made. It has them all except one. One circuit doesnt work, and one has only two prongs. I am interested in how much a two prong can handle. Anyways, I got alot of power now anyways.