8x GPU Nvidia Mining Rig With Asus PRIME Z270-A

14 May
2017

NiceHash have published some interesting experiments they have done recently, building an 8x GPU mining rig using the Asus PRIME Z270-A motherboard. This motherboard has 7 PCI-E slots as well as two M.2 SSD slots and they have utilized the 7 available PCI-E slots and one of the M.2 slots with an adapter to get 8 video cards working. Their experiment was with 8x Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 on that particular motherboard from Asus, though other cards will most likely work as well just fine. With the recent price spike and unavailability of cheaper 6x GPU motherboards for mining people are already looking into more expensive alternatives that work well for six or even more GPUs like this model from Asus for example.

It is interesting to note that one of the M.2 slots was turned into the PCI-E slot by using cheap M.2 to the PCI-Express adapter that can be purchased from Chinese sellers on Ebay pretty cheap. You should however be careful if/when using such adapters as sometimes on some motherboards the M.2 slots are shared with some of the PCI-E slots on the motherboard. The Asus PRIME Z270-A motherboard apparently can be upgraded to 8 GPUs using this method, or you can just use the 7 available PCI-Express slots for a seven GPU mining rig instead of the more traditional 6x GPU configuration. The only drawback, the Asus PRIME Z270-A are not the cheapest out there as they use the Z270 chipset and you additionally increase the cost for the M.2 to PCI-E adapter, but then again you also get to connect up to 8 GPUs to a single mining rig (if your PSU(s) can handle that).

– For more details about the 8x GPU Nvidia Mining Rig With Asus PRIME Z270-A on their website…






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51 Responses to 8x GPU Nvidia Mining Rig With Asus PRIME Z270-A

Bensam123

May 16th, 2017 at 03:28

As a positive alternative consider doing a CMB article on PCIE switches. I’ve known about these for years, but seems as though it’s still not common knowledge. They don’t work with all card, Nvidia for instance, however they work with all the AMD cards I’ve tested. It’s a pretty good deal for getting a $40 5 slot PCIE board and then adding one of these. Other options include getting cheap 4 slot boards (miniatx) and adding a couple of these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-e-Express-1X-to-3-Port-1X-Switch-Multiplier-HUB-Riser-Card-USB-Cable-1PC-/141865200790?hash=item2107d32c96:g:zTwAAOSwa-dWhMvm

It opens up quite a bit more possibilites then buying $200 motherboards.

ctg

May 16th, 2017 at 07:27

MSI Z170 M5/M6/M7/G45,9xGPU~~~

Thomas Zarebczan

May 17th, 2017 at 06:53

What cpu was used? Does it require a xeon?

JM Humbs

May 18th, 2017 at 22:18

CPU doesn’t matter

gemini

May 19th, 2017 at 13:41

update urgent
the z270-A have only 6 pcie sot
it’s the z270-E ROG-STRIX-Z270E-GAMINGhoo have 7 slot pcie ( https://www.asus.com/fr/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-IX-CODE/specifications/ )
Slots d´extension
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 ou dual x8)
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (mode x4)
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1

lololol

May 20th, 2017 at 00:23

2 gemini: this article is about Prime Z270-A, not the regular Z270-A. And the Prime board has 7x PCI-E slots and 2x M2 slots.

2 all: What I don’t understand is how come they didn’t test 9 GPUs? They’ve had two M2 adapters, so why not test the maximum number of cards possible? There’s quite a few reports about 8 GPU rigs out there so it’s not news (there’s a cheaper Prime Z270-P board that runs 8 GPUs just fine), but not nearly as many about the boards capable of running 9 GPUs (without splitters).

admin

May 20th, 2017 at 01:12

We have tested the Asus Prime Z270-A with two M2 to PCI-E adapters, unfortunately it does not work with 9 GPUs this way, the maximum for this motherboard is still 8 GPUs and we can confirm that it works for sure.

marc

May 20th, 2017 at 06:27

what modification of bios you need to do to get 8 card detected? at default this board only detect 5 card, thank you

admin

May 20th, 2017 at 10:03

You need to enable 4G Decoding in BIOS for all card to be detected and work properly.

gemini

May 20th, 2017 at 14:19

Yes sorry i was wrong
z270-A prime 7 slots i confirm

gemini

May 20th, 2017 at 14:20

i plan to get 2 of them

game_newbie

May 24th, 2017 at 05:20

I’m newbie. I use Asus prime z270-a and update bios to Version 0906 (2017/03/24). I try several time and can not use more than 3 GPU with default bios. Can anyone please advise me? In bios setup i can’t find “4G enable” option.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance in this matter.

