Hi, so I'm building a gaming rig and decided to get 3 gtx 280s. I saw that they use PCI express 2.0, but the 780i mobos only have 2 of these slots! But everyone has been saying I can use 3 gtx 280s with it. Is this true, or do I need a different mobo? If so, can you recommend one that fits:

Triple GTX 280s in SLI
A sound card(however, the 3 GPUs are more important, but I would still prefer a mobo that also fits a good X-FI card)

Also, I'd like to stick to DDR2 if possible. So with that said, can anyone please confirm if the 780i works for this, or if I need a different one?

Thanks a bunch

Actually, it appears the much-more-expensive-for-no-apparent-reason ASUS striker II formula only has 2 pci 16 slots, while the others have 3. So I guess it can use 3 gtx 280s? I'm still not sure about sound card, so help would still be great

No you can't use the sound card. There was an extended form factor that AMD was trying to promote to support 4 Radeon 3870 since they require a dual slot cooler. That initiative seems to have dissapeard since the introduction of the 3870X2. If you want to use that sound card you're going to need to put water coolers on your 280s so that they don't block those PCI slots, well that and you'll have to replace that back plate too so that it will only cover up one slot.

I dont think so. Look at the 780i(not the terrible and overpriced ASUS one that doesent even support triple SLI) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188024 As you can see, 3 PCI 2.0 slots, so thats enough for 3 GTX 280s. But it also has a PCI express slot left. Now look at this sound card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102019 it uses a PCI EXPRESS, not a 2.0 So that means I can run 3 GTX 280s plus the sound card, right?

Or am I missing something?

If the GTX 280s are dual slot, then there will be no PCI or PCIe slots left.

Check out the MSI P7N Diamond 780i mobo. It has 4 pci-e slots and comes with an X-FI Music card that will fit between 1st and 2nd pci-e 16x slot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130158

The board is not for the faint of heart, you will need to get the 1.2 Bios and if you do plan on any OC'ing I would also suggest you to check out this forum thread below.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forum [...] p?t=178286

Hope this helped you out some.

ATX standard is 7 slots... 3 cards times double slot is 6... if my maths is correct.

The MSI is a good suggestion, should leave you with a PCI-e in the middle somewhere. Creative Titaniums looks nice.

You might also want to look at a case that supports more than 7 slots... ie Lian Li's PC-P80 Armoursuit. Comes with 10