Solution to problem of making empty PCI-E ports accessible?

[bunion]

Hi,

On my motherboard i have 4 PCI-E x16 slots, two of which are taken up by graphics cards. Since the cards are so big, they use up the space of 2 slots each, so i cant use the other 2 empty slots for anything.

I bought some x16 riser cables to try and make use of the spare slots. But the graphics cards are pushed so close to the empty slots, the riser cables dont have enough space to slot in and go elsewhere.

I have just seen this product which i believe will get halfway to the solution:
Amazon

This will bring the graphics cards up slightly, allowing space for the riser cables to slot in and go on a path to another place in the case. The problem is, now the cards are higher they have nothing to screw into. Is their a good solution to screwing the graphics cards in now they are a bit higher? As it needs to be sturdy as they are big cards. I have tried looking for an off the shelf solution but i'm not sure it exists.

Thanks for reading

 

[Wolfshadw]

The answer is you don't use those slots. Tell us what motherboard you have and we'll likely be able to tell you why.

-Wolf sends

 

[bunion]

GA-X99-UD4P. The manual states it can take up to 4 graphics cards in sli so they are definitely active when 2 graphics cards are fitted, just need to get to them.

 

[Wolfshadw]

The PCI-Ex16 slots on that motherboard are all available. Tight fits for dual-slot width cards, but available. What cards are you attempting to use (please link)?

-Wolf sends

Edit: Motherboard link

 

[bunion]

Its got 2 of these: GeForce® GTX 980 Ti Super JetStream

Heres a diagram of my case:

Diagram

 

[bunion]

I'm trying to fit a PCI-E x4 or higher sata expansion card. x2 isnt fast enough (i'm already using the x4 in that free x2 using an adapter so its half bandwidth and slow)

 

[Wolfshadw]

So what you're saying is that the cooling shroud of the GTX 980 Ti is actually covering the next lower PCI-Ex16 slot making it impossible to install any other card in that slot?

I'm sure there are probably screw extensions that would allow you to secure them in your case while using a riser card. Not sure if you case has enough space so that you can replace the case case cover.

Something like this is what I'm thinking. So you would need to install the risers into PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 and secure the cards to the case using the screw extensions. You should then be able to install PCI-Ex16 extension cables into PCIEX16_3 and PCIEX16_4 to make use of those slots as well.

-Wolf sends

 

[bunion]

Interesting, thanks. Yes the cooler is massive. I can't see how anyone would be using 4x SLI on this board.

I will probably do this with the screw extenders unless anyone has any ideas for something more sturdy. Each card is screwed in 2 slots so it should be ok, though they are still quite heavy.

I might use chained motherboard mounting screws as the riser part as the card mounting screws seem to go into them ok.