motherboard smaller than itx with pcie

[Elerek]

Is there anything smaller than mini-itx's 6.7x6.7 that still has a pcie x8 or x16 slot?
I know intel has there 5x5 standard, but it doesn't have pcie, just m.2.

 

[matt3o]

technically you can hook up a GPU (if that is what you want to do) to an m.2. It will be of course x4, though.

 

[Elerek]

technically you can hook up a GPU (if that is what you want to do) to an m.2. It will be of course x4, though.

Yes, but any mid-high end gpu will be throttled pretty hard by an x4 connection. I'd want at least x8.

 

[matt3o]

as long as they are pci-e 3.0 the difference is less than what you'd expect.

The only alternative I believe is going MXM form factor, asrock suggested something like that recently but I don't know if it will ever become commonly available.

 

[jtd871]

The techpowerup test recently linked in the PCIe Bifurcation thread (https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080_PCI_Express_Scaling/24.html) shows a GTX1080 taking a ~8% hit in framerates at 1080p resolution at Gen3x4 vs. Gen3x16. It's not miniscule, but it's not grotesque, either. Put in perspective: if you would normally get 80fps with a 1080 at x16, you would still see ~81fps at x4.

 

[cleveland]

I guess we're derailing the thread...

Is there anything smaller than mini-itx's 6.7x6.7 that still has a pcie x8 or x16 slot?

The acceptable answers in case of a question like that are "yes" or "no", especially when someone says m.2 is not a desirable alternative.

 

[matt3o]

The acceptable answers in case of a question like that are "yes" or "no", especially when someone says m.2 is not a desirable alternative.

I answered to that, if you combine the size of mobo+gpu and MXM is a viable solution for you, yes. Otherwise AFAIK, no, but I leave that to the SFF gurus.

 

[cleveland]

I answered to that, if you combine the size of mobo+gpu and MXM is a viable solution for you, yes. Otherwise AFAIK, no, but I leave that to the SFF gurus.

I'm sorry that you think the comment was about your answer.

 

[Elerek]

The techpowerup test recently linked in the PCIe Bifurcation thread (https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080_PCI_Express_Scaling/24.html) shows a GTX1080 taking a ~8% hit in framerates at 1080p resolution at Gen3x4 vs. Gen3x16. It's not miniscule, but it's not grotesque, either. Put in perspective: if you would normally get 80fps with a 1080 at x16, you would still see ~81fps at x4.

Well I guess if you're willing to compromise a bit on gpu performance then you could get something like this:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157723
https://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500427

Put them end to end and have a really nice gaming rig in a space of 5.5 x 2.4 x 14.1 inches. or just barely over 3 liters.
There should be room for some ssds under the gpu.

You'd need 2 power bricks though, one for the motherboard and one for the gpu.

 

[jeshikat]

You'd need 2 power bricks though, one for the motherboard and one for the gpu.

Not necessarily, you could do something like I did for STX160.0 and split a 19V AC-DC, part to the Mini-STX and part to a HDPLEX DC-ATX for the GPU.

 

[Elerek]

Not necessarily, you could do something like I did for STX160.0 and split a 19V AC-DC, part to the Mini-STX and part to a HDPLEX DC-ATX for the GPU.

That's a really awesome build!