Need Help for SLI to work whit the 2 PCI-E been use for other

[Daakutenshi]

hey all.

the title say it a bit confuse. let me explain.

i have a I7-2700K
put a Asus Maximus Extreme-Z mainboard
add 2 X GTX 580 (for sli)

now here the problem. Add 1 Creative Soundblaster X-HI
Add at last a SAS Raid controller (8X) for my 8 2Tb Hdd.


now, everything fit in the board. probleme

as i read, i need to use the FIRST and THIRD PCI-E port. witch i use for my 2 GC. i use the PCI slot (the last one) for the sound. witch left me the Second PCI-E for my SAS RAID card.

if i put the SAS RAID card, i can't get the sli to work. indeed the second GC is **not there** (not in bios and not in windows)

if i remove the SAS RAID card i can get the sli to work, and both card is show.

i have read the book well about 3-4 time BEFORE bought that motherboard, and now im stuck whit a mobo that don't let me do what i need to do.


is there a way to let the Bios know that the 1 and 3 slot PCI are for the SLI and the second one that is for something else.

for 3way sli it requiere the 1-3-4 one....

the second one is use for......

thanks in advance for anyone that can help me, im still stuck on that problem 😄

[Daakutenshi]

well i find a way to make it work but is NOT the solution i was hoping for.

i manage to get it work by using port 1 and 2 (pci-e) for my video card, and the 4 one for my SAS RAID,

probleme, first one run at 8X, second at 16X (whit the N200)

the second probleme is the heat, how you want me to cold off 2 Geforce 580 OC whit stock cooling AND been soo close i can't put a finger between them...


any suggestion ??