just MB + 2 PSU (It says E-ATX, will ATX work?). Is it possible to connect 2 PSUs at the same time?
+ 6 Sapphire Nitro+ 580 8GB (following a discussions in a different discussion thread on this forum.
+ 6 Sapphire Nitro+ 580 8GB (following a discussions in a different discussion thread on this forum.
E-ATX is a standard for size, not PSU connectors (it's "extended ATX", simply implying that the board is larger than a regular ATX). The power connectors are the same, just make sure the board doesn't require any proprietary connectors and only has the standard 24-pin ATX + two 8-pin EPS. It is possible to connect 2 PSUs, and it's probably even the way to go considering your GPU choice. The main problem in powering the rigs (at least for me) is not to get enough power but to get enough cables and connectors.
First of all, you'll want at least one PSU with two EPS 8-pin connectors. You could try to power the MB with two separate PSUs, but I've previously tried that and had some problems with stability of the system. I think it's not recommended, even read some comments out there that it could damage the board. So, the board should be powered by its own PSU. Meaning you'll have to get a PSU that has two 8-pin EPS connectors.
Technically you could get away with just one PSU running the whole rig, but you might run into some problems with cables. Your Nitro cards each require 8-pin pci-e + 6-pin pci-e. So, for 6 cards you need 12 pci-e connectors in total. Each riser also needs one power connector, and ideally you either want molex or pci-e 6-pin risers. If it's 6-pin risers and you're building it all with one PSU then you're in trouble cause even the higher end 1200W PSUs usually have up to 12 pci-e connectors in total, and all 12 will be spent on your Nitro cards. So if you go with one PSU then you'll only be able power your risers with molex connectors. And again, ideally you want one cable per riser. But none of the 1200W PSUs that I know of come with 6 cables with molex connectors. They usually have 2-3 cables with molexes and 2-4 cables with sata connectors. And that's the main reason to go with two PSUs: even though it's easy to get a single PSU powerful enough to run 6 cards, most of them don't have enough cables to properly attach those GPUs.
If you go with 2 PSUs it becomes easier. One 750-1000W PSU to power the board and some cards, the other 750-1000W PSU to power the rest of the cards. That is, of course, if you're 100% set on your GPU choice. Because there are plenty of cards out there with only 1 pci-e connector. None of my Polaris cards (rx470/rx480), for example, have more than 1 pci-e connector. Most of the nvidia gtx 1070 cards also have one 8-pin pci-e connector. If you go with such cards then you'll only need 6 pci-e connectors from your PSU, and it becomes possible to properly power the whole rig with just one PSU.
I'm planning to use Microsoft Windows Server 16 with Hyper-V enabled, so the Parent OS will be doing the mining job.
The board specification says 6 (x8) PCI-E 3.0 slots - in theory, is that good enough for 6 Sapphire Nitro+ 580 8GB ??
Theoretically yes. In practice, most likely. The board specification says 6 (x8) PCI-E 3.0 slots - in theory, is that good enough for 6 Sapphire Nitro+ 580 8GB ??
