4U case for XL-ATX and 4 GPUs

[tekkk]

Hi there,

I have MSI Big Bang XL-ATX mobo with 4 GPUs and I want to put them on my rack. I ordered a 4U case for ATX mobos and it turned out that it didnt fit (ofcourse...).

I am looking around for 4U cases for XL-ATX but I cant find any.

Any help please?

 

[mnewsham]

They don't exist, XL-ATX form factor only exists for like 5 or 10 motherboard to begin with, and they are all from ~2009-2012 and they simply aren't made anymore because of Extended ATX (E-ATX) and normal ATX being sufficient.

For servers you generally see SSI EEB form factor which is the same dimensions as E-ATX but different screw positions, so they aren't interchangeable.


Sell the 4U case or buy a new motherboard.

 

[tekkk]

Thanks for your help.

With that said my next question is if I get an E-ATX mobo will I be able to use all (4) graphic cards? Is it going to have the necessary space? Because my MSI Big Bang mobo needs the PSU to be on the other side of the PCI-E else the last slot cannot be occupied (which is shit and I have changed already 2 cases).

Could you recommend an E-ATX mobo that will work with all 4 Radeon x290 and a PSU 1000x ?

Many thanks

 

[mnewsham]

Thanks for your help.

With that said my next question is if I get an E-ATX mobo will I be able to use all (4) graphic cards? Is it going to have the necessary space? Because my MSI Big Bang mobo needs the PSU to be on the other side of the PCI-E else the last slot cannot be occupied (which is shit and I have changed already 2 cases).

Could you recommend an E-ATX mobo that will work with all 4 Radeon x290 and a PSU 1000x ?

Many thanks

There are several out there, however I need to know what CPU you currently have, or if you want a whole new platform.

Since you say you already have a Big Bang XL-ATX board I assume you are on X79 and socket 2011. E-ATX boards exist, but you will likely have to buy them off ebay as they aren't made new anymore. (There is an ASUS RAMPAGE IV EXTREME on ebay for ~$225 right now)



If you are buying new, the 5930k or 6850k in a 2011-3 X99 motherboard (like the ASRock X99 OC Formula/3.1 LGA 2011-v3) will be your best bet for quad GPU.

 

[tekkk]

I have an i7.

I think I should go on with the Rampage option. I am just a bit sceptical because I dont want to be again in that position where after plugging the 3rd card I realise that there isnt enough space for the 4th card

Thanks

 

[mnewsham]

I have an i7.

I think I should go on with the Rampage option. I am just a bit sceptical because I dont want to be again in that position where after plugging the 3rd card I realise that there isnt enough space for the 4th card

Thanks

It will stop being an issue soon, from what I have seen Nvidia is getting rid of support for three and four way GPUs. I suspect AMD will start moving that way too.

Gaming really sees very very minimal gains from using more GPUs, once you get past 2 GPUs there is very little actual performance gained. The preference is always to get the highest powered single GPU possible, and if NEEDED (1440p 144hz and 4k+ res) dual high end GPUs will work with some games.
But triple GPU and quad GPU really never get supported by more than a handful of games, and even then the difference between 2 GPUs and 4 GPUs is negligible except at super high resolution or similar situations.

For GPGPU functions however, multi-GPU setups still make sense.

 

[tekkk]

Thanks for your comments.

I forgot to mention that I am after CUDA hashing and not for gaming!!!

Thats why I want all of them to be working. I know that for getting the maximum you need a PLX chipset with more lanes than the 40 lanes that CPUs support but its fine. I can live with it.

I just want all the cards in and working!!!

Many thanks!