44 cores 512gb X10DRG-Q 4-way SLI

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Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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Some critical updates for those technically minded individuals (all the members of this forum)
as far as i know, this is the first fully functional 4-way pascal rig where games and apps are actually using all 4 GPU's in SLi.






Current build:
Supermicro X10DRG-Q
2x E5-2699 v4 (44 cores/ 88HT) (3.7ghz turbo)
512GB ram DDR4 2400mhz ecc reg
(QUAD SLI) 4 Titan X PASCAL
2x Samsung NVMe 961 Pro pcie 3.0 (os drives)
10x Samsung 850 Pro SSD RAID (apps drive)
LG 31MU97z 4096x2160 true 4K rev C
modded P5 case, Noctua heatsinks
Digital power supply 1650w
Windows Server 2012 R2 Data Center, Ubuntu 15



I have functional quad sli using the new Titan x pascal cards.

The cards came with a back plate which acted as a thermal insulator, removed the back plate and heat dissipation is so much better. If you buy these cards remove the back plate immediately. The back plate is paper this aluminum with a plastic layer on the inside. Obviously it was just for looks at the price of cooking the cards
One can remove the back plate without making any changes to the front of the card





Detailed pictures and explanation to follow next:

I am only using the game benchmark as way of using a reproducible standard

So I'm using the built in 'benchmark c5l1" and "benchmark c5l2"


So here is the setup
Driver 372.54

Test material apples to apples

Painkiller Black
Havok physics enhanced mod multi threaded
FXAA - more than that is wasted at that resolution
Visual enhancement mods
Resolution - 4096x2160 (true 4k)


Running full eye candy Sli 4-GPU AFR 2 custom profile

From the bios shot you can see the layout I selected, please notice the what cpu goes to what pcie slot



Here is the view with the glass side off




Here are the bridge choices



Here are some of my selected manual bridge builds, these picture is only an example, not my final config



Important - my motherboard type -the x10drg-q is the only board type in the world with reverse order pcie sockets. The primary video card is the first socket on the bottom of the board, NOT the closest socket to the cpu(s) like all the other motherboards. Yes, it comes from supermicro that way.

this means that my sli pattern is completely different not just upside down since the order is reversed, opposite and upside down.

So
This is the score I can get with default brige - 303Fps is not bad at 4096x2160 with the fullest eye candy, havok mod, custom profile is the same for all tests running benchmark c5l1



This is with the higher v2 bridge (2 year old bridge) a 50fps increase, not bad



Same bridge installed upside down so that primary card has both connections, score only went up a few fps, but look at the minimum frame count go up
this is also because my primary video card with the monitor is the lowest one on my type of motherboard- which makes the primary card the coldest.



And various manual sli ribbon configs with all 8 sockets connected
Manual build layout running the more intensive benchmark c5l2 with greater physics

This is a custom sli bridge of ribbons layout using the metal connectors from three destroyed 4-way evga v2 bridgesThe metal connectors have grab pins on both sides for the card sli plug this makes the "upgrade to a better bridge.." exclamation mark go away


390FPS average, peak 1024FPS (game engine limit)



the "benchmark c5l2" is heavy on explosions and object trajectories, particles etc, so its a good test, as well of course as carrying the heavy mods for havoc and visual enhancement


...and honestly, --with full eye candy and physics, HD mods, almost 400 FPS-- at 4096x2160, isn't all that bad...

If I take the default painkiller black build and the custom profile without the additional eye candy/mods I get over 500fps


I have other games I have running in excess of 200fps at 4096x2160

(**but right now I'm having a tough time getting "No Man's Sky" running smoothly past 40-60 fps at 4096x2160 - the gane just doesn't run well at all, something just plain feels wrong with it, but that's another story.)



So, just on bridge config at 4096x2160, I went from 302FPS average, to 390FPS average.
here is an example of "any" game:







Thx

J
 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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I'll avoid getting off topic as best I can

BUT one had to spend somewhere between $50 to$15,000 to star citizen Roberts industry in order to have a ship, wear clothes and complete levels????

Seriously?
 

mumford

New Member
Jun 25, 2016
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You just need to buy the most basic package, and everything can be upgraded using in-game currency and rewards. I don't remember but I think I spent/donate/sponsor/kickstart one basic package for $30 or $35, a couple years back.

