3 way sli / 2 way sli +1??

[Nibbles]

Hi, i've gor a Rampage IV extreme mainbord. I now a want to replace my gtx690 with 3 strix gtx970's.
There is one catch. I also have Creative ZxR soundcard and if i want to put in 3 970's in pcix 3.0 slots 1,2&3 it wil overlap te last black pci slot for my SC. One strix 970 is taking 2 slots. (but i think you'll know that :))
Now my question is : is there a workaround? Can i put my ZxR in a pci 3.0 slot on this board? On internet some say yes some say no. Depence on the board some say. So now i want to hear it from more expert people on this matter. Or can i put 2 graficcards
in pci express 3.0 slots 1 & 2 (top) and one on the very last pci express 3.0 slot 4 (bottom). Using 2 way sli pieces for the gap?
Because i have no 2 way sli plate like the 3 and 4 way sli. Then i'll only have to buy 2 2 way sli pieces. (i already got one with the board) That way i still have 3 way sli and still have my ZxR sc. 🙂 Wil this work also correctly or dus 3 way sli need to be set on the 1,2 and 3 slots? I build my gaming pc myself and i'm not a total leek in hardware, but its the first time i'm going for 3 way sli.
Thank you in advance.

my system for info :
rog rampage IV extreme
intel 3930K
16gb kingston HypperX Ram
GTX690 (for the moment, )
Corsair h100i cooling
Corsair ax1200i ps
Creative ZxR sc
ssd ocz 256gb for windows
and some 7200rpm hd's on S3 (seagate)

[Quad5Ny]

I'm looking at the spacing on the board and cant see why you wouldn't be able to fit the sound card in the very last PCIe slot.

That said, get 2 980's they're Almost As Fast or Faster and you'll still have 2 PCIe slots left over for a RAID card or something. Not to mention you can get a reference cooler version of the 980 and avoid dumping all that heat in your case.

[Nibbles]

Thanks for the fast reply Quad5Ny. i read and saw bechmarks, a Asus strix 970 is 90% a 980. A 970 cost me 369€ and a 980 kost 569€. So in my callculation 3x90% = 270% of "980" wile i have only 200% for 2 980's and ill save over 500€ and have about 50% or more better preformance with 3 970's than 2 980's. + great cooling and noise on a 970. Correct me if i'm wrong here. I also want to hear you're vision in that. I always can learn more. And i'm not planning to use 3 monitors. ist pure for high end gaming. Yeah i know it sounds nuts, getting 3 card when not using 3 monitors, but yeah. I want to have a beatsly gaming rig for the money i can afford. 🙂

About the sc can't see (yet) how 3 2 slot cards can fit without overlaping the last pci slot i need for the sc.
I add picture of my pc. Maybe you'll see wat i mean. The 690 is as thick as the 970. (i think)
under sc u can se 1 pcix 3.0 slot free its that wat i want to use for card 3. But will 3 way sli still be possible? :confused:
I think yes because its a very good gaming bord (from my oppinion), but i'm not an expert on this. 😄
And the little piece of the sc can be disconnected. It dus not need a mb slot and i'm not using it anyway. Did i read it correctly that my sc can work in a pcix 3.0 slot? Wil it work the same as in a black pci slot?

o yeah, have to say i love you're Commander keen Avatar. I've played them al when i was little on my 386 and 486 pc's. 😉

[255killer]

Don't forget about lose in scaling. Your third 970 will only be adding around 50% of its performance, the second is around 80%.

[Nibbles]

ok, but still 3 970's are (a bit) better then 2 980's. And it seems that i can't add a fourt one in the future because only 980's will alow 4 way sli. 970's don't. (tomshardware) It seems that i need to do more research on 3 way sli then benchmarks alone. 🙂 But i'm here to learn offcourse. 😉
The % loss u say is that with every card and mainbord or can i reduse the lose in preformance?
Thanks for the reply. 😉

[Quad5Ny]

You have room for 3 2-Slot Graphics Cards [Picture 1] but you would need to remove the Sound Blaster ZxR daughter board (the one connected with a ribbon cable). OR You can get a new case, something like the Fractal Design Design R4 that has a extra PCI slot [Picture 2].
---
3x GTX 970: 369€ x 3 = 1107€
2x GTX 980: 569€ x 2 = 1138€

How do you save 200% by going with 3 970's?
---
What is the airflow like in your computer case? If it is bad then the 3x 970 Strix will heat up the entire case. 2x GTX 980 will blow hot air out the back of the case.

