For Area 51 R4, can anyone confirm we can use the M.2 slot onboard without disabling PCIe slot 5 and 7?

I've heard of people running Triple-SLI, but is it only x8? Now-days, seems like Dual-SLI (x16-v3.0) is more reasonable and obtainable. That's already 16 * 2 = 32 lanes for just the two video cards.

This isn't x99, but yeah ... high-end Asus board would indicate what is even possible.

Sometimes lower long slots are only x8 electrical. No BIOS update can change that.

Do all new Intel i7 and i9 processors support the same number of PCIe Lanes? Count them up. Lots of high-end stuff on MB needs them.

I would not image many of these Area51-R4 have even shipped.

Hi Tesla,

I also tried with only one GPU in slot 1 and the raid card didn't work on slot 5 and 7, only on 4. So I think there is enough lanes but the m.2 seems to be disabling the pcie slots 5 and 7. Or my mobo is defective...

Strob wrote:

1. By the way I was able to make 8 gpu work on my dual xeon amd do 3D rendering with them.

2. So I guess this i9 top of the line cpu would be able to handle 1 gpu and a raid card..

1. Nice. However, not relevant here because totally different machine.

2. You said it DID work (see #1 above).

I hate to say it, but if you are trying to use this machine as a high-performance workstation or rendering server ... there are instead more appropriate Dell business models available. 

Agreed

You would assume that the Engineering team actually tested and validated that loaded config, if Marketing is selling it that way.

By the way I was able to make 8 gpu work on my dual xeon amd do 3D rendering with them. So I guess this i9 top of the line cpu would be able to handle 1 gpu and a raid card..

Thanks,

I'm in a rush for work now but as soon as I have some time I will migrate my windows to a sata ssd drive and unplug my m.2. If the slot 5 and 7 start to work that means I found the problem.

And it can't be by design from Alienware that the M.2 would disable the pcie cause they are offering a triple GPU  + M.2 drive config on their website...

Strob wrote:

BTW my Asus raid card (hyper m.2 x16) is not compatible with this computer but at least I can see one drive at a time so I could use it to test the pcie slots. I am reselling it on ebay and I ordered instead the highpoint M.2 ans Sas raid card that is a lot more compatible.

Good to reveal that little fact.

Your problem is clearer now. Hopefully, you are on your way to a solution.

In fact there no better machine for what I want to do with it. I mostly want to run fluid simulation. Fluid sims works better on single cpu and it also needs the fastes hard rive possible, so that's why I bouhgt samsung 960 pro M.2 drives. This i9 is at the top of the passmark benchmark chart. And it happens to render twice as fat as my previous dual xeon.

BTW my Asus raid card (hyper m.2 x16) is not compatible with this computer but at least I can see one drive at a time so I could use it to test the pcie slots. I am reselling it on ebay and I ordered instead the highpoint M.2 ans Sas raid card that is a lot more compatible.

Strob wrote:

1. I also tried with only one GPU in slot 1 and the raid card (worked) on (slot) 4.

2. So I think there is enough lanes

3. but the m.2 seems to be disabling the pcie slots 5 and 7.

 

4. Or my mobo is defective...

1. Good. So at least you know the raid-card is good and at least partially compatible.

2. Yes, for that minimal config

3. Not sure why everyone always jumps to the motherboard's M.2 slot being a problem or interfering.  

4. Possibly. It could also just be a design decision or BIOS glitch (so a swap won't help).

Finally I received a replacement for my motherboard and now the pcie are all working. So i had a faulty motherboard.

I still have a nasty blue screen problem but that's another story and I'm not alone: