ASUS suppot from space! 2x GTX690 on P9x79 Deluxe?

[Eagleizer]

After reading in a lot of different forums, I just
got more and more confused about this question:

Will ASUS P9X79 Deluxe support 2x GTX690?
No one seems to agree on this, so I thought I was
better off sending the question to ASUS Support:


[Problem Description]
I just want to know if I can use 2 GTX690 in P9x79 Deluxe

Answer from ASUS Support:

Sorry for the inconvenience.
In theory,you can install 2 GTX 690 video cards on this P9X79 DELUXE video cards,if possible,I also suggest you to have a check with the Nvidia.

My reply:

Hi there Carter!

In theory? What kind of answer is that? I
need to talk to someone who actually know
what they are talking about please!

To ask nVidia is the strangest suggestion I
have heard. I`m asking if the ASUS P9X79
can handle and make use of two GTX690
or not, It`s your product! I`m thinking of
building an actual computer, not a theoretical
one!

I need a follow-up to this question please!

Cheers from Eagleizer


If somone else can give me a convincing
explanation to why 2 GTX690 will work on
this board or not, I`ll be very happy 😄

[Chino]

The GTX 690 is Dual-GPU card. So technically when you're doing a SLI GTX 690, it'd seem like you're really doing a QUAD SLI. But that is not the case because in reality the GTX 690 is only using one PCIe lane. So 2 GTX 690 would use 2 PCIe lanes making it a SLI. And since the P9X79 Deluxe supports up to 3 way SLI, it'll have no problem running the 2 GTX 690 in SLI.

[Eagleizer]

Thanks for your reply! 🙂

I`m still not convinced, as support from ASUS, EVGA
and nVidia says NO. But the answer from support on
all 3, had the same technical "sting" as the one from
ASUS. I have asked all 3 for a more technical argument
to why this would not work.

From the spec list at ASUS website:

P9x79 Deluxe:
Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology

P9x79:
Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology

RAMPAGE IV EXTREME:
Supports NVIDIA® 4-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD 4-Way CrossFireX Technology

Notice the difference?

Why does it say 3-Way SLI for SLI and
Quad-CPU for CrossfireX on Deluxe ,and
Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX
on the non-Deluxe version?


The 4-Way and Quad-GPU term are still making me
confused, as it seems that they depend on different
technologys. I also read somewhere that the PEX chip
on the GTX690 makes in unnessesary for the MB to
support Quad-GPU. But there are so many opinions
around on the forums, from people with lots of
experience, that I just don`t know what to belive.

Could it be that the PEX chip on the MB is what makes
the board able to run 4-Way SLI or Quad-GPU? If so, it
makes sense that the PEX on the GTX690 could do this
job even if the MB originally dosn`t suppot it. 😛

Any thoughts on this while I`m wating for better
answers from the 3 vendors?

[kkn]

1 690 is a sli in it self, so if you add a second 690 it will be quad sli.
you can end up using just 3/4 of the 2 cards in sli if your going quad so to say.
or worst senario you may end up whit problems ( no guarantee so ).
this is on the delux.

but the other 2 mobo's suports quad sli ( 2 x 690's in sli )

[Eagleizer]

Thanks for your reply, but here we go again:

As far as I know, there is nothing called Quad SLI.
Only Quad-GPU and 4-Way SLI. So what do you
mean by Quad SLI?

And:
What is 4-Way SLI compared to Quad GPU?
There is clearely a difference when you look
at the specs for the different MB`s in my
last post... .. Unless ASUS are inconsistent
with the use of naming...

What do you know about the PEX chip and what it does
in the cenario of two GTX690?

Why Deluxe:
The reason I want the Deluxe, is all the features/slots
I need: Soundcard, MIDI card, SATA Card, tons of USB
devices (2 and 3), WiFi, BlueTooth , SSD Cache and so
on. .. .. and maybe the possibility to run two GTX690...

Your post does not address why the MB would see
the two cards as "Quad SLI", so I`m still in the dark
here 😄

I need some facts, preferably with links to some
tech stuff...

Cheers 🙂

[Radiant_mind]

The answer to your question is yes it will support two GTX690s in SLI meaning the OS will be aware of all 4 GPUs. You just can't do something like 4x GTX680s. You are doing a 2-way SLi because you are using 2 PHYSICAL cards.

When it says 3-way, it means you can have 3 nvidia physical cards bridged or SLI Since GTX690 is a SLI within itself, you are only making one bridge between the two cards and its technically a 2-way SLI.

So yes, you will see all 4 GPUs with 2x 690s. If you had 4x 680s, this would not work.

[Radiant_mind]

In other words, Chino is exactly right.

[KPRage]

Please go through the following links to clear your doubts:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-690-sli.html
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/41581-nvidia-geforce-gtx-690-sli-surround/?page=5

Hope this helps. Go through the specs in the first link. You may get an idea about the confusion.

Cheers,
KP

[Chino]

The guys from the HEXUS review posted by KPRage used a P9X79 PRO which is supports

Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology

The P9X79 DELUXE also supports

Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology

[Eagleizer]

Thank soooo much guys!

It`s friday night here in Thailand, so I`ll have to read
all the links tomorrow. But I now feel confident that
the Deluxe will support two GTX690! I got this, 20 min.
ago from EVGA support:

Answered By Dominik (EVGA)
"I have to apologize for the lag of information at this end. Three way SLI
boards can support Quad SLI, (TSR: Quad- GPU) at the following link
you can find officiall information about this from NVIDIA. When you go
to the second page there are motherboards listed that will work, the FTW 3
and some other EVGA three way SLI boards are listed there.

http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/how-to-build-a-quad-sli-system#2

Under the picture of the fan is at the right site a Next button, this will direct you
to the motherboard list. The article is designed for GTX 590 but will
also work with 690. Please let me know if there are any further question
about this."

(TSR= Tread Starter Remark)

Thank you all for helping out!

And Chino: You where right! 😉 (Like many others 😉 )

Cheers from Eagleizer 😄



P.S. I`ll be back with the answers from the other vendors
and how it goes with this build. I`m going to run this with
a water chiller that chills the water to about 4 C. You might
not think it matters, but here, in Thailand, it does.. I also
run 3 screen setup (5040x1050) on a Matrox TH2Go.

Indoor temp: 27,9C (need I say more.. ) 🙂