[Nibbles]

Ill be very honest with ya, because i learn alot here. I realy appreciate the help here. And want to get better in this.
The case my pc is in right now is not designed for the components i have. Its a A+ El diablo the old version the one without the lcd, but with the 2 usb ports on top in the middle. A friend gave it to me. I had to cut out the plate on top removing the usb ports for my fans and radiator for my h100i. I know its bad idea to do but i wasn't any smarter on that time and did work out great that way. Fans on minimal, cpu always around 35/40°. I didn't think that airflow was an important issue to look at. The case is actualy always open on one side. Never totaly closed. Sometimes i put on a big ventilator on the side to cool my card to about 80° (wihtout normaly 85/90°) while heavy gaming. (card is overclocked, MSIafteburner : Coreclck +100 is max my card can take; Memclck +300) My gtx690 go's up sometimes to 100° if the fan on the card was not set to max in the begining of gaming, yeah thats very bad, i thought the problem lied with the one fan on the card and asumed that 2 fans on each coolingblock would have bin better. But nvidia didn't allowd modifications on the 690 so i had to take the card as it was. It seems now that it was pretty foolisch thinking of me. I come from low to med end pc's and this is my first high end build. I did know that lga2011 was not realy for high end gaming but i wanted a alround high end gaming pc, i think i achived that task. Very settisfied of al the components but one. The gtx690, i had expect more of it. (but its maybe because of the heat and downclock itself) Al components are about 6 monds old. I also both this maindbord to eventualy learn more in overclocking, but im long not there yet. I need to learn first to build my pc how it should be. 🙂 In the right case perhaps for starting. Can u give me some tips or a video link where i can learn more about the airflow so i know to look for when i buy a new case.
If u think the name Nibbles comes from the character in Tom & Jerry it realy suits me now huh. 😄 LoL
I have for the moment 3 cases i like the looks of and think they may wel suiteble for my components : Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper ; Thermaltake Overseer RX-I ; Raidmax RGH Viper GX.
Don't know how the airflow is in those cases. From my novice view i think good. 🙂

'How do you save 200% by going with 3 970's?'
Don't realy understand how u come on the 200% but ill explain my foolisch thinking in that matter. 🙂
The idea i had was 1 980 card is 100% pref, 3 Cards is 300% pref. One 970 is 90% of a 980. So my stupid calculation was 3x 90% = 270% pref of a 980 and i only had 200% pref for 2 980's, so i thought i had 70% more preformace with 3 970's then 2 980's. Realy dumb thinking now i see.
255killer put my nose on the real facts here. Thanks for that 255killer. Saw a video of asus NA on youtude putting 3 680's in sli and it was indeed not 3 x100% like i asumed. On the benchmarks 255killer gave me, think i would be better of with 2 980's (strix model also) for now, i can maybe add one later.
Now its only the right choice of case. 🙂

[255killer]

The highest scores for your cpus 980x2 vs 970x3http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3333487.
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/2940940. I think I would go 980s Sli..

[255killer]

I personally used the cooler master haf x for two builds one with a 360mm radiator that fit nicely at the top of the case. Also the storm trooper looks great.https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=BB0C06E908C63A9B!3261&authkey=!ACwC8dbklN7QSUU&ithint=video%2c...

[Nibbles]

You're build in the video 255killer? Looks very very nice. Ill give it a 12/10. 🙂
I have orderd today 2 asus gtx980 strix + the storm trooper case with side window. It was my favorite case. Looked very solid and has great cooling capabileties. The only thing i was worried about was if my corsair H100i radiator would fit in there, but i saw a picture with it mounted in top of the case. So it wil work. Need to remove the big fan doh. I also did research on airflow and i understand the basics of it know. I hope my cards will be kept cooler now and not run op to 100° again. When its finisht ill post a picture or/and a video of it. Probaly this weekend.
Big thank u for the help/posts and you're thoughts Quad5Ny and 255killer, it helped me alot. 😉