Rampage IV Extreme , PCI Slots 2 and 3 Do not work (4th different IV extreme Board)

[Jonthomasdesigns]

This is my First Post and Really First Complete Build (Never really complete)

My Issue is this is my 4th Rampage IV Extreme board and each time the 3rd and in this case the 2nd and 3rd PCI slots completely fail (Windows doesn't see anything at all , even though the items in the slots light up)

My Current PCI config is :

Slot 1: EVGA GeForce GTX 680
Slot 2: Ceton infinitv4
Slot 3: ASUS Xonar Phoebus ROG
Slot 4:EVGA GeForce GTX 680
Slot 5:Covered by above card
Slot 6: Intel Raid Controller RS25DB080 (to run 8 x OCZ 128GB Vertex 4 RAID0)

Windows never sees the Ceton card or the ASUS Xonar Phoebus ROG in slots 2 and 3 , in fact nothing i add in them is found .. i have the extra 6 pin PCI power connected and the 4 pin for the RAM .. if i put those 2 in other slots they work fine , but i need all the slots

I have reinstalled windows 7 ult 64x from Scratch multi times , changed the PCI version from 3 to 2 to 1 on those slots (the 8x a and 8x b) .. and this is my 4th Rampage IV extreme board

Newest BIOS

Any ideas ???

My Set up is :
Rampage IV Extreme
Intel 3960k
8 x OCZ 128GB Vertex 4 RAID0
Intel Raid Controller RS25DB080
Cooler Master Cosmos II
Corsair Hydro Series H100
32GB Mushkin Enhanced Redline 32GB (8 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
2x EVGA GeForce GTX 680 (SLI)
ASUS Xonar Phoebus ROG
ceton infinitv 4 and ceton infinitv 4 USB
Corsair AX1200
Corsair link and led link kit
G13 Gamepad / G9 Mouse / Razer Tron Mouse / Corsair K90 Keyboard
Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 /Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming headset/ RAZER Tiamat 7.1 Pre order

Im at a loss .. any help would be amazing .. Sorry if i left out any details

[rEd2k]

I just had this discussion in another thread and as a dude named Dartmaul pointed out in a little diagram, you cannot use BOTH PCIE slots 2 AND 3 at the same time if you have a card running at 8X mode in any of the two slots, he's actually having a problem with this atm.. his two cards are also less than 8X link width and running on both ports you suggested but it won't work either for him so you aren't alone Also if you are running that 8X raid card in the last slot it will bring the 4th slot down to 8X mode as well. From what the manual says your best setup should be:

Slot 1: 680 = 16X
Slot 2 or 3: Intel raid card = 8X
Slot 4: 680 = 16X
Slot 5: Cannot use (1x)
Slot 6: Empty

Of course, you just like me, want to run more cards in the board so the only other board I can suggest installing is the sound card (or the Ceton infinitv4 card) in the 5th slot using a PCIE extension cable That has a VERY VERY low profile plug on it to allow the bigger 16X 680 to still have clearance on the 4th port when plugged in. I have found these cables and they do exist but they aren't cheap, the shortest one was like $51 just because it's a special low profile plug :S

Here's the link to the thread if you wanna read it or if it will help you further, you'll find my super long post in there about my situation
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread...untry=&status=

[Jonthomasdesigns]

I just had this discussion in another thread and as a dude named Dartmaul pointed out in a little diagram, you cannot use BOTH PCIE slots 2 AND 3 at the same time if you have a card running at 8X mode in any of the two slots, he's actually having a problem with this atm.. his two cards are also less than 8X link width and running on both ports you suggested but it won't work either for him so you aren't alone Also if you are running that 8X raid card in the last slot it will bring the 4th slot down to 8X mode as well. From what the manual says your best setup should be:

Slot 1: 680 = 16X
Slot 2 or 3: Intel raid card = 8X
Slot 4: 680 = 16X
Slot 5: Cannot use (1x)
Slot 6: Empty

