jskibb
 

 
 
I like your setup. The only thing I have water cooled is my CPU. I am using a Corsair H105 all-in-one unit. Perhaps next time I upgrade my system (including the video cards) I will do full water cooled. Gonna be a year or two though.
 
What water system are you using?

 
Hello jskibb,
Thank you very much for your words, I'm glad you like.
Currently rl amount of two circuits, one for cpu and one for the Titans Sli.
 
4770K circuit,
Koolance Radiator 30 fpi 4 x 120 + 8 fans push / pull B12-3 Noiseblocker 1900 rpm,
Laing D5 pump,
Koolance top,
koolance 380i cpu block
 
 
Circuit GPUs
Koolance Radiator 30 fpi 4 x 120 + 8 fans push / pull Noiseblocker B12-March 1900
2 x Laing D5 Pumps
EK Dual Top.
2 x Koolance VID-NXTTN (Gpu Blocks)
Koolance Couplers, 19 mm tube, Thermal Pad Fujipoly.
The processor operates at 4.8 Ghz with temperatures playing 50/55 degrees Celsius, the graphics cards work @ 1250 to 40/42 degrees. (With temperatures in Spain over 25 Degrees)
That's 24/7, for benchamark is a little more ....
 

 
Sorry for the quality of the images, right now is what I had on the phone.
 
Regards....
 
Returning to the topic of the thread, do not understand how the PCIEX 1 does not work at 16x. I think that is the first board meeting of these features that I do not.
Effectively work at 8x 16x, no great loss of performance. Well we like to bring the pc to its peak performance, we like to go all to the fullest ....
Maybe do some performance tests as now are to change the slot's 2 and 4. To really see what's right in this. And check that performance is lost 8x 16x.
 
Regards...

zildjian75

jskibb

zildjian75
I cannot put my cards in slots 2 & 4... They are the 560 to 448 core classifieds which actually take up about 2.5 slots. It needs to work in slots 1 & 4 for me my other 2 options are to replace my vid cards or get a different MB.

Anyway... Moral of this story...

It needs to work in slots 1 & 4 as it says it will.

Based on the design and how slot-1 runs off the CPU I don't see it ever working like that. I am guessing that the specs listed were a typo. The board is designed for them to only work in 2 and 4 as it's been physically created that way. Your only option if they really don't fit is to get a new mobo or new video cards. However, I looked up the specs of those cards. They are designed to utilize PCI-E 2.0 at 16x. PCI-Express 3.0 x8 has the same throughput as PCI-Express 2.0 16x, so you aren't losing anything. Your cards can't utilize any more than a Gen3 8x slot. So it technically doesn't matter which slot combination you use with those 2 video cards in SLI as long as both are at 8x. Having them at x16 literally does nothing for you until you get better video cards.

Thanks for the response jskibb.
 
I still have the problem of the card running at 8x, is only running Gen 1.  Both cards are reporting as gen 1 in the bios, but in reality the 16x card is running Gen 2, and the 8x card is running Gen 1.  Since the shroud on my gpu's is curved (bad design), it keeps me from even trying my cards in slots 2 & 4, which does seem to be the fix/workaround.
 
Can anyone at EVGA please confirm this? Is slot 1 not 16x when running 2 gpu's?  Do I have to use slots 2 & 4 to achieve 16x/16x?  If that's the case, it is okay, I just need to know for sure. I really wanted to wait for the 800 series gpu's to update, but I will get a new gpu if I have too.
 
The manual says it will work and EVGA has not denied that it will work...  Sooooooo, will it work, or is it a typo?

Are you sure it is Gen 1? Run GPU-Z. What does it say for each card in the Bus Interface part? Your board will throttle-down to 1 after a few moments of the program being open though (because your cards aren't being utilized much to just display windows programs). So what does it say within the first few seconds of selecting each GPU?
 
Also, I read that the 800 series or whatever they are going to call them have been pushed back to next year. Not sure if you knew that or not. I am currently running 2 780ti Classifieds in SLI. I am running a 4k monitor and they do 4k gaming extremely well. All games run smooth at ultra settings. I actually had no problems with a single card but I love wasting money on my computer... If you are a serious gamer and have the money, I highly suggest going 4k. It really is insane.

jskibb
Are you sure it is Gen 1? Run GPU-Z. What does it say for each card in the Bus Interface part? Your board will throttle-down to 1 after a few moments of the program being open though (because your cards aren't being utilized much to just display windows programs). So what does it say within the first few seconds of selecting each GPU?

