Fantastic, WF! Glad you are enjoying your new toy! Your post reminded me to post some picture updates. My third self-built box. i7-950 processor. 6GB RAM. I chose a different X-58 motherboard for this one. MSI Big Bang X-Power. I like it because: 1) Offers 6 x PCIe X16 slots (though running at X4 and X8 speed on some if fully populated). 2) Can overclock with an increment of my choosing. Wanted to play with OC'ing. And it offers more USB ports in the back. I picked the same chassis - Antec 300. Power-supply, DVDRW and harddrive are pretty trivial. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Big-Bang-XPower.html#/?div=Detail
6, x16 slots, but no PCI?. Guess you gotta junk your legacy devices (or use in an older rig, of course.)
This is a picture inside the chassis. I ditched the generic CPU heatsink from Intel and bought a bigger heatsink with 2 cooling fans. (Though not to the extent to liquid-cool the chip.) 4 PCIe X16 graphics cards: EVGA 8400 GS. Each drives 2 monitors: 1 through VGA and 1 through DVI. Unfortunately I couldn't get the 5th graphics card to work. Once the fifth one is plugged in, Windows OS (Win7 64-bit) went down the toilet. Spending 20% CPU time just tracking the mouse movements. I am at a loss as what kind of problem I am dealing with. So far I am driving the 9th/10th monitor through some USB-to-VGA devices.
My guess is the MSI BIOS writers never envisioned anyone mounting more than 4 video cards.. so didn't allow for it. You could probably run 16 monitors from 4, quads (or maybe 48 monitors on 4, Eyefinity 12s... picture THAT :>)... but just not a 5th video card.
Yeah, that's right. The PCI cards are in circuit board heaven. A shoebox above my bookshelf. At any rate, the PCI based graphics cards I bought (5400 FX), wouldn't work in Win7 64-bit anyway. For $19.99 (on rebate) a card, I felt that I didn't need to push that hard.
From: Bolimomo 04-06-10 06:52 PM This week is a one year anniversary. I am pleased to report that both my Model T computers are doing fine with no down time for the past year.
Boli, I know we've been over this time and again, BUT. When I look at the picture you posted and see those video cards racked up in there (all in a row), I still have to wonder. According to MSI, If you populate the #3 or #7 slots ALL the PCIe slots default to x4. On the Big Bang Board You have 1 PCIe x1 (that's #1) for the sound card #2 & #5 support x16 speed #4 & #6 support x8 speed #3 & #7 support x4 speed So,as you have the slots populated now (card in #3, per your picture) ALL your slots are running at x4 speed. As Scat, so often reminds us it shouldn't matter, but maybe it does, ain't it worth a try? Another note, back to Scat's bandwidth statements, Your Big Bang Mobo supports PCI Express 2.0 it's my understanding PCIe 2.0 x8 is the same as PCIe 1.0 x16 and that should be fast enough for any video card on the planet!
Thanks Bolimomo, the thought of getting a new setup has been floating around in my mind but I don't do anything about it because it is such a hassle. This looks like a pretty handy guide.