Topic: 4 Card Motherboard (Read 5338 times)

I think the biggest risk of using a four card board is that you end up buying relatively expensive power supplies, cases, main boards and need to be careful about ventilation.  In many cases, two decent 550W PSUs are cheaper than a single decent 1000W as an example, although I think most people would try to use dual-card boards and thus need perhaps 800W PSUs.  It can quickly get to the point where it is cheaper to run multiple rigs [and often use existing parts you have around from previous machines or upgrades] and inevitable hardware failure will be distributed reducing your risk and replacement costs.  I suppose that using multiple dedicated machines will use a little more electricity though and I didn't take that into consideration for the long term.

Just my 0.02BTC worth.

You can't insert a x16 card into a x1 slot with a PCI-E x1 riser. You can do that if you CUT open the slot.
And if you did, you might run into problem with system not recognizing the presence of your VGA, which might lead you to some solder work to do, to trick the system into thinking the card is present.

Incorrect in most situations. http://www.guru3d.com/article/gigabyte-radeon-5870-soc-review/6

Simply looking at the cooler will tell one that it is capable of cooling better than the stock one.  If you've taken apart a 5870 you will see that the cooler is pretty measly. This one has more surface area and the heat is better conducted via heat pipes. The review says it all. I'm going to say that if you're spending $200+ on a graphics card, your case probably has adequate airflow, negating the issue of this card venting into the case. With an antec 300 I for one, am not concerned as my airflow is excellent.

What do you mean by plate? Like just on the counter?  Have a link?  I'm looking for a good case system for my next rig build.

-EP

this dont matter much if you are like some of us that simply strap our mobos, psu & hd to a plate and run it without a case. Much better cooling, especially in my field stone basement.

Hey its a gamble like everything else. I bought two used 5xxx cards and they have been mining hard for 3 months without any issue.

The same board and a case with 8 card slots. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274

Why not just go 4 x 5850 and get 1.44 GH/s ..

Rough guess is 200W per card.  That is optimistic [better to buy larger than smaller power supply].  Make sure the rest of your systems is covered at maximum levels [i.e. drives running full, CPU at 100%, sound, Ethernet, wireless, etc].  A single 6970 recommends a 550W power supply minimum.  Also, make sure you have a case with adequate ventilation and that you clean the dust out frequently.  I keep my GPU running at 75-78 deg C.  It took some work with making a custom fan profile to maintain this.  My goal is that as dust builds up, it still maintains this temp, but the GPU fan will spike more often and I know it is time to clean it [I use compressed air, but carefully so as to avoid moisture or the can liquid from spraying out [it is easy to do accidentally].  I tend to clean the dust out while my machine is running and then, when the GPU fan continues to spike, I power the system down and blow out the dust everywhere really well.  Seems to work so far.  I am not overclocking or underclocking any component of my system.  My thoughts are that I want longevity out of the hardware.  IF the difficulty level exceeds the return I need, I may play with this at some point to extend the usefulness of the hardware to pay for itself [I do use it for gaming now and again and I use it for work all the time, but I keep a backup card around just in case].

I think that putting all that GPU power in one case may prove difficult to cool with stock coolers, so plan on installing liquid cooling.

Watch out ... most rebates these days have a limitation of one rebate per household for any given product; period.  It doesn't matter if you buy 20, you get one rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129141&cm_re=hd_5850-_-14-129-141-_-Product

The turbine style fan at the end in the middle guides air all the way down the length of the card and forces most of it out the back of the case.

Duly noted, the ones with the full covering around the heatsink and the squirrel cage fan?

Yeah I've had bad luck with the Ebay thing is well, and buying bulk from non OEM distributors. Support is pretty much nonexistent.

My theory is I'd be money ahead to pay the extra 10 or 15% on the cards up front to know that I can RMA them if anything goes wrong.

The 139.00 USD Sapphire 5850's on Newegg right now are looking mighty tasty.

How many cards do you have in those nice rackmount cases of yours vladimir?

Newegg and Tiger Direct have the Saphire 5850 for 139 free shipping. Newegg w/o rebate Tiger Direct With.

So with tax, the card is around 220, Newegg has no tax so just 140. Nearly twice the cost, or at least 80% more for a 15% performance bump.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102932&Tpk=sapphire%205850

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365429&CatId=3669

I love MicroCenter too though, used to live not too far from the one in the Minneapple.

Where can I get these pci-e 1x risers at?

But how do you know that the card wasn't run to the point of damage when you get it from EBay.  Sure, it may work for games, but 98-100% GPU usage day and day out will reveal the damage.  If you get an EBay buyer who has a history of buying a higher end card on Ebay and selling their lower end card [and they indicate they are gamers], then it might be a safer buy.  I have no problem buying or selling cards on Ebay, but for this particular purpose, I am wary.  You may or may not get what you pay for.  Whenever ATI/AMD puts out a driver, a problem is likely to crop up which may or may not cause you difficulty ... will you blame it on the card [and seller] or the driver?  You won't ever know for sure.  New with warranty is my suggestion for mining.  No doubt others feel differently about this and that others have had success using Ebay, but YMMV.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3534#ov

Thats one of the best choices if you can get one... you can up up to 5 VGAs on that MB using pci-e x1 risers. And its cheap.

or you can have an http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3645#ov for up to 3 VGAs.

i've kinda gotten out of the habit of even checking NewEgg, since i found MicroCenter.  and the convenience is worth the occasional higher price.  i note that MicroCenter's ads include NewEgg pricing...

you're right about reference cards though - i spent an extra $50 on my latest mining case.  more fans than carter has little liver pills...

The same 5850 is $40 cheaper on newegg with rebate.

The coolers on those cards are nice but they don't vent out of the case, they just pass they heat issue from the card to the case.

The reference ones are better.

$249 with a $50 rebate:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331363

i just picked up a couple.  and the cheapest 5850s are only twenty bucks less:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0346683

MicroCenter is better than NewEgg - and i have one just down the road...