Here's what I get...
 
In Bios 1.5
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 1
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1
 
GPU-Z idle
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 1.1
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render window No sli
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render fullscreen No sli
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render fullscreen sli enabled
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - Starts 16x gen 2.0 and drops to 16x gen 1.1 after about 10 seconds.  Does it do this to match the 8x 2.0 speed of the s1 gpu? ie: 16x gen1 = 8x gen2?
 
One thing is fuuuur shhhhuuuuur.  The Bios is definitely mis-reporting the pci-e slots.  But it still doesn't explain why I'm not getting 16x/16x using slot 1.  You seem pretty confident that it is not even possible to achieve 16x/16 using slot 1...  Even while EVGA has yet to realize that it's not possible...  Would you mind explaining to me and the rest of the crowd (or post a link) explaining why it's not possible? Is it not something that can be fixed in a Bios update? How is it possible EVGA isn't aware of this?  They actually brought in a board to replicate & confirm the issue and the manual says it can be done.  I'm extremely confused.......
 

jskibb
Also, I read that the 800 series or whatever they are going to call them have been pushed back to next year. Not sure if you knew that or not. I am currently running 2 780ti Classifieds in SLI. I am running a 4k monitor and they do 4k gaming extremely well. All games run smooth at ultra settings. I actually had no problems with a single card but I love wasting money on my computer... If you are a serious gamer and have the money, I highly suggest going 4k. It really is insane.

No...  I was not aware of that...  I've been thinking about upgrading, but figured I'd just wait til the next round. Technically, by getting 8x/16x I'm getting 8x/8x which is what most boards get.  I haven't had much time for gaming lately, but when I do it's pretty much been Diablo 3 which uses about 40% of one of my 560's...  So it's not all that critical...  When I pull the trigger on new gpu's I'll make sure the fan shroud isn't curved as to prevent me from using slots 2 & 4 even though I do not like to sammy them at all.  Especially w/ all the other slots that should work.  But!!!
It says it should work, so I want it to work NOW!!!! 
 
Can't quite afford to jump on the 4K bandwagon yet...  and I just got a 60" slim TV about a year and a half ago, so I'm going to have to keep waiting. But I see it on the distant horizon.  I'm lookin' forward to it...  Thanks for help bringin' the price down!!!

zildjian75

jskibb
Are you sure it is Gen 1? Run GPU-Z. What does it say for each card in the Bus Interface part? Your board will throttle-down to 1 after a few moments of the program being open though (because your cards aren't being utilized much to just display windows programs). So what does it say within the first few seconds of selecting each GPU?

Here's what I get...
 
In Bios 1.5
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 1
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1
 
GPU-Z idle
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 1.1
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render window No sli
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render fullscreen No sli
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - 16x gen 1.1
 
GPU-Z render fullscreen sli enabled
gpu1 s1 - 8x gen 2.0
gpu2 s4 - Starts 16x gen 2.0 and drops to 16x gen 1.1 after about 10 seconds.  Does it do this to match the 8x 2.0 speed of the s1 gpu? ie: 16x gen1 = 8x gen2?
 
One thing is fuuuur shhhhuuuuur.  The Bios is definitely mis-reporting the pci-e slots.  But it still doesn't explain why I'm not getting 16x/16x using slot 1.  You seem pretty confident that it is not even possible to achieve 16x/16 using slot 1...  Even while EVGA has yet to realize that it's not possible...  Would you mind explaining to me and the rest of the crowd (or post a link) explaining why it's not possible? Is it not something that can be fixed in a Bios update? How is it possible EVGA isn't aware of this?  They actually brought in a board to replicate & confirm the issue and the manual says it can be done.  I'm extremely confused.......
 

jskibb
Also, I read that the 800 series or whatever they are going to call them have been pushed back to next year. Not sure if you knew that or not. I am currently running 2 780ti Classifieds in SLI. I am running a 4k monitor and they do 4k gaming extremely well. All games run smooth at ultra settings. I actually had no problems with a single card but I love wasting money on my computer... If you are a serious gamer and have the money, I highly suggest going 4k. It really is insane.

