Can I add a GPU?

[jebusfreek666]

Sorry, this is my first build so I am not as tech savvy as so many of you. My current mobo is a supermicro x11ssm-f. The PCI-e layout is as follows:

 

PCI-E 3.0 x8

PCI-E 3.0 x8 (in x16 slot)

PCI-E 3.0 x4 (in x8 slot)

PCI-E 3.0 x4 (in x8 slot)

 

I currently have an LSI 9207-8i in the 2nd slot. I would like to add a couple things. I want to add a Nvidia Quadro P2000 (or maybe the P2200 as it seems easier to find for some reason, and I think it is also supported) for hardware transcodes in a plex docker. And I would like to add a 10G NIC. I see that the P2000 is an x16 GPU (I think all are?). So will I be able to run it in my 2nd slot? I am guessing the answer is yes, but it will only run at half speed due to only being a true x8?I am also worried if it will work at all, since it gets its power from the PCI-e slot and is not wired.

 

The other issue is, is there a problem with me moving the LSI controller from the 2nd slot to the top one? It is only an x8, so I am pretty sure this is fine. But I didn't know if something else has to happen, or if I can just move stuff around at will? Like USB, are the PCI-e slots plug and play, or is there some setting I have to change?

 

Also, the top 2 slots are both CPU slots. Is this going to cause any issues, or further bottlenecking?

 

Finally, is there any recommendation on what 10G NIC to add? I saw some posts from a few years ago stating an intel. And I saw an older spaceinvader one video saying to use the Mellanox for unraid/windows. Does this matter one way or another? I am pretty sure most 10G NICs will run fine on x4 correct? Any suggestions here would be great!

Edited January 22, 2020 by jebusfreek666

[testdasi]

The wiring should not affect your ability to put a (true) x16 card in a x8 slot (with x16 length). Power is always wired. It's the data pipes that are not. Your card theoretically will run slower but not many things can saturate PCIe 3.0 x8 anyway so real life performance hit is unlikely to be significant.

 

If the LSI card is currently working with Unraid then moving it around should be fine.

The 1st exception is if you pass it through to a VM, which I don't think you are doing.

The 2nd exception is if you accidentally stub it but you should be able to detect that very quickly since all your drives plugged into the LSI won't show up (needless to say, turn off array auto start first).

 

No bottlenecking. In fact, you want to use CPU slots for most critical devices.