4x RTX 2080 Ti system build questions

[jrbcast]

Hi,

I am planning to build a 4 x RTX 2080 Ti 11GB system for scientific computing. I have never build such a powerful system and have some questions:

- These cards have 2x 8 [strike]ping[/strike] pin PCIe power connectors. If the PSU has enough wattage is it enough to use single to dual 8 pin converters to feed them up? I am sure it is better to go for a PSU with more PCIe connectors but this doubt arised.

- What about cooling? Putting 4 of these in a single configuration wouldn't make it too hot? How do their fans work? Inwards? (taking air from box and moving it along the card and exhausting it rearwards out of the box? Will it be ok for a workstation or will it be too loud to work with?

- Finally, I have found an interesting box+mobo (SuperMicro 7049GP-TRT) but I am not sure if its PSU/mobo will manage this config but cannot find more info on it. Has someone a clue? (yes I have asked support but it is sunday today and would love to know more before tomorrow)

Many thanks in advance,
Jose

 

[Lutfij]

When you mention scientific computing, could you elaborate on what sort of scientific computing you'd like to perform? I wouldn't power those cards off splitters and would rather work with connectors coming off the PSU out of the box for the sake of reliability.

 

[Rogue Leader]

To answer your question

1. NEVER use splitters like that. I'm not sure what your workload is but I'd imagine you will be using this to 100% capacity, overdrawing the connector on the PSU is asking for trouble.

2. They pull air from around them and exhaust it outward. Older models had coolers that would exhaust out the back on reference models, but the ones that just blow outward into the case like on current reference models are better, but you need to make sue you have additional fans to exhaust that heat. As for sound, at full tilt they are not quiet, so if you're looking for something discrete sound wise this needs to be in another room.

3. Yes that system will do the job. Since its for science and you're not running them in SLI there are no issues.

 

[jrbcast]

When you mention scientific computing, could you elaborate on what sort of scientific computing you'd like to perform? I wouldn't power those cards off splitters and would rather work with connectors coming off the PSU out of the box for the sake of reliability.

Its for computational structural biology (i.e. protein folding prediction, 3DEM, etc..) The thing is that I cannot see a 2080 model that allows 4xGPU due to cooling reasons. I will have to wait for the blower version...

 

[jrbcast]

To answer your question

1. NEVER use splitters like that. I'm not sure what your workload is but I'd imagine you will be using this to 100% capacity, overdrawing the connector on the PSU is asking for trouble.

2. They pull air from around them and exhaust it outward. Older models had coolers that would exhaust out the back on reference models, but the ones that just blow outward into the case like on current reference models are better, but you need to make sue you have additional fans to exhaust that heat. As for sound, at full tilt they are not quiet, so if you're looking for something discrete sound wise this needs to be in another room.

3. Yes that system will do the job. Since its for science and you're not running them in SLI there are no issues.

So cooling is really a complex thing here. There are 1x, 2x and 3x fan units but If I put 4 GPUs together, will not them be too close preventing a correct cooling? I can opt for a box with lateral cooling (a cube box, but I don't know a model yet) but, will it be enough? At Supermicro they have told me they have not yet approved 2080 for their builds and this is too much money just to "test" if everything goes as expected. I have had problems with Xeon Phi cooling in the past just to realize that that card could not be a part of a tower but needed a server forced cooling system.

 

[Rogue Leader]

So cooling is really a complex thing here. There are 1x, 2x and 3x fan units but If I put 4 GPUs together, will not them be too close preventing a correct cooling? I can opt for a box with lateral cooling (a cube box, but I don't know a model yet) but, will it be enough? At Supermicro they have told me they have not yet approved 2080 for their builds and this is too much money just to "test" if everything goes as expected. I have had problems with Xeon Phi cooling in the past just to realize that that card could not be a part of a tower but needed a server forced cooling system.

Honestly for what you want to do old reference style blower units are preferable. I don't know if any 2080ti's have been released yet with that. otherwise you're gonna need some serious exhaust fans to pull the heat exhausted away from the 4 of them. I wouldn't say they are too close, but it will definitely have an effect, you're going to want to have a good feed of cool air going into them.