No...  I was not aware of that...  I've been thinking about upgrading, but figured I'd just wait til the next round. Technically, by getting 8x/16x I'm getting 8x/8x which is what most boards get.  I haven't had much time for gaming lately, but when I do it's pretty much been Diablo 3 which uses about 40% of one of my 560's...  So it's not all that critical...  When I pull the trigger on new gpu's I'll make sure the fan shroud isn't curved as to prevent me from using slots 2 & 4 even though I do not like to sammy them at all.  Especially w/ all the other slots that should work.  But!!!
It says it should work, so I want it to work NOW!!!! 
 
Can't quite afford to jump on the 4K bandwagon yet...  and I just got a 60" slim TV about a year and a half ago, so I'm going to have to keep waiting. But I see it on the distant horizon.  I'm lookin' forward to it...  Thanks for help bringin' the price down!!!

GPU-Z is recording it correctly. The reason that it clocks down like that is because it doesn't need to be at x16 3.0 anymore to just operate normal windows, so it lowers it which saves energy and produces less heat which is a win/win for you. It isn't matching the other slot. The only true way I was able to watch both never drop below their MAX was to have GPU-Z on my second monitor while running a game or Valley benchmark. When doing that the slots both maxed out and stayed that way at x16 gen 3. In your case slot-1 should max at x8 3.0 and slot 4 x16 3.0. As long as both your cards are at least x8 3.0 you will be using them at their max potential. If I have nothing running then GPU-Z drops both down to x16 1.1 when in slots 2/4. So it looks like yours is working fine. If you want to know for sure you will need to have a game or benchmark full-screened on one screen and have GPU-Z on another and watch it.
 
As for how I know it can't be fixed to be slots 1/4 instead of 2/4. I am not entirely 100% sure. It totally depends on how they designed the PCI-E lanes to be shared. It is entirely possible that the board was designed so that a BIOS update could change it but the opposite is true as well. They could have designed the board so that it physically can only ever work in 2/4 for 2 slots to work at x16 at the same time. It would be nice for a tech from eVGA to chime in and let us know for sure.
 
I too would prefer slots 1/4 because it allows for better air flow but it's not a deal breaker for me. When the x99 boards come out I will probably upgrade again. I am a sucker for new tech! :(

zildjian75

jskibb
GPU-Z is recording it correctly. The reason that it clocks down like that is because it doesn't need to be at x16 3.0 anymore to just operate normal windows, so it lowers it which saves energy and produces less heat which is a win/win for you. It isn't matching the other slot. The only true way I was able to watch both never drop below their MAX was to have GPU-Z on my second monitor while running a game or Valley benchmark. Which doing that the slots both maxed out and stayed that way at x16 gen 3. In your case slot-1 should max at x8 3.0 and slot 4 x16 3.0. As long as both your cards are at least x8 3.0 you will be using them at their max potential. If I have nothing running then GPU-Z drops both down to x16 1.1 when in slots 2/4. So it looks like yours is working fine. If you want to know for sure you will need to have a game or benchmark full-screened on one screen and have GPU-Z on another and watch it.
 
As for how I know it can't be fixed to be slots 1/4 instead of 2/4. I am not entirely 100% sure. It totally depends on how they designed the PCI-E lanes to be shared. It is entirely possible that the board was designed so that a BIOS update could change it but the opposite is true as well. They could have designed the board so that it physically can only ever work in 2/4 for 2 slots to work at x16 at the same time. It would be nice for a tech from eVGA to chime in and let us know for sure.
 
I too would prefer slots 1/4 because it allows for better air flow but it's not a deal breaker for me. When the x99 boards come out I will probably upgrade again. I am a sucker for new tech! :(

My gpu's don't get gen 3.0.  That wasn't available on the 500 series...  So gen 2 for me.  It does look like gpu-z is reading it correctly.  The Bios is definitely mis-reporting. There was an EVGA rep on here and I guess they are still working on it.  It would be nice if they would just come in and say "A slot 1 fix is on the way w/ a bios update"   or    "A slot 1 fix is not possible"  Maybe I should just get 1 780ti and be done with it??  But then, I'll want 2!!!

