We got a tip about a motherboard that should be capable of driving seven video cards for mining, namely the MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon, so we got one to give it a try.It is a Z170A Intel chipset motherboard for Socket 1151 processors (there are cheap Celerons available for it) and it uses the newer DDR4 memory.The motherboard is even packed with some fancy extras that are of no use for the purpose of mining, but they do increase the price of the product.Also do note that even if a motherboard has 7x PCI-E slots that does not mean that it will be able to work with 7 video cards connected with x1 to x16 PCI-E risers, it only means that there is a chance that it might work.Unfortunately there are actually not that much such motherboards available and the only few are usually high-end boards with a higher price tag and that is making them not so attractive for miners, especially compared to the use of the popular AsRock H81 Pro BTC motherboard for 6x GPU mining rigs.The first thing you need to do with this motherboard, prior to attaching any external video card, is to make sure it is running the latest BIOS and if not to update it to version 1.7.

This motherboard BIOS is just a few months old and is apparently what allows the particular motherboard to be able to run up to 7 video cards, so make sure you have it flashed before continuing.The next step is to set some things in the motherboard BIOS.You need to go to the Settings \ Advanced \ PCI Subsystem Settings and switch the PEG0 and PEG1 Max Link Speed to Gen1 as well as set the Above 4G Decoding option to Enabled.These are pretty much the only settings you need to set in order to be able to run 7x GPUs, just make sure you set them in the BIOS before you start connecting the video cards otherwise you may experience instability of the system or it even not properly booting and allowing you to enter the BIOS.So set them first and then everything should be working fine, or almost.You can see that Windows 10 properly sees 6x R9 390 video cards and a single RX 480 GPU connected in the device manager with the video driver installed and working properly.We actually have a weird issue with this motherboard as after setting up what is needed for it to work with 7x GPUs we are not able to properly get inside the BIOS of the motherboard.

If at boot we press F9 to enter the BIOS the system just freezes and needs a restart, if we don’t press the F9 BIOS key it boost into the operating system and works just fine with seven video cards mining or whatever.In order to get inside the BIOS of the motherboard however we’ve had to clear the CMOS memory and redo the settings each time.We thought that it might be a KVM issue, but even with direct PS2 and USB keyboard connection we had the strange F9 freezing issue most of the time, even though a few times it worked just fine actually loading the BIOS and not freezing the system.bitcoin atm new york cityAnyway, while we are not entirely sure what is causing the BIOS freezing issue when you try to get inside with F9 after you set the required options to make the motherboard work with 7x GPUs everything else seems to work just fine.bitcoin flipkart

The system boots and sees all 7 video cards, even if they are different ones like in out 6+1 configuration, and you can run a miner that will see and start using all 7 video cards.So the MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard apparently works, though there are still some glitches that may need fixing.The only issue with this motherboard is the higher price and that may be enough of a reason to make you stick with the more affordable and problem free use of AsRock H81 Pro BTC for 6x GPUs instead.bitcoin calculator redditStill if you already have a 6x or even less GPUs on some mining rigs and you have a suitable power supply an upgrade to a 7x GPU motherboard might be an interesting choice.Then again you would need to replace not only the motherboard, but also the CPU and the RAM as well, because of the newer chipset used by the MSI motherboard.Z270-A PRO Supports 7th / 6th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1151 socket Supports DDR4-3800+(OC) Memory DDR4 Boost: Give your DDR4 memory a performance boost Audio Boost: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for a HI-FI experience EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot Turbo M.2: Delivering Speeds Up to 32Gb/s, Intel Optane Memory Ready X-Boost: Great tool to boost your USB & Storage performance Doublo ESD Protection: Double layer grounding motherboard mounting holes Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high quality components for best protection and efficiency Click BIOS 5: Award-winning BIOS with high resolution scalable font, favorites and search function Making your life easier is our business Combining quality you can rely on with top performance and clever business solutions are key aspects of the MSI PRO SERIES motherboards.

Engineered to gratify even the most demanding professional, these motherboards will fit in any PC.Making your life easier and supporting your business with super stable, reliable and long-lasting top performance.GENERATE YOUR OWN MONEY MSI PRO Series motherboards are optimized for crypto currency mining like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and more.These motherboards come with more PCI expansion slots, perfectly placed so you can install multiple graphics cards simultaneously with ease.Optimized Power Design and special BIOS options ensure a rock solid system for long mining sessions to maximize efficiency and coin generation.Cooling Stay cool Cooling your PC is essential for reliable performance.We've made sure to include enough fan headers with full control to allow you to cool your system to the max.6x fan headers DC/PWM mode Full fan control Watercooling ready Display Enjoy the latest video standards Supporting the latest display connectors for new technologies (OLED, HDR) and legacy connectors for beamers, MSI motherboards are designed to make life easier for any professional user.

4K DisplayPort VGA / DVI Network Stable, secure & fast networking Optimized for professional and multimedia use, this generation comes equipped with a high quality network solution ready to serve you with 24/7 reliability when transferring big data.Bandwidth management Storage Be the first to boot up in the morning This MSI product supports all the latest storage standards.This allows you to connect any ultra-fast storage device, giving you noticeable benefits.Start programs faster, load data faster and increase productivity.1x M.2 Ultra-fast storage caching Audio Professional sound quality Get the most immersive sound experience.MSI Audio Boost delivers the highest sound quality through the use of premium quality audio components.This lets you enjoy breathtaking, game-changing sound to create the most dynamic soundscapes.Audio Boost Audio capacitors Memory Unmatched memory performance MSI motherboards are crammed with features to fuel your system's memory with more speed, higher overclockability and increased stability.

Optimal layout 100% compatibility Tuning Designed for limitless Tuning Founded on experience and with a long history of creating the best performing motherboards packed with smart features, you can count on this motherboard to deliver the best performance under the most extreme conditions.Countless system tuning and troubleshooting tools are at your disposal to push your system to new heights and satisfy even the most demanding tweaker.For power users For overclocking USB Maximize your USB device performance Transfer lots of data, music and movies over USB faster than ever.MSI offers a wide variety of options to connect and boost your USB 3.1 devices, delivering lightning-fast transfer speeds!Front USB 3.1 Boost your USB Software APPS TO GREATLY IMPROVE EFFICIENCY With years of experience in creating performance enhancing tools that are easy to use, only the highest quality applications are at your disposal.Use these tools to get the most out of your motherboard and achieve victory when gaming.

X-Boost Command Center Live Update RAMDisk Quality & Protection Built on everlasting quality Using only the finest quality components and integrating the latest technological innovations delivers the best possible professional experience.Rigorous quality testing under the most extreme conditions ensures a super reliable, long-lasting and high performance motherboard.Steel Armor Military Class 5 Windows 10 certified BIOS A user-friendly BIOS We made sure our BIOS contains all the latest options and is easy to use for everyone.The extensive features found in CLICK BIOS 5 let you fine-tune your system to deliver reliable maximum performance.Easy/advanced mode Convenient search Hardware monitor Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S.