eVGA Classified X58 E760, GTX 295 Quad SLI w/ X-FI & Xeno, working in 8x/16x

[GAR]

Here is my issue, when i have all these cards plugged in, the board runs my top slot pci-e at 8x, so i can only have 3 cards in at the same time, if i have the x-fi at the top, gtx 295 in the proper 16x slots, it runs both slots at 16/16x, but if i have the xeno plugged in to the pci-e slot right under the 1st 16x slot, it takes down my slot to 8x, even tho xeno is only using 1x lane, is there any way to run the xeno as well as the x-fi and still have the gtx 295's running at 16x. Any help is appreciated. Below is a graph so you can see where i have the cards plugged in, thanks in advance.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/8034/e760.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/e760.jpg/)

[SoulsCollective]

Look on page 31 of your manual. When slot three is filled, slot four drops to 8x. If you want both your graphics cards to be running at full 16x, you should populate slots two and three instead of two and four.

[GAR]

2 and 3 going from my graph or the manual? if you mean from my graph, i have tried using the top 2 slots, it still uses 8x/8x, should i try bottom slots 3 and 4? im at work, wont be able to till later on.

[SoulsCollective]

I've just re-read your top post and seen that your Xeno NIC is the PCI-E version - I misread it originally and thought you had it in the PCI slot.

To the best of my knowledge, with your config, you can't get 16 lanes for each VGA. Filling every slot on the 760 (not counting the top 1x slot) will give you eight lanes for each slot. Filling all but one slot will give you 16 lanes on the first 16x slot, and eight on every other slot - and there's no way to split your lane assignment up differently.

The good news is, though, that eight PCI-E 2.0 lanes will be perfectly adequate for any current-gen card, so you won't be getting any bottlenecking.

[GAR]

Actually it does bottleneck the GTX 295, Vantage scores dropped from 37500 to 32000, also looking at the FPS game tests in the vantage performance dropped 10-15%, well this is bad news for me, i guess i wont use the Xeno till i change my board, i really like this board and dont want to change it.

[SoulsCollective]

Actually it does bottleneck the GTX 295, Vantage scores dropped from 37500 to 32000, also looking at the FPS game tests in the vantage performance dropped 10-15%, well this is bad news for me, i guess i wont use the Xeno till i change my board, i really like this board and dont want to change it.
I'm very surprised, as I was basing my comments on my testing with a 4870X2 (800/975) at 2560. Different card I know, but as the 4870X2 outperforms the 295 at 2560 in most things I'm surprised that you're seeing such a big difference. Still, given quad-SLi scaling, I doubt you'd see any difference in anything other than synthetics.

And to be honest, those Xeno NICs are an absolute waste of money. Ludicrous pricing for a product which does next to nothing (and some reviews show having a negative effect). Unless WoW is your life, I doubt you'll notice a difference.

[GAR]

Well, i got the card for free and wanted to use it, i guess ill shelf it till i change boards sometime next year.

[Halciet]

I know that on the 759, if you fill slot 4 in your diagram, it makes slot 4 and 5 (the next red one under it) run at 8x, becoming 1x16x16x8x8x for all of the PCIe slots.

I *think* on the 760 that populating slot 4 makes it run at 1x16x8x8x8x

[LiberalElephant]

I wish there was a BIOS setting that would allow you to choose how many PCIE lanes were given to each slot.

[GAR]

eVGA is the only company that has done this, no one needs a dedicated physx card, couldnt they have just used the regular x58 lane setup, it would have made things alot easier, i first went through this with their "LE" board, and now this. :down: Other than the PCI-E setup, this board is very nice.

[resident1509]

Counting only the x16 slots,
Slot 1 is 16x (8x if slot 2 is populated)
Slot 2 is 8x
Slot 3 is 16x (8x if slot 4 is populated)
Slot 4 is 8x

I think Intel is not considerate enough towards the xtreme vga users with its chipsets. This is not really manufacturers faults. Intel only gives 32 lanes from the NB, and on P55 only 16 lanes. If manufacturers add NF200, some people stay far away and some people like it. I think it is a tough decision but at least EVGA gave the option of limited edition E759 w/ NF200 before supplies ran out. I don't see the big deal about NF200. I have seen identical quad sli setups on E760 and E759 and seen high scores trade back and forth between nf200 and non-nf200. The only tests people ever reference for nf200 are done by HardOCP (I don't rank them very high in technical comprehension after reading their motherboard reviews) comparing Asus motherboards back in 2008. It uses what, 4 watts? And any nf200 heat issues people are reporting are exaggerated IMO.