cheap / used server board with most PCIE lanes

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iotapi322

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Sep 8, 2017
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Needs a bit of advice from some of the server motherboard gurus. I'm doing some crypto mining and most cheap motherboards only support 6 GPU's. This is usually related to the number of pcie lanes that the board has, most of the time it's 8 pcie lanes. My research shows that the intel C242 chipset supports 16 pcie lanes, I haven't found any cheap motherboards that have this chipset.

There are mining motherboards out there that have the Intel H110 chipset. According to intel ARK this chipset Product Specifications

Supported Processor PCI Express Port Configurations= 1x16
it support 12 GPU's.

Are there any server motherboards that support this configuration?

Thanks,
Matt
 

bayleyw

Active Member
Jan 8, 2014
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crypto only needs x1 per card so you'll usually want one of the specialized mining boards which give you a bunch of x1 slots, either in physical x16's or via risers. The exception is if you are using 3060 non-LHR cards, which check whether you are on a physical x8 or faster connection, in which case you will need one of these handy boards.
 

iotapi322

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Sep 8, 2017
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crypto only needs x1 per card so you'll usually want one of the specialized mining boards which give you a bunch of x1 slots, either in physical x16's or via risers. The exception is if you are using 3060 non-LHR cards, which check whether you are on a physical x8 or faster connection, in which case you will need one of these handy boards.
Yeah the mining motherboards are crazy expensive right now. Like $300 plus
 

funkywizard

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Yeah the mining motherboards are crazy expensive right now. Like $300 plus
How is that "crazy expensive"? You're trying to connect as many super expensive GPUs as possible. For the whole rig the motherboard would be what, 5% of the total cost at $300? Less?

Server motherboards with a lot of lanes on them (say, 60 pcie lanes across 7 slots) also cost in that ballpark and wont allow for connecting as many gpus for mining as a mining board.
 

bayleyw

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Jan 8, 2014
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How is that "crazy expensive"? You're trying to connect as many super expensive GPUs as possible. For the whole rig the motherboard would be what, 5% of the total cost at $300? Less?

Server motherboards with a lot of lanes on them (say, 60 pcie lanes across 7 slots) also cost in that ballpark and wont allow for connecting as many gpus for mining as a mining board.
^this. At $1K+ a card times 8-12 GPUs the cost of the board is lost in the noise. Things are a little different if you are trying to build a large scale farm but that is pretty ill-advised at the moment...
 

TLN

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Feb 26, 2016
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I got two workstations with Z10PE-D16 WS (6x PCIE x16 slots), and every slot can be bitfurcated if anyone is interested.
 

RolloZ170

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Apr 24, 2016
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Are there any server motherboards that support this configuration?
please Note:
you can not just put a GPU in all slots of a motherboard.
read the manual about max. number of supported GPUs.
(each GPU draws up to 75 watts power out of the slot, this may overload the ATX24P connector if there are no extra power inputs)
 

BeTeP

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Mar 23, 2019
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Depending on the complete set of requirements (like host system CPU performance level, etc) I could build a whole system capable of housing 12 full size GPUs for under $500 total. That's including everything like decent server chassis with 3000W+ PSUs. The secret is understanding where the actual performance bottlenecks are so you won't have to pay extra for non essential stuff.
 
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JediAcolyte

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May 29, 2020
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please Note:
you can not just put a GPU in all slots of a motherboard.
read the manual about max. number of supported GPUs.
(each GPU draws up to 75 watts power out of the slot, this may overload the ATX24P connector if there are no extra power inputs)
Just to clarify for others out there. Usually people use powered risers for GPUs so that they can space them out for proper airflow and power each slot properly.
 
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funkywizard

mmm.... bandwidth.
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Even older server boards like SM X9/X10 DRX are even more expensive :(

They are fun though :D

X10DRX | Motherboards | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

View attachment 19787
Real pain in the ass though. Won't fit into a chassis of any kind. The one I have I mounted onto plexiglass and the plexi onto a rackmount shelf. The motherboard took up the -entire- width. Power supply has to be behind or in front of the motherboard, not to the side of it like any other motherboard.