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Thinking about Upgrading

SeeThruHead
Level 7
Thinking about upgrading from my Maximus IV Extreme Rev 3.
EDIT: Upgrade to the Maximus V Formula mother board.

Mostly for more PCIE bandwidth. But I have concerns about what I'm planning to install.

I would like to run 2xGTX670 (2lot cards)

I would like to run a Quad port Intel NIC (PCIE 2.0x4)

I would like to run PCIE 1x sound card.

Will this fit physically onto the board?

Will each device get enough native bandwidth?

Thanks for your help!
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23 REPLIES 23

SeeThruHead
Level 7
Really, no one can chime in on how PCIE bandwidth is allocated to each slot?

HiVizMan
Level 40
You will need to use the X79 (LGA 2011 socket) the Z77 or Ivy processors only have 16 lanes for PCIe. The X79 has 40.

And I suspect the reason you did not get a reply was cos I was on a train and had no signal. On me holidays I am. 😄

The issue is not about slots at all. The issue is about the total number of lanes available, and since Intel has place the PCIe control on die it is CPU dependent and has very little to do with motherboards.
To help us help you - please provide as much information about your system and the problem as possible.

SeeThruHead
Level 7
X79 is outside of my budget range. The board I have been looking at is the Maximus V formula. A less expensive board than what I have but newer and supporting PCIE3.0

My requirements are 8 lanes of PCIE 3.0 for each video card. This is standard in the z77 chipset.

a total of 5 lanes of PCIE 2.0 for sound card and NIC. This should also be handled by z77 chipset as it has 8 PCIE 2.0 slots in addition to the PCIE 3.0 slots.

So I know z77 can handle the bandwidth of my devices I just need a board that has the physical slots for it.

Another thing to consider is that onboard controllers such as the ASMEDIA USB3.0 and SATA 6g are also tied into the PCIE lanes provided (In the case of the Maximus V Formula I'm not quite sure how, through the PLX chip?)

Regardless, I will not be using the ASMEDIA controllers whatsoever. They will be disabled either in the bios (if possible) or the OS.

So i know z77 has enough lanes, and the Maximus V Formula has enough physical slots. So why would I need to go to x79?

SeeThruHead wrote:

a total of 5 lanes of PCIE 2.0 for sound card and NIC. This should also be handled by z77 chipset as it has 8 PCIE 2.0 slots in addition to the PCIE 3.0 slots.




the Z77 chipset as PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0 Slots ? I tough the slots was on the motherboard ?

SeeThruHead
Level 7
15353
8 PCIE provided by the z77 chipset
16 PCIE 3.0 Provided by the CPU

chrsplmr
Level 18
Looks straight forward to me .. unless I am missing something ..
1slot=16
2 slots=8 and 8
3slots=8 and 4 and 4
am I misreading this ???
Welcome to ROG

Viz .. Happy Holiday .. [singing] .. Happy Holiday ....
[ put the tabby/pad in ur bag and forget you have it .. enjoy.relax.recharge.c.]

SeeThruHead
Level 7
Seems the be anything but straight forward.

What lanes are routed where?

Why is there a PLX8747 chip on the board if it only does a total of 16xPCIE 3.0.

Is the PLX chip what serves connectivity the the ASMEDIA controllers?
Are the PCIE 2.0 lanes coming straight from the z77 chipset?

The PCIE lanes on this board are rather complicated.

chrsplmr
Level 18
My apologies .. I was looking at the pic .. without the OP in mind .. in that, I am afraid I am clueless ..
complicated ... yes, indeed is the word.c.

Post#3
HiVizMan wrote:
You will need to use the X79 (LGA 2011 socket) the Z77 or Ivy processors only have 16 lanes for PCIe. The X79 has 40.

And I suspect the reason you did not get a reply was cos I was on a train and had no signal. On me holidays I am. 😄

The issue is not about slots at all. The issue is about the total number of lanes available, and since Intel has place the PCIe control on die it is CPU dependent and has very little to do with motherboards.

SeeThruHead
Level 7
Right well, I know the difference between x79 and z77. That being said, according to Intels z77 spec diagram, there is more than enough PCIE connectivity for what I'm trying to do. Factor in that there is also a PLX chip on the Maximus V Formula and the board starts to look overkill for the application. But it has the best PCIE slot layout I've seen on an ROG board. I just need to make sure that the slots that are going to be used.

From the Manual:
15354
Slot 1: Quad Port Intel NIC
Slot 2: GTX 670
Slot 3: Covered by 670
Slot 4: Sound Card
Slot 5: GTX 670
Slot 6: Covered by 670
Slot 7: Unused (I would not put the Quad NIC in here as this slot shares bandwidth with slot 2 and slot 5)

My main concern is that inserting a Sound Card in slot 4 might force slot 1 to work at 1x mode, which is not enough bandwidth for a Quad Gigabit NIC.

Hopefully someone who has this board can chime in with how the PCIE slots share bandwidth amongst eachother.

EDIT: I just realized I didn't specify WHICH board I wanted to upgrade to in the OP. Oops.