SLI +M.2 Ultra (PCIe 3.0x4) Which motherboard

slighted03

Commendable
May 27, 2016
7
0
1,510
Hi,

I am working on putting together a gaming computer that i use to box multiple instances of the game(EQ). I have read that M.2 ultra blows traditional hard drives out of the water in terms of read/write. This important because when i zone the game is accessing the harddrive for each instance ie 5-6 times. I have seen great response in switching from spinning drive to ssd and hoping to have even better response out of a M.2. That's the backstory and rational.

So i am looking for a board and chip that would support two 980 ti's + M.2 3.0 x4 and potentially two regular ssd's(optional). So assuming the build revolved around those components is there anything i can do ?
 
Solution
16 lanes through CPU for the GPUs to run at x8


There are also 20 lanes through the z170 chipset, allowing you to run an m.2

It will work, no bottle neck.

slighted03

Commendable
May 27, 2016
7
0
1,510
Honestly like i said above the only pieces i am building around are the two 980ti's in SLI and a M.2 in PCIe 3.0 x4 i would like the option to add a few more HD's but not required. so i am looking for recommendations on the board and CPU that would support making that happen.
 

aristar

Commendable
May 22, 2016
24
0
1,520
I think with SLI and just 1 m.2 drive (really this is faster than anything you'll need) you can go with the LGA1151 (that means i5 6500, i5 6600k, i7 6700k).

That means mostly anything from the Z170 lineup. Asus and Gigabyte make good boards,

The Asus Z170-A is a good board for this, if you want something higher end you can check out the Asus ROG Maximus VIII Hero



 

slighted03

Commendable
May 27, 2016
7
0
1,510
That setup would allow both cards to run x8 ? what has me asking for recommendations is that i had read the the typical z170 coupled with a 6700k would not allow SLI and M.2 becuase the chip only had 16 lanes total.
 

aristar

Commendable
May 22, 2016
24
0
1,520
16 lanes through CPU for the GPUs to run at x8


There are also 20 lanes through the z170 chipset, allowing you to run an m.2

It will work, no bottle neck.
 
Solution

aristar

Commendable
May 22, 2016
24
0
1,520
Not always, you have to make sure that the m.2 port on the board isn't sharing lanes with the pcie slots for the GPUs, it's rare but sometimes they are shared. You can check that in the manual though.
 
a few things before you pull the trigger. the newer kurby lake and 200 chipset are dropping soon the 200 chipset has more pci lanes then skylake cpu.
http://techfrag.com/2016/05/26/intel-launching-200-series-chipset-computex-2016/
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/10/intel-corps-kaby-lake-set-to-enter-mass-production.aspx?source=iedfolrf0000001
for the money buying two new 1070 will cost less and be faster then two 980ti and use less power and give off less heat. if your looking for speed look at the newer nve ssd or use m2 to nve adaptor. some of the m2 are faster the nstandard ssd.
 

slighted03

Commendable
May 27, 2016
7
0
1,510


I had planned on using one of the Samsung NVMe drives in the PCIe x4 slot. I am about a month away from my build ... i'm going to be in a state with no sales tax then. I will reevaluate the video card and chip at that point.
 

slighted03

Commendable
May 27, 2016
7
0
1,510


Ok, So im just learning how to read these manauls and i pulled up the Asus Maximus VIII Hero.
http://imgur.com/zDWoksC
When i read this it shows the x8_1 and the x4_3 sharing IRQ (im assuming PCI lanes ?)

now when i look at this next page
http://imgur.com/a2azsmK

I am assuming this to mean ... i would put video cards in _x16/x8_1 & the x8_2 slots i would then need an adapter to plug the M.2 drive into the x4_3 slot to obtain the PCIe x4 speed?
 

aristar

Commendable
May 22, 2016
24
0
1,520


Its actually easier than that, you are right that the GPU's go in 1 and 2, but for an m.2 you don't need an adapter, you can plug it into the m.2 slot like here (look at the yellow): http://i.imgur.com/wTpBbiB.jpg

Once you do that, you simply cant use sata ports 1 and 2 as stated here: http://i.imgur.com/WJqvfsW.png