Motherboard for 3090 and two sound cards.

OldNslow · Nov 1, 2021

Hello all,

Just over a year ago my sim racing rig and computer were destroyed (long story- not a happy one) and I am now in the process of building another. I was looking at using a RTX 3090 but that is I believe a three slot card that potentially uses or covers 3 pcie slots on the motherboard - this is at least how I understand it but I am not an expert by any means. I do want to run sim vibe with the main plus extensions so that requires two sound cards. So this requires two open pcie slots that aren’t covered by the behemoth 3090. I’ve read that some folks have had success using external usb sound cards with simvibe but as best I can tell the results are mixed and simexperience does not recommend or guarantee it will work. Sorry for the rambling- my question is does anyone have experience with or know of a motherboard that will accommodate a rtx 3