ASUS PRIME Z270A 4 GPU CONFIG Question

Mining
1

Greetings, all.

I recently assembled a new mining rig using the ASUS PRIME Z270A motherboard as a foundation. My original intention was to configure 4x EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC BLACK Gaming edition GPUs using EWBF CUDA MINER.

After successful setup setup with one GPU connected via a Version 006 powered USB riser (6 pin PSU → Molex), I began adding one card at a time. Up to 3, I had no issues. Upon adding the 4th GPU, the white VGA LED on the motherboard locked in, and the computer would not post. I attempted using multiple riser cards, USB cables, PCIE slots, and even connecting the 4th card directly to the mobo via PCIE 16x slot (third one down from the CPU). Same condition every time, and clearance of the issue each time the 4th card was removed.

In looking through my device manager listings for graphics adapters, 4 are shown: 3x 1080 Ti and an Intel listing (onboard graphics). It is the latter (onboard graphics) that is currently feeding my display.

I realize that was a long, wandering post, so I’ll get to my question: O was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences, and if so, what the culprit was. Obviously, I haven’t ruled out that the card itself might just be defective, but I was wondering, too, if there might be a BIOS change I need to make in order to support the 4th card (e.g., disabling onboard graphics).

FWIW, ASUS tech support basically told me that the board isn’t designed to handle more than 3, but the forums seem to indicate numerous people have found ways around this.

Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions/assistance.

2

Can you list what other components of your rig are? Could be that your PSU can’t handle all 4 GPUs.

3

@Blue Sure thing! …and thanks for the reply!

PSU = EVGA SUPERNOVA 1600W PLATINUM
CPU = Intel i3 - 7100
RAM = 16x GB GSKILL RIPJAW 2133MHZ (2x 8 GB)
HDD = SAMSUNG 850 PRO 256 GB SSD

I realize now I went overboard on the PSU, but I wanted to put in a 300W margin per GPU in case I decided to extend the power limit.

4

You can put 300W per GPU with 4 GPUs. I tested that out before awhile back and it works

5

Did you correct your BIOS 4g enabled?

7

@Blue

That appears to have solved the issue. Upon enabling 4G (and, at the suggestion of a few other videos I saw, setting Max DCM Speed & PCIE 16_1,2 to Gen 2 ), I was able to boot into Windows.

One interesting follow-on issue I had to resolve: EWBF miner would not boot (citing a problem with NVML.DLL). This wasn’t an issue until those BIOS changes were made and the 4th card was added. A simple reinstall of the NVIDIA driver set resolved this subsequent problem.

Thanks for your assistance, Blue.

8

Yup, that’s very important for that board!
Happy everything is running fine :slight_smile:
You can run 8 GPU on that board (maybe even more)

9

Not a problem! Good luck

10

Can you elaborate on the solution, or point me toward the resources you found helpful? I am building a rig with that mobo.

11

@ OP

This is one of best mb for mining config and is almost no config need.

I use it with 8 cards and is works flawless.

Try

  1. Unplug all cards.
  2. Run with integrated card and enter bios.
  3. Set default optimal settings bios.
  4. Enable Above 4G decoding.
  5. Disable integrated HD audio.
  6. Enable Power on after AC loss
    Do not touch anything other in bios - pcie leave to auto.
  7. Save settings reboot.
  8. Install Windows 10. Leave it on 1 hour online let windows do its updates.
  9. Shut down PC.
  10. Plug all risers, Gpus, power cables. Double check all cables. Gpus use first 4 slots from cpu side.
  11. Connect monitor to main gpu (2nd slot).
  12. Power pc.

It will run. Only download and install nvidia drivers.

This MB not need add gpus 1 by 1. Above steps i do for 8 gpu few times. Zero problem.

12

@sverox

I appreciate the knowledge! It’s good to hear that you’ve enjoyed success with this model. Fingers are crossed mine will go for a long while, too.

13

FOR BIOS SETTINGS →

Watch from minute 8:30 to 11:00