After having some issues with my AMD Ryzen 5 3600 build, I moved to an Intel setup with a 12700K which has the UHD Graphics 770 iGPU.

 

I overlooked one significant detail when picking out the new motherboard. It has (2) x16 PCIe slots, (2) x1 slots, and (1) x4 slot. Problem is, I have a 1070 graphics card and two LSI 9211-8i cards to support my 12 drives. I assumed incorrectly that the LSI cards needed x4 when they really need a min of x8. Previous board had (3) x16 slots, so this wasn't an issue.

 

Right now, I'm using the mobo's onboard SATA connectors for 4 drives and plugging the other 8 into a single 9211-8i. This works, but since my new CPU has the UHD Graphics 770, it made me wonder if I could/should ditch the 1070 and just use the iGPU, thereby opening up the other x16 slot.

 

As a side question...It's been a while, but I remember seeing a way to add an expander to the 9211-8i that only needed power and not a PCIe slot. Is that better than swapping out the 8i for a 16i?

 

Thanks!

Matt

I think this probably answers my versus question: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1070-vs-Intel-UHD-Graphics-770/3609vsm1701638

I know gaming and transcoding are not the same thing, but with just how much better the 1070 is, it's hard to think the iGPU could compete.

Edited October 10, 20232 yr by Mattaton

5 minutes ago, Mattaton said:

if I could/should ditch the 1070 and just use the iGPU

 

Absolutely

 

5 minutes ago, Mattaton said:

add an expander to the 9211-8i that only needed power

 

Yep, something like the RES2SV240

Just now, Mattaton said:

it's hard to think the iGPU could compete

 

For video transcoding, the iGPU is plenty (and you can do more simultaneous streams, too)

3 minutes ago, Michael_P said:

Yep, something like the RES2SV240

Okay, so it looks like that just needs an x1 slot? And the expanders are better than a single 16i card, right?

Just now, Mattaton said:

just needs an x1 slot?

 

Doesn't need the slot, you can mount it anywhere - it only needs molex for power when not in the slot

 

1 minute ago, Mattaton said:

And the expanders are better than a single 16i card, right?

 

Not better, per se - it'll split up the bandwidth of up to 2 SAS ports and share it between more devices. For spinning rust, you probably won't miss it. @JorgeB did a comparision, it's somewhere around here in the forums

3 minutes ago, Michael_P said:

Doesn't need the slot, you can mount it anywhere - it only needs molex for power when not in the slot

So I guess I'm at an either/or scenario.

If I ditch the 1070, my main x16 is open and I can put in both 8i cards. No need for the expander.

OR

I keep the 1070 and add the expander with less, but probably unnoticeable, performance.

Decisions, decisions. 😄 

 

Incidentally, 2 of the 12 drives are SSDs in a cache pool for Plex. But I can leave those plugged in directly to the mobo's SATA ports and just have the 10 spinning rust drives on the card(s).

32 minutes ago, Michael_P said:

Doesn't need the slot, you can mount it anywhere - it only needs molex for power when not in the slot

I'm tring to google this, but seems like everything is just talking about NOT using the x1 slot. Since I have the x4 slot, will this take just that for power, or does it have to have the molex and only the slot is optional?

Edited October 10, 20232 yr by Mattaton

10 minutes ago, Mattaton said:

I'm tring to google this, but seems like everything is just talking about NOT using the x1 slot. Since I have the two x1 slots, will this take just that for power, or does it have to have the molex and only the slot is optional?

 

It can use either/or for power - if it's in the slot it'll draw power from it and there isn't any need for the molex to be powered, too

Just now, Michael_P said:

It can use either/or for power - if it's in the slot it'll draw power from it and there isn't any need for the molex to be powered, too

Perfect. Exactly what I needed. Thanks!

26 minutes ago, Mattaton said:

OR

I keep the 1070 and add the expander with less, but probably unnoticeable, performance.

Decisions, decisions.

 

You can save a ton of power dropping the 1070, don't discount that  

Just now, Michael_P said:

 

You can save a ton of power dropping the 1070, don't discount that  

So, what you would do is ditch the 1070 and go back to two 9211-8i cards, right? No expander.

5 minutes ago, Mattaton said:

So, what you would do is ditch the 1070 and go back to two 9211-8i cards, right? No expander.

 

Personally, i would ditch the 1070 (this is a no brainer, the iGPU is better in every aspect for media), run 1 SAS card and the expander (SSDs connect to the mobo) - I run 24 spinners and it's plenty.

 

Save power and heat

Edited October 10, 20232 yr by Michael_P

5 minutes ago, Michael_P said:

Personally, i would ditch the 1070 (this is a no brainer, the iGPU is better in every aspect for media), run 1 SAS card and the expander (SSDs connect to the mobo) - I run 24 spinners and it's plenty.

 

Save power and heat

Great! Thank you so much for the help and insight!

I'm almost in the same situation.  Here is my setup.

 

ASUS Prime Z790-P Wifi

i7-12700K

128GB DDR5 RAM

ASUS Dual GTX 1070

Dell H310 in IT mode with two breakout cables to 8 SATA drives

 

Will the UHD 770 be better for transcoding through Emby AND in related news, would my H310 perform better in the X16 slot that the GPU resides in?  I'm transferring files between the drives & it's between 50-60 MB/s when it gets settled.

 

Thanks in advance.