How to stuff 8 x GTX980 into on server?
#1
Hi,

i want to spend some money into a machine with 8 x GTX980.

I was told that Tyan does not support this gpu (seems like these boards do not even recognize these cards let alone 8 of them).

Another option would be a 8 slot board from Supermicro.

Unfortunately nobody can tell me whether this combination will work and i do not want to spend some k$ on testing.

Has anybody out here any experience (especially good ones) with such a machine?

Thanks in advance!
#2
Where did you hear that the Tyan FT77 will not recognize the GTX 980?

EDIT: Confirmed bullshit. We've got 8x GTX 980 in a Tyan FT77 running just fine right now. Will post a full review later tonight.
#3
Probably won't have time to do the full write-up tonight, but here's a quick preview:

https://twitter.com/jmgosney/status/515338064223154177
#4
Hi!

actually i hoped for your answer. Thanks!

(09-25-2014, 07:22 PM)epixoip Wrote: Where did you hear that the Tyan FT77 will not recognize the GTX 980?

EDIT: Confirmed bullshit. We've got 8x GTX 980 in a Tyan FT77 running just fine right now. Will post a full review later tonight.

I got this from a company selling Tyan machines for GPGPU.

The guy there asked Tyan. He was told that it was a firmware issue and since these boards are officially only specified for Tesla cards and there is no maxwell Tesla yet it will take some time to get an BIOS update.

Could you please tell me exactly which board you use and which BIOS version you have?

Thanks in advance!
#5
I also own a company that sells Tyan systems for GPGPU, and I can tell you that's patently false. But it doesn't surprise me, Tyan also originally told us that Radeons wouldn't work either.

The system I tested in today is a B7059F77AV6R with the BIOS that it shipped with.

The only modification I had to made was a physical modification to the GPUs themselves. I didn't have to do anything special with the system, much easier than making Radeons work even.
#6
(09-26-2014, 06:50 AM)epixoip Wrote: Probably won't have time to do the full write-up tonight, but here's a quick preview:

https://twitter.com/jmgosney/status/515338064223154177

Holy crap.....someone get me a towel to wipe up the drool.

What physical modifications did you have to make to these cards? I assume is has something to do with removing the shroud around the end of the card so the fans at the front of the Tyan can push air through the cards, since I imagine the fans on each card do pretty much nothing.

I'm lobbying for the budget to grab 8 cards for our Tyan. We currently have 4 770s - it was all I could afford when we built it since I had to spend the rest of my budget on the Tyan itself. If I can get 8 980s or 970s, my only worry is the airflow through the system.
#7
no, it has nothing to do with airflow and the fans on the cards do plenty.

the modification i had to made was removing this weird little rectangular piece of metal from the backplate. otherwise the cards are too wide to fit in adjacent pci-e slots and you can only barely fit 7 cards in the chassis before you start ripping pci-e slots off the motherboard.
#8
Really? Being wedged in there so close I wouldn't think the fans would do a lot. Then again, I guess the Tyan does push a crapton of air through. I guess more air than I thought makes its way in between each card. Do you see any benefit using something like the EVGA cards that have open heatsinks with blades parallel to the direction of the airflow?

I'll keep in mind the backplate thing if I get the budget to trick out our Tyan.
#9
everyone always thinks that but no, the fans do plenty. air is drawn in from the rear of the card, not the side of the card, unless you are using OEM design cards. but never use OEM design cards. always use reference design cards.
#10
(09-25-2014, 07:22 PM)epixoip Wrote: Where did you hear that the Tyan FT77 will not recognize the GTX 980?

EDIT: Confirmed bullshit. We've got 8x GTX 980 in a Tyan FT77 running just fine right now. Will post a full review later tonight.

we try to install 8 GTX 980 into the Tyan FT77 today but the Tyan is not even booting up? It works properly with Tesla K20 but even there is one GTX 980 in the chassis together with the K20 or only GTX980 the system comes not up?

The GTX are from PNY and the Tyan is a B7059F77AV6R with the BIOS that it shipped with.
The fans of the GTX are running, but the bootprocess stucks, there is even no chance to get into the Bios. Sometimes we see Bios code AD or AE

Any ideas what the problem could be? thx