ESJai

May 25th, 2017 at 10:35

I just set up mine today. You can find the Above 4G option in “Boot” in Advanced mode. ((If I don’t remember it wrong….
—————–
My miner:
G4400
Prime Z270-A
3x RX580 (~29Mhs for eth each)
2x RX570 (~27Mhs each)
—————–
Planning to get 3 more after I break half of the cost.

Thanks for giving us info. I was gonna buy some random cheap 6 slots z270 mobo if I didn’t see this post.

Danny

May 27th, 2017 at 11:17

Does the asus prime z270-k work as well for 8x gpu?

letsdancemusic

May 29th, 2017 at 14:13

i have prime -AR z270 with kabylake 7700k i think running win 7 , i have great problems with win 10 once it buggers up after upgrades from win 7 my hdd is useless unless i reinstall win 7 on another HDD

i can only get 3-4 gpus but maybe im running diff gpus, also i have a fury r9 in the GPU slot not risers.

have same problem on z170 but all same gpus but two gpus are in case and slotted in.
its the 3900 g cpu skylake please help

Richie

May 30th, 2017 at 00:57

Hello,

x1 Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z270E
x6 GPUs: RX 480 PowerColor Red Dragon 8GB
x1 CPU: Intel Celeron G3930T
x6 Risers with SATA (additional feeding) and USB 3.0 to (PCI-e connection to Motherboard).

I have a problem setting up the x6 GPUs on my system (x5 have 6-Pin PCI feeding cable and x1 has 8-Pin PCI feeding cable – would this matter if model is exactly the same?).

Problem: OS Win 10 does not detect x6 GPUs.

Result until now: the maximum I had the showing up system was x5 GPUs. I forgot to note in what way I connected Risers to the Motherboard or what my BIOS settings were at that time. I certainly have 4G option enabled, however, I have never updated my BIOS. When I had x5 GPUs showing in Computer/Properties/Device Manager I noticed that I had that x1 card in View/Hidden Devices section, meaning that the card was disconnected in the OS Win 10. I checked all risers, even changed them around, checked cabling, checked how firmly the PCI-e extensions are plugged into the Motherboard PCI-e slots, done numerous restarts and still no result.

Question: can you please advise how the BIOS settings must exactly look like and how do I need to plug in Risers in the Motherboard (does sequence matter?)
I don’t mind if somebody finally shows a picture of the required information as well.

Richie

May 30th, 2017 at 17:39

Problem sorted, x6 GPUs work indeed!

Adhered to previously advised BIOS update to v0906
Installed Risers in Slot from 1 to 6, but 7th slot (PCIE_X4_1) left blank.
PCIe setting in BIOS can be used PCIe_x16/x8_1.
Make sure you have Above 4G option enabled.
Reinstalled GPU drivers up to: non-whql-win10-64bit-radeon-software-crimson-relive-17.5.2-may17

webdangler

June 2nd, 2017 at 05:45

Has anyone attempted the 9 GPU setup in Ubuntu? I read that up to 10 GPUs are supported in that OS environment. I will attempt to confirm on my end soon but wanted to save time if someone has already confirmed this.

Thanks!
WD

webdangler

June 2nd, 2017 at 06:02

I have seen videos of 9 and 10 GPUs running but only 8 mining in Win 10. I watched this video (below) of a Russian guy booting up with all 9 GPUs displaying in device manager but when mining he unplugged the 9th one. I am guessing it is in fact a limitation of Win 10. Can anyone confirm this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDN2vkGPRW4

Thanks!

WD

nsw2206

June 2nd, 2017 at 15:03

well I can’t get past 5 gpu. when I try the 0906 bios it tells me to press f1 to go into setup and sits with a blinking cursor in the top rh corner. problem occurs when I load up GPUs. can get maybe 2 going.

darn annoying.
backed down to 0801 bios and got 5 gpu loaded. memory errors when I get the 6th detected “attempted execute of noexecute memory ” ho hum lol.

john7

June 4th, 2017 at 14:35

Hi – awesome build, I am aiming to do the same.

Some questions though:
1. How do you power all those cards off the single Corsair 1000? Does it come with all the required power cables?
2. What PCIE risers did you use – did you have to use powered risers?

Would be great to see Part II :)

Nathalie Vaiser

June 4th, 2017 at 21:45

I got all 8 GPUs working on this exact same motherboard (8 RX 580’s). The only issue I’m having is that the hashrate on the GPU that is plugged into the M.2 adapter has a lower hashrate than the other cards.

All cards are just over 29 MH/s, but the card on the M.2 adapter is only 22 MH/s. I tried in the BIOS for the adapter both settings of x2 and x4 but this didn’t make a different.

