Don't Try____ The PCI-e 3.0 16x Slot

[dawman]

I connected the XITE-1s PCI-e 1x connector to the PCI-e 3.0 16x slot and it works perfectly.
This doesn't help with DSP placements or anything like that, but sure does allow endless polyphony with endless sustain pedal being down, which use to overload the buffer.
It seems as though after 1 year of pleasure with another MSI motherboard, it still continues to give me incredibly stable performance and new surprises.
Just a week ago I grew weary of the annoying loud fans that keep the case and CPU below 40C.
I delved into the BIOS and reset the fans at an acceptable level, as before they sounded like a Hoover Vacuum Cleaner.
I noticed case temps rose by 2C, but the CPU is using a prefectly rated HSF combo from Dynatron that also keeps the boring stock speeds, at a very energy efficient and cool temp.

I'd be happy to walk anyone through a 1U design if they ever need such a build using the riser card (ribbon extender.)
I also think most motherboards except ASRock would work fine.
Intel, Asus and Gigabyte's Ultra Durable series.

ASRock is stricly a gamers board so their DPC is the absolute worst since i7s came around.
MSI is well below the 150m mark and 85m pretty much, it works great.
Asus has 3 x motherboards that have the lowest DPC ratings right now, but anything under 100 seems to be the acceptable levels.

Anyways, the XITE-1 and my 1U are amazing lightweight performers.
The sound and the quality of the drivers is just great.

[Roland Kuit]

Congrats, this sounds interesting.
Do you have a picture of this?

[dawman]

I should have done that but it's in the 1U and racked up now.
I do have a jpeg. of the ribbon extender I use and when it was hooked up to the PCI-e 1X slot below.
This shot only prooves how stable the XITE-1 works using the extender and a 1U, and also over a year now of gigs w/o using a GFX card.
The GPU of the Ivy Bridge is more than powerful enough to handle DAWs and Scope together, and I am only using 128MBs of the RAM.
256MBs being the maximum option in the BIOS of the MSI Z77A GD65.
I love Duct Tape as you can tell, and used another piece of thermal 3M Tape to cover the 16X exposed pin connectors.
Next time I blow out the 1U Chassis, I'll remember to take some shots of the PCI-e 3.0 slot all connected.

[Roland Kuit]

So you have taken the XITE-1s PCI-e hostage with duck tape
Looks good and inventive.
(go modular and grow smarter)

[garyb]

i think that tape is insulation to avoid shorts.

[Roland Kuit]

I think my humour had a short.

[garyb]

no, it worked.

i think i had a short...

[dawman]

Well I finally had my first crash during a gig, and it turns out the direct connection to the CPU using the 16X PCI-e 3.0 protocol wasn't such a great idea.
It worked for hours here and while I knew that tranfer rates, and bandwidth wouldn't increase, I was willing to try the .01 msec. latency that PCI Express offers.

This might be a bad idea afterall.
But it was fun being able to stomp on my A/B Switcher and use the weak sounds of the Privia.
The Hammond cheese on the Casio was sheer torture.

Any ways don't try this...

[garyb]

i think the biggest problem is the small connector in the big slot. it can make a sloppy connection.

when you're in a 16x slot with a 1x card, it's a 1x slot.
there's a pinout chart about a quater down from the top here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

[Roland Kuit]

To bad, nice try though!

[jksuperstar]

I'd be happy to walk anyone through a 1U design if they ever need such a build using the riser card (ribbon extender.)
I also think most motherboards except ASRock would work fine.
Intel, Asus and Gigabyte's Ultra Durable series.

Anyways, the XITE-1 and my 1U are amazing lightweight performers.
The sound and the quality of the drivers is just great.

Jimmy, I'd be interested in hearing about the basic specs of the machine (1U rack case, motherboard...CPU, RAM, and storage are less important, since I'll probably find the current deal on those anyways).

I'm rebuilding my cave, and rethinking my portable rig, and what the overlap is between them. A 1 u rack might fit the bill.

[dawman]

The very best chassis are made by Supermicro as they have years of server experience where Xeons and 1U HSF combos are built for specific Chassis/PSU designs.
I called Supermicro and explained I was going to use an MSI Z77 GD65 and even the girl mthat answers the phone said I would need an adapter to be able to have LEDs and start/stop switch capabilites, so the 6 dollar part was all that was needed.
I don't overclock as I prefer long life stability, so a rated Copper Heat Sink from Dynatron keeps the CPU under 41C at all times. The fans are really loud but case temps are 32C consistently, so that's my 2 cents.
I have the model with 4 x 3.5" Caddies in the front 4 hot spares, but use the 2.5" adapters.
OS+Apps has a spare in the 4th slot, but 2 x Vertex 4's and 2 x Seagate Momentus XL Hybrids are nice and roomy.
This chassis could basically take your old mechanical HDDs and make an upgrade rather inexpensive. The only reason I like these Ivy Bridges is for 4 cores and the GPU is on die making a Video card unnecessary.