A single 780ti would be better than your SLI setup. As I stated before a single card ran my 4k setup just fine with everything at ULTRA in all the games I listed. It did start lagging a tad when I had AA turned up higher than 4x though. Anything under 4k and a single 780ti will laugh at it even at 16x AA.
 
I agree that it is annoying that they haven't said anything yet.

EVGATech_JaesonW
We just got through testing out the PCIe lanes on a z97 Classified. We are also seeing in the BIOS with video cards in slots 1 and 4 that the BIOS is reporting the lanes wrong. When running GPUz, it reports both slots at 16x with a card in each slot. So, it appears to be functioning correctly and the BIOS is simply reporting the lanes incorrectly. I've passed this on to the Product Management to further investigate what's causing the BIOS to report incorrectly.

Any word of late on this Jaeson?  Is this something that can be fixed with a bios update?

Hey everyone. I forwarded this thread and our in-house findings to the Product Team, and they're looking into it. We'll definitely let you know when there's more info available. 

rchapman45
I'm not sure which gpuZ they are using but any I use says same thing, 8x/16x and 8x/8x

When my two 780ti's are in slots 1/4 they also report x8/x16 respectively in GPU-Z. I am using GPU-Z 0.7.8.

EVGATech_JaesonW
Hey everyone. I forwarded this thread and our in-house findings to the Product Team, and they're looking into it. We'll definitely let you know when there's more info available. 

Thanks Jaeson.

jskibb
 
 
I have actually decided to do water cooling after researching it more. The problem I am having is finding a good case. What case is that? I was thinking of going with the Cooler Master HAF Stacker and putting the radiator and push/pull fans in the top stack area.
 
Would this unit be enough for my CPU and both graphics cards?
 
http://www.frozencpu.com/...&id=5m6cRGiU#blank
 
The radiator is 60mm thick and full copper. It says it can do multiple devices such as mobo, cpu, gpu. I dont have a liquid cooled mobo so I would think having my two video cards and CPU would work. It looks like a good kit for my first attempt at full water cooling.
 
I would prefer to use a single or dual 5.25 bay for the pump and liquid reservoir.

 
My case is a Corsair 900D, I love this case, I have had many, and I stay with it, comfortable and well built. See if I like that I have two, one with the pc gaming and another makes home server with 25T
 
http://www.hardlimit.com/modding/t-corsair-900d-home-server-65170.html
 
 
This kit is very good to begin with, is everything you need to build your first rl. You just have to add gpu blocks and fittings necessary for installation.
From my point of view a triple radiator is little to cool two gpu's y one cpu.
 
Although it depends on the level you want to get oc. Yes you just want to cool components, and get better air temperatures, for sure.
All depends on what you want to do.
Of course, see that the box is large, it is much more comfortable to work.
 
Regards

ty_ger07
Can you guys please keep your mods rigs and cooling loop out of this? Open a new thread or PM eachother. Thanks.

 
ok, Sorry.

zkanuck
Can you guys get a room/start another thread? Not really on OP topic...

Sorry!

Looks like the issue has made it onto YouTube. Jays2cents is building an awesome rig with this mobo and has also found out about the Slot 1 8x issue in SLI. He has a direct line to EVGA and they have confirmed that it's not working as advertised but that there are negligible performance implications (within margin of error).

http://youtu.be/xJiYl2WAN-0

Skip to 16:55 for the above highlight.

I have a feeling we're just going to be told by EVGA that "it's true that it doesn't work as advertised but it's good enough!"

For my 780s on air in SLI, if I were to use slot 2 & 4, there just isn't enough cooling airflow when they are sandwiched together like that. Seems silly to use slot 2 & 4 when I used to have an mATX mobo which at least allowed one slot space between my 2 cards.

I'm a bit disappointed we are paying a lot of money to trail a beta version of the board that was supposed to be "a return to greatness".

In that youtube link the guy mentions that EVGA said you can achieve 16x/16x in slots 2 and 4.  I have confirmed this on my 1.02 out of the box system with (2) GeForce 780Ti cards.  I'm getting 16x/16x when using those two slots.  

Good point.  That is unfortunate.  It's got 16x written on the motherboard for slot 1.  They should do something about that.
 
So is the airflow a big enough deal that I should move it to slot one and take the performance hit?  I'm not liquid cooling right now.