Hello Forum members. 
 
I've been reading a lot about PCI's and i can't fully understand this.
 
Wondering if my setup could be arranged better in the PCI-Slots.
 
I have GTX680's SLI in PCIEX 16_1 and PCIEX16_2: This is to power a single DellU2711 (gaming)
I have a GT610 in PCIEX 1_3: This is going to power another secondary monitor for 2D applications. 
 
1) Am i running at x8 now? 
2) If so, does it take a performance hit? 
3) Does adding another graphics card for a secondary monitor take a performance hit on the GTX680 lanes? 
 
The reason I have the GT610 for the secondary monitor is to take the excessive load off the GTX680's and reduce the heat of the cards (which it did) but did I sacrifice PCI bandwidth that hinders GPU performance? 
 
I just want to know if my set up is optimal. 
 
Any thoughts and recommendations would be great!
 
As always thank you and much appreciated! 
 
I have attached pictures for your reference. 
1) Acutal picture of my SLI GTX680's and GT610 in my case
2) Outline of motherboard and cards
3) Expansion slot information for Sabertooth Z77
 

Thanks for the reply bdary, 
 
Is there a better way to set the cards with my motherboard? 
 
And the 3rd video card (GT 610) will I loose performance from the SLI GTX680's having used up a PCI slot? 
 
 
Thanks =) 

Hey Bdary,
 
Checked GPU-Z. 
1) GTX680 PCI-E 3.0x16@x8 3.0 (3.0 changes to 1.1)
2) GTX680 PCI-E 3.0x16@8 3.0 (3.0 changes to 1.1)
3) GT610 PCI-E 2.0x16@1 2.0 (2.0 changes to 1.1)
 
As per my Z77 Sabertooth Manuel.
1) GTX680 on PCIe 3.0x16_1 slot (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)
2) GTX680 on PCIie 3.0x16_2 slot
3) GT610 on PCIe 2.0x16_3 slot (max. at x4 mode).
 
I dont see any other way to set up these cards in SLI to get them to be x16 x16. 
 
Questions:
A) Is this a limitation on my motherboard? 
B)Why does the 3.0/2.0 change to 1.1 in the Bus interface?
C) When I run "Start render test" It shows only 1 GTX680 in use but it says NVIDA SLI enabled. When I play games my OSD from Rivaturner shoes both GPU under-load. Is this normal? 
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated. 
 
 

MrHamm

Hey Bdary,

Checked GPU-Z. 
1) GTX680 PCI-E 3.0x16@x8 3.0 (3.0 changes to 1.1)
2) GTX680 PCI-E 3.0x16@8 3.0 (3.0 changes to 1.1)
3) GT610 PCI-E 2.0x16@1 2.0 (2.0 changes to 1.1)

As per my Z77 Sabertooth Manuel.
1) GTX680 on PCIe 3.0x16_1 slot (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)
2) GTX680 on PCIie 3.0x16_2 slot
3) GT610 on PCIe 2.0x16_3 slot (max. at x4 mode).

I dont see any other way to set up these cards in SLI to get them to be x16 x16. 

Questions:
A) Is this a limitation on my motherboard? 
B)Why does the 3.0/2.0 change to 1.1 in the Bus interface?
C) When I run "Start render test" It shows only 1 GTX680 in use but it says NVIDA SLI enabled. When I play games my OSD from Rivaturner shoes both GPU under-load. Is this normal? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Looks like Loveha answered your questions.  But yeah, the way your mobo is laid out, as long as you have more than a single GPU installed, you can't have more than 1 at X16.  So, since your 680's are at X8 and it makes no difference whether you have the 610 in there or not, may as well leave it in if you like.  Just my 2 cents. 

Yeah, I have the Sabertooth - there's no PLX chip.  I've run 4 monitors off of 2 SLI 670s.
 
No PLX chip also means that mobo isn't able to do 3X SLI, as far as I'm aware.  Each card needs to run at a minimum of 4X, and as you can see above, that third card (even if it was another 680) is only running at 1x.
 
Monitor layout for me was first card [DVI, DVI, HDMI for 4th monitor], second card [DVI].  DVI monitors combine for a 2D surround setup.
 
That third card, even if you no longer feel you need it, can be used as the preferred PhysX card in the NVidia settings to give you a small FPS boost in games like Borderlands 2.
 
Cheap excuse to post a pic of my setup (as it was a year ago):