Board that accommodates more than six GPUs with i9-9900K, Ryzen 9, Threadripper 2 or XEON models
Board that accommodates more than six GPUs with i9-9900K, Ryzen 9, Threadripper 2 or XEON models
Hello, I'm searching for a motherboard that accommodates multiple GPUs, specifically 6 or more dual slots. It should work with i9-9900K, Ryzen 9, Threadripper 2, XEON processors. I won't be using them for mining, but rather for running virtual machines—3 macOS, 3 Windows, and possibly some Linux. The setup needs liquid cooling: one circuit for four GPUs and another for two to three GPUs plus the CPU. The system should be rack-mounted in a 5U case for optimal airflow. These options are quite pricey.
OP mentioned using liquid cooled GPUs which means they’d use single slot coolers. If the GPUs support single slot I/O, that works fine.
Tru tru, though testing them will be a pain due to not being able to run all of them and verify it boots and behaves properly with 6 GPUs, unless you get PCIe risers just for that and get rid of them once there's blocks. And Nvidia FE GPUs (since the Pascal ones I think, didn't they go only HDMI/DP for those?) and the Vegas should be able to be single slot, IIRC a lot of AIBs for Nvidia GPUs keep putting the DVI back though . Are there special considerations for PCIe passthrough though? IIRC mobos group the slots differently and sometimes you can't split them all out individually.
I would definitely look onto socket SP3/EPYC or Intel's higher end (LGA3647 or similar). This is something I'm contemplating myself to make the ultimate BOINC crunching rig. Something you need to account for with this type of project is to verify the board's slots all connect directly to the CPU and don't go though a chipset. If they do this can interfere with GPU pass-though &/or the IOMMU groups. A member here brought this to my attention and said you may be able to verify this with the board manufacturer by e-mailing them. A board I have been looking at for my own implementation of this was the ASRock Rack EPYCD8-2T though I still have yet to check if all the slots connect directly to the CPU or not.
Threadripper boards feature 5 to 6 PCIe slots, such as the ASUS PRIME X399-A with its extended ATX design. You can employ PCIe riser cables to upgrade from x4 to x16 or adjust video card spacing. A variety of adapters, extenders, and converters are available in different angles—right angle, reverse angle, or 1x16 to 2x8 configurations—depending on motherboard capabilities. For instance, the Asus HYPER M.2 card can split an x16 slot into two 4x4 slots, useful for mounting multiple SSDs. More options include riser cables like ARC1-PELY428-C5V3, ARC1-PERY423-C30V3, and several reverse orientations (reversed versions) that face away from the board. You can also find adapters that connect directly to M.2 slots and extend PCIe x4 to x16, such as the one listed on Ebay for a mining setup. SATA cables deliver both 12V and 3.3V to the PCIe interface, since the M.2 connector only provides 3.3V; riser cables are often needed. Additionally, some adapters operate with just a single PCIe x1 lane, pairing well with traditional x1→x16 boards used in mining applications.
Also check PCI-E BACKPLANES Here are some useful sites: 1. https://www.onestopsystems.com/expansion-backplanes 2. https://www.trentonsystems.com/products/pcie-backplanes 3. https://amfeltec.com/pci-express-expansion-backplane/ Additionally, a company specializing in PCI-E bifurcation solutions exists but lacks distributor contacts: http://www.ioi.com.tw/products/prodcat_a...APPID=1008