How to build your own iMac Pro [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

[flymovies]

I guess it is so evident that it is not even worth to ask anybody..

16 (Vega) + 16 (Nvidia) + 12 (3x NVme in Asus Hyper X16) = 44 PCIe Lanes

With LAN, Bluetooth etc., you immediately supersede the 44 PCIe lane limit.

I was suspecting so, but it is always good to get a second thought on the issue.

Do you see any way to solve this quest in any other way?

 

[kgp]

I was suspecting so, but it is always good to get a second thought on the issue.

Do you see any way to solve this quest in any other way?

To run one of your GPUs with 8x only?

I am totally happy with the Vega performance even under Windows gaming. I do not see any motivation to employ a Nvidia GPU in addition to my Vega.

Anyway interesting that you succeded in implemeting such exotic configuration.

 

[ddsmith11111993]

Are you sure you have a choice to split the pcie lanes that way? 16/16/12 is not a split I am familiar with, I reckon they would run at 16/16/8. The other peripherals go through the DMI which only has x4 bandwidth in total and are not shared with the cpu lanes. Also, the hypercard should not run at nvme raid speeds without a vroc key and supported disks, which the 960 is not. If you run the nvme over the m.2 slot, you should be getting the nominal speed since it goes through the dmi which supports a 960 at maximal speed. If not, you have a hardware issue.

 

[kgp]

Are you sure you have a choice to split the pcie lanes that way? 16/16/12 is not a split I am familiar with, I reckon they would run at 16/16/8. The other peripherals go through the DMI which only has x4 bandwidth in total and are not shared with the cpu lanes. Also, the hypercard should not run at nvme raid speeds without a vroc key and supported disks, which the 960 is not. If you run the nvme over the m.2 slot, you should be getting the nominal speed since it goes through the dmi which supports a 960 at maximal speed. If not, you have a hardware issue.

In fact, I never mentioned that there would be a manual option to split the PCIe lanes X16/X16/X12. I just stated that 1x Vega, 1x Nvidia and 3x NVMNe (in Asus Hyper X16) would require 16/16/12 PCIe lanes, with X16/X16/X16 manually assigned to all three PCIe slots. To circumvent the resulting issue one could restrict one of the GPU PCIe slots to X8 only, i.e. X16/X8/X16 or X8/X16/X16. Else one would have to restrict his system to 1x GPU (X16/X16) or 2x NVMe (X16/X16/X8) only. Based on my personal experience, 1x Vega usually also satisfies all needs for Windows Gaming..

 

[cloudconnected666]

I didn't do GFX0 since I'm not sure what's left when you null SL01

Hm, how do I find that out?

Sorry for so basic question, but this is just too complicated for my understanding of this...

 

[flymovies]

To run one of your GPUs with 8x only?

I am totally happy with the Vega performance even under Windows gaming. I do not see any motivation to employ a Nvidia GPU in addition to my Vega.

Anyway interesting that you succeded in implemeting such exotic configuration.

Yes, you know I have been waiting to implement this exotic, but beautiful setup for ages. I am really happy with it.

Just to clarify: I need the Nvidia for compute tasks like GPU h265 10-bit conversion, which is not supported by the Vega card unfortunately. Gaming it not a motivation here. I only play Doom and Command & Conquer Zero Hour, for that gameplay even the RX560 would have been enough

Anyways, I recon I am running out of PCI lanes because of the GPUs occupying too many PCI lanes.

Is there a board successor planned by Asus with more PCI lanes? I would like to use 4xNVME slots at full speed and also add Thunderbolt and a 10 Gbit NIC...

 

[flymovies]

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/x299-a-nvme-ssd-read-speeds.18786132/

Update: There was a discussion on how the M2 NVME on-board slots are connected to the CPU. It seems like the M2 NVME is connected via PCH to the CPU and this connection only has 4 CPU lanes for all onboard peripherals. With that being said I wonder how you other guys have speeds with the on-board NVME >800 mb/s, because we all should have the same problem or mine are simply defective?

 

[kgp]

Yes, you know I have been waiting to implement this exotic, but beautiful setup for ages. I am really happy with it.

Just to clarify: I need the Nvidia for compute tasks like GPU h265 10-bit conversion, which is not supported by the Vega card unfortunately. Gaming it not a motivation here. I only play Doom and Command & Conquer Zero Hour, for that gameplay even the RX560 would have been enough

Anyways, I recon I am running out of PCI lanes because of the GPUs occupying too many PCI lanes.

Is there a board successor planned by Asus with more PCI lanes? I would like to use 4xNVME slots at full speed and also add Thunderbolt and a 10 Gbit NIC...

What about the ASUS X299 Sage? @djlild7hina for sure can share with you here all his experience he gained with this board so far. No idea if it would be worth a try.

Else you could just wait until ASUS and Intel come up with X599 / Skylake-A specs and see if such system would relax the current 44 PCIe lane limitation. With respect to Intel's Xeon W-3175X and Skylake-X refresh one finds extremely contradicting information about respective PCIe lane availability ranging from 44 to 68 lanes.

 

[juantrix]

Wait or update for Intel Core i9-99XX Series for 68 PCIe Lanes

 

[kgp]

Wait or update for Intel Core i9-99XX Series for 68 PCIe Lanes

While one finds on some of Intel's slides the announcement of 68 lanes for the Intel Core i9-99XX Series, ark.intel.com just states 44 lanes like in case of the Intel Core i9-79XX Series:

https://ark.intel.com/products/1891...dition-Processor-24-75M-Cache-up-to-4-50-GHz-

All this has been already discussed within some recent posts along this thread.

Therefore to wait and see is a good idea in any case.