Also, there was an alpha 3.0 demo a couple weeks back and the system was running at about 30fps. I assume that the demo system has a beefy configuration. My guess is we do need a monster computer system (dual CPUs, next gen Nvidia or AMD graphic cards) to run a minimum 90 fps in VR, when the game finally is released in the year 2___?
 

William

Well-Known Member
May 7, 2015
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mumford is correct, there is no need to pledge at this time or you can get in for $35-$45 for a basic package.
Above and beyond that you are pledging to help make the game. If you are looking for an actual game to play it is not ready yet. However at even the basic backing you can have a lot of fun.

As a Concierge member - High Admiral, name Konflict, I am in for far to much at this time, can't help myself LOL

When I was running my 5960x and 2x Titan Blacks in 4K I had to drop screen rez and details down a fair bit in order to get good game play, now with a 1080 its smooth as butter in 4K maxed details. That was why my comment about his rig being used to play Star Citizen.

btw most are saying even with beastly hardware they are getting 30 FPS ish. This will change when they optimize the code more.

The game will get released as Squadron 42 which is a single player game, talk has been we might see a few expansions after that. At some point the Persistent universe or PU will get released (maybe next year, most likely end of next year), this is where we can fly all the ships we pledged for. It will be a huge sand box to do what ever you like. There was also a pledge goal for personal servers, no idea when that will get released.

I have been in it for a long time now and seen huge increases in the Alpha's with 3.0 coming up next which will include the entire first star system. There is still much to release but its coming along nicely IMO.

If I remember correctly Chris Roberts went on about the hardware running SC at this time. He is using Amazon Cloud servers, something like each instance uses 6 cores that can hold 25 people (I think). That number is growing tho, soon to be over 100 people.

This is the video of what we will see in 3.0

 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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I gave in after your post and tried it


Just trying out the star citizen alpha 2.5

The game obviously needs optimization
But I'm running smooth at max candy and 4096x2160 in 4-way sli

Here are some shots




 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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Very nice ! :)

I can't see but what kind of FPS are you getting ?
That's complicated and sometimes without a reason in star citizen

In some scenes I get 16fps, in other scenes I get 230fps, the change sometimes is meaning less.

Walk out on the landing bay 140fps
Pass a ship on the side 36fps, move forward a little more back up to 150fps, pass another ship fps goes up to 180, some scenes or objects are an fps black hole

Maybe it's just dying for optimization
But it is one of the most inconsistent games I've seen

BUT

It is also an alpha build game ;)
 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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True
But I've found if something can be sli-ed at all, that going to 4 way is simple

In star citizen
I found the inconsistencies even running in single gpu mode

At 2560x1600 it's relatively within 20 frame spread in fps, at 4096 x 2160 the variation is huge


So hopefully they will one day (might be years before its complete) they will optimize it ;)
 

William

Well-Known Member
May 7, 2015
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With my older setup using 2x Titan Blacks @ 3840 x 2160 I had to lower screen res and details to get playable frame rates. Now with 1x 1080gtx I am at full screen res and max details getting 30 FPS solid.

And yes the game is not optimized yet, they still have much work to do.

And actually I believe Nvidia is moving away from SLI+ requirements. Did you have to get a special key from Nvidia for that setup ?
I know if you go more than 2x 1080's you need a special key for that.
 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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Nvidia offered no help, I had to reverse engineer it to get it to work.

But until nvidia get a single card to run an 8k monitor at over 60fps with max eye candy, I think sli is going to be around a while
 

William

Well-Known Member
May 7, 2015
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Yeah the new bridge also makes a huge dif from what I hear.
Did you use the older 4 Way bridge ?

Not sure if they even make a new 4 Way bridge.
 

Venturi

Active Member
Apr 22, 2016
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you have to use no less than the metal clip v2 bridge or make / craft an 8 socket v3 bridge

seriously
 

maxermaxer

Active Member
Oct 28, 2016
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Hello Venturi, I have started thinking to use the Supermicro X10DRG-Q to build a 4-GPU system before I saw your post. I have also purchased the motherboard. I was planning to use beQuiet! Darkbase Pro 900 to host this motherboard but I am not sure if it works. Then I see your post and notice this Core P5 massive case. Would you mind sharing with me what you have modified to this case? Can you show us some photos on the modded places?

On the other hand, if you were to build this again would you still choose this chassis? Do you see other better choice? Thanks a lot in advance!