Of course, you just like me, want to run more cards in the board so the only other board I can suggest installing is the sound card (or the Ceton infinitv4 card) in the 5th slot using a PCIE extension cable That has a VERY VERY low profile plug on it to allow the bigger 16X 680 to still have clearance on the 4th port when plugged in. I have found these cables and they do exist but they aren't cheap, the shortest one was like $51 just because it's a special low profile plug :S

Here's the link to the thread if you wanna read it or if it will help you further, you'll find my super long post in there about my situation
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread...untry=&status=

Wow thats Sad even with all this High End Equipment its maxed out in terms of PCI lanes .. Any idea what the Ivy Bridge -E will have ?

Anyway Do you have a link where i can get the Low Profile plug .. id love to use the Asus ROG soundcard in the PCI x1 slot , i guess ill sell my Ceton 4 tuner cablecard and ge tanother USB one if needed

[rEd2k]

Wow thats Sad even with all this High End Equipment its maxed out in terms of PCI lanes .. Any idea what the Ivy Bridge -E will have ?

Ya it is really sad, I guess it's just because PCIE 3.0 is so new at this point, we were lucky to even get PCIE 3.0 at all on these boards I guess.. I actually don't know how many lanes that the Ivy bridge-E will have unfortunetly. I don't think I'm allowed to post links to other websites on the forum so I hope I don't get in trouble for doing a "broken" link :P Here: http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pe-...2-p-15071.html

You can also choose your length at a slightly higher cost too. I have found others out there but none that have a plug thats THAT LOW PROFILE, and if you find others out there that are better please post back and let me know!

I almost forgot to mention, I too am having issues with SLOT 2, getting my GTX460 to work in the board, it DOES WORK but only after a reboot and never from a powered off state and I CAN get it to work from a powered up-first time state, but only if I first disable my sli setup (that's where the card then shows up) and then I see the card and it can be used but only if sli is off, so I have to REBOOT ANYWAYS and then I can re-enable my sli and continue to use the card in SLOT 2.. for crying out loud, high end hardware hey? lol Geez. *sigh*

[xeromist]

Fixed your link. We don't care if you link people to things they request(if the request is legal). Unsolicited advertisements are what will get you into trouble.

[rEd2k]

Fixed your link. We don't care if you link people to things they request(if the request is legal). Unsolicited advertisements are what will get you into trouble.

Cool, thanks xeromist, don't worry I won't ever put up any garbage links

[Jonthomasdesigns]

Cool, thanks xeromist, don't worry I won't ever put up any garbage links

Thanks for the Link .. Have you used that one ? Its funny on amazon they have some for like $7.50 .. but they don't look as low profile .. so i ordered the one you showed , Lets hope it works for almost $60 lol

[Jobeo]

Slot 6: Intel Raid Controller RS25DB080 (to run 8 x OCZ 128GB Vertex 4 RAID0)

wow thats crazy ..... i am not a statistician but it would be interesting to calculate the MTBF on that ... since you are relying on all 8 drives to perform flawlessly..... if one fails you lose the entire raid

seems extremely risky to me.... but undoubtedly high performance...

[rEd2k]

Thanks for the Link .. Have you used that one ? Its funny on amazon they have some for like $7.50 .. but they don't look as low profile .. so i ordered the one you showed , Lets hope it works for almost $60 lol

Ya I got one on order too, and I know about those ones for dirt cheap but like you said they aren't low profile enough for our application AND those cheap ones aren't PCI-E 2.0 certified and there's no extra sheilding on them either. I just hope it works out ok, damn that retarted price though lol....

[Jonthomasdesigns]

Ya I got one on order too, and I know about those ones for dirt cheap but like you said they aren't low profile enough for our application AND those cheap ones aren't PCI-E 2.0 certified and there's no extra sheilding on them either. I just hope it works out ok, damn that retarted price though lol....

Mine was Shipped today and i wont get it till Monday , I tried one of the $7 Amazon ones but it stuck out to much and wouldn't fit ..

If you get yours before me please let me know how it worked out