Any ideas?

Hahn

June 20th, 2017 at 12:45

Hi i am a newbie, i cant seem to run 6 gpus’ on my asus prime z270-a motherboard.. i am using Palit GTX 1060 6g driver version 382.33… am running windows `10 64 bit…it only detects 4 gpus…can somebody guide me thru this….thank you

George

June 24th, 2017 at 00:07

I was never able to get the 8th card running on my Z270A.

Latest BIOS, Gen2, 4G Encoding.

Whenever I use either one of the M.2 slots, the PCIEX16_2 slot stops working. It’s as if they share lanes. How did you possibly get this up and running with eight?

Angeringboy

June 25th, 2017 at 01:49

Yes, I have also tried connecting 9 GPU on this board. 9 of them can be successfully recognized, but it can only mine with 8 cards plugged. Anyone have tried that on Linux?

ccw

June 26th, 2017 at 14:43

My z270p get 9GPU on board, and windows crashed .
Win10 dev. got full 9 cards ,but the GPUZ only detect 8GPU.

Husherigs

July 3rd, 2017 at 10:27

Hi,

ccw, could you tell me what cpu you have, Skylake or Kaby Lake?
What u mean by “Win 10 dev”, Insider version?
I have the same motherboard but impossible to get more 3 gpu detected.

See below my details:
Is it possible to run 6 GPU MSI RX580 Gaming 8 Go on the motherboard Asus Prime Z270-P?
Up to know i only get 3 GPU with success, as soon as i try 4 or 5 or 6 GPU, the result i see only 1 or 2 GPU, no more, it’s sound like my config meet limitation hardware somewhere.
I see on this motherboard it is Chipset Intel Z270 Kaby Lake and the controllers of PCIE are also Intel Kaby Lake, and my cpu is Skylake-S, may be there is an compatibility issue?

My config:
Asus Prime Z270P (Last Bios 0808)
CPU G3900 Skylake-S
Memory DDR4 PC4 19200 G-SKILL 2 x 4 Go
6 GPU MSI RX580
6 Risers
Supply x2 750W (Synchronised)
Windows 10 64 Bits (version 1703)
Driver 17.6.2

In Bios 4G Decoding Enabled, PCIE Gen1.
I read this topic, and i try all suggestions i have seen, but, nothing to do, always get only 3 GPU, no more detected.
I believe i will give up, and i will order new motherboard Z270A or new CPU Kaby Lake, because i am too bad at this moment…, i need help for sure.

TekBoi

July 5th, 2017 at 13:36

Confirmed Working Setup:

Hardware:
Asus PRIME Z270-AR
Intel G4400
4GB DDR-2666
128GB Hynix M.2 SSD
HX1000i
(5X) GTX 1060 6GB
(2X) GTX 1070 8GB
(7X) Risers from various brands

Software:
BIOS Version 0906 – Only thing I tweaked was 4G Decoding Enabled, and set all PCI-E lanes to Gen2 when I found the settings.
Lubuntu 16.04.02
nVidia Open-Source 381.22

Mariorigs

July 5th, 2017 at 19:09

So I have the prime z270-a motherboard with 7 gpus running just fine. My 8th gpu which is on a m.2 to pci is not showing up. Can someone suggest what may be wrong? I’ve tried different m.2 adapters and changes in bios from x2 to x4. Not sure what else I can do since 4g decoder is already enabled that’s how the only 7 are working.

Anton

July 6th, 2017 at 03:26

Have the same problem, only 7 of 8 1080ti works well, 8 goes with error 43. Help needed.

Velma

July 8th, 2017 at 21:48

I am having the same problem. I am unable to get the m.2 to pcie adapter to recognizing device manager. I also tried changing the BIOS from x2 to x4, and I have 4g enabled.

ccw

July 10th, 2017 at 11:29

To husherigs,
ASUS PRIME Z270P is working with 8cards well.
no need to buy Z270A, Its more expensive than Z270P.
updated the new BIOS
When the 3 cards installed ,go enabled the 4G decode before you installed 4 more cards.
and I made the 8GPU mining with PCI-E x1 to x1*4 adapter, not the m.2*2
Its no differents between skylake or kabylake @this MOBO

clonemother

July 12th, 2017 at 23:23

I can’t seem to get the m.2 to pcie recognized either, I’m running the z270-p as well. Windows 10, nVidia….

Zack

July 13th, 2017 at 01:25

I have the same problem – how I found this page searching for an answer. I have six Nvidia GPUs running but I can’t run the remaining two GPUs using the M.2 to PCI-e adapters. At the very least, they aren’t being recognized.

Ken

July 22nd, 2017 at 17:24

I have the prime Z270-A board and I can tell get the GPU to work on the M.2 slot I set the M.2_1 to PCIE but still doesn’t work. Is someone willing to troubleshoot with me? Ftlkid24@yahoo.com

Currently have 7 gtx 1070s running.

Ruben

July 23rd, 2017 at 18:42

Hello, i have the same motherboard ASUS Z270E STRIX GAMING and same problem, i can see only 3 gpu. I tried to conect 4 and 5 did not detected. . I see some person that told to enable 4G, but my bios do not have that option and have the last bios any person who resolved the problem?? Thanks

john

August 23rd, 2017 at 17:03

mine doesn’t even recognize the 5th card on m.2 to pcie adapter. The fan doesn’t spin at all. It doesn’t get enough power? Do we need to power the adapter too or just the usb riser

Miles

October 8th, 2017 at 04:10

I a prime 270 a, I have 7 1070 running fine , in devices, I see the on board Intel GPU and 7 Nvidia. When I plug in the 8th Nvidia, it crashes. How do I get the mobo to ingnore the on board GPU, so it can use all 8 nvidia. I understand the Windows 10 can’t use more than 8, so I need to get the on board GPU out of the way for the 8th Nvidia, any ideas.

admin

October 8th, 2017 at 14:27

Why do you have the Intel graphics enabled, you do not need it…

peter j connell

October 12th, 2017 at 15:34

“I got all 8 GPUs working on this exact same motherboard (8 RX 580’s). The only issue I’m having is that the hashrate on the GPU that is plugged into the M.2 adapter has a lower hashrate than the other cards.
All cards are just over 29 MH/s, but the card on the M.2 adapter is only 22 MH/s.”

m.2 works off the laggy chipset, vs the others off the pcie bus?

Jens

January 4th, 2018 at 23:35

Fellow Miners
I can only get

2 of GTX-1070 to work on my Asus Strix Z270F Gaming MoBo
3 of them will mine but have had a crach (Blue screen)
4 of them is visual in Windows Device manager, but after mining in about 25 minuts my PC crashes

I have used days to get 6 of them installed – but never even close

I will mine for the one that can help me out here. (Days – but not forever as I have promised my girl friend we can make money for our future).

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100023708330722

Mitja

January 13th, 2018 at 13:14

I just had the same problem.. 7 cards working well on Asus Z270-A and 8th card not showing up. In bios I have all to gen2 and 4G decoding enabled. M.2 I use is the one next to pci-e slots and the extender (m.2 to pcie) not addicionally connected to power.

Then you need to unplug all the riser cables but the one connected to m.2. Start windows and let it recognize it and install it (monitor may go black for a couple of secs). Then I shut down the system and connect one more riser cable. Again start up the system and let it for a minute to recognize it.

Repeat this until all cards are connected and that is it :) Hope this helps

grannyspool

January 17th, 2018 at 21:47

Does anyone read the Mobo manual?
There it says about M.2 settings and interference with SATA drives and the PCIe16x.
Read the damn manual.
The correct steps are:
-don’t install any GPU, just use the mobo’s video port (CPU with graphics required).
-use SSD in a SATA port free of interferences (read manual).
-upgrade bios to last ver.
-reset bios settings to default and restart.
-in bios set Above 4G decoding enabled, let PCIe on auto, put M.2 port on PCIe mode, DMI on auto.
-fresh install win 10 pro x64 (last version from a stick made with the utility provided on microsoft site – on download windows 10 page).
-update win 10, restart, disable windows update, hibernation, defender, sleep mode for system and hdd, etc, and UAC account control to off.
-shut down.
-install first card with pcie riser.
-start, install nVidia drivers (no need for experience, hd audio pr physix).
-open task manager and watch nVidia processes finish their work (CPU activity 0).
There will be nvidia installer, nVidia containers etc. They install your card.
-shut down the rig.
-install second card. Start the rig and wait for nvidia processes finish.
-shut down and repeat for each card.
The order of installation is not important. Do not unplug the installed cards, before to install new cards.
After the last card, restart and now you can install the utilities, afterburner, gpu-z, cuda, miners. You order of the cards as seen by the system is: 1.the 16x slot, 2.the 8x/4x slot, 3-6. 1x slots.
In GPU-Z you can see the gen(version) at witch each card connected. If it is set in bios gen 2, gen 3 or auto, you can see some of them connected at gen 3, others at gen 1.1, or some at gen 2 and others on gen 1.1. So the actualy settings dosen’t really matters. I personaly experimented this with pcie risers gen 007c on Asus Prime Z270-P, with nVidia 1060 3GB cards from variois brands. So even if you set all to gen 2 or gen 3, they will link at their speed anyway; and more… after each restart, they can link on other gen. So… I tink you can forget the pcie settings. Only the Above 4G is important. Of course, if you use older risers, or some cards are not detected, you csn put pcie on gen 1, just to be sure there is not a problem. I found instead 4 risers out of 6 as defectiv/ bad, even thoug they had thiers leds on. If you can’t see a card, just connect the usb cable from one that is visible in the system to it, of course with the rig shut down. If you can see it installing, there is a problem with your system. If it dosen’t install, the riser is bad. Unpluging an working card and connecting a new one with the same usb cable, it gives you the same number of installed cards, so the system has to detect it, if the riser is good. When switching usb cables, you don’t need to unplug the power from the desconected card or riser. You manipulate only the usb cables. The old card stays without an usb cable. I think I explained it very clear :))
You can have a total of 8 video processors in windows 10, the cpu graphics included.
If you use the cpu for connecting the monitor, the system is more stable when overclocked, you can handle it better and oc more…. but you can’t add the 8th card. Is your choise. If you take the risk and install the 8th card, disable first the cpu hd graphics in bios and use the card pluged in the 16x slot for monitor.
One problem I couldn’t solv yet: with each card added, the hashrate drops for all cards. I used XMrig for mining cryptonight coins… etn, xmr… With 1 card I had 480 H/s. With 6 cards I have 350 H/s on some, 420 H/s on others and between on others.
If you find this usefull, thank me in BTC:
1EPXYAE3CxEmyFs4rk41NJBNNYSXSSLaJW
or ZEC
t1azWYNDwkjBiiLeMiWhZcujKbJGpC8vt2J

grannyspool

January 17th, 2018 at 22:09

Also, you can install first the M.2 card, just to be sure it is recognized. Or if you install it last, and it dosen’t get recognised with m.2 slot set on pcie mode in bios, unplug the usb cables from all cards and try to install the m.2. If the riser is good, it should be installing. Shut down and connect all the usb cables. Restart.
It is advised to use m.2 and pcie risers that are powered. Also, don’t use a sata power cable for more than 2 devices… 2 risers or 1 riser and 1 ssd (fire hazard).
In Afterburner, activate the windows key like button, to load the oc settings to your cards after each restart, and set Start with windows. Modify your fan curve. The max fan speed should not exceed 85% (will brake the fans). The gpu temp should not exceed 80C in full work. With criptonight algos/coins the power consumption is half than other algos. You can set the fans at 50% between 40-55C. For other algos, just experiment. This is not a rule, is just my preferences.
Don’t forget to thank me in the coins stated in the other post.

grannyspool

January 18th, 2018 at 04:44

It seems that nVidia telemetry service is the cause of a lot of problems, lag and hashrate drops. It is best to stop the service and disable it.

LittlePete

January 19th, 2018 at 17:03

@gannyspool

Your answer has been most helpful and much appreciated! However, the most I can get to work is 4 GPUs.
I am running on the Asus Prime Z370-A (so, next get) and followed your steps to the bone – that’s how I got 4 GPUs on the PCIe x1 slots to work. All using USB risers like the ones on the image above.
But, the system does not recognize whenever I connect the 5th GPU to M.2 or PCIe 16 (since I don’t have any more PCIe x1 slots left). Tested the risers and they work – so they shouldn’t be the problem.

What could I be missing here? I am about to try ribbon risers for the 16 slots, even though I have not heard anything good about them.

Dmitriy

February 20th, 2018 at 09:47

Got 9 cards on asus prime Z270-A, CPU G4600, WIN 10
2×1070 (EVAGA FTW+SC)
7×1060 (all Gigabyte 6Gb G1+AURUS+WF)
All connected through risers + 2 ptc m2-pciex

I put one-by-one and every time made shut down before adding a new other card.
I use internal video, summary in manager 10 GPUs
Bios settings doesn’t matter, only enable above 4g decoding

dgser

March 23rd, 2018 at 16:05

I found this thread when trying to add a 7th RX 570 to a rig that was running smoothly with 6 GPU’s (ASUS Z270-A). After troubleshooting EVERYTHING I ended up putting the Bios mode to GEN 3 for all 4 pertinent entries and now it runs like a dream. GEN 1, GEN 2 & AUTO didn’t work for me. With GEN 3 it’s purring. I should point out that I tried Win 10 & HiveOS in my troubleshooting.

Hope this helps someone.

Jim

April 19th, 2018 at 00:39

Monstrosity. Buy a chassis that fits 8 gpu, instead of leaving the fans open to gather dust:

https://www.asus.com/au/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/ESC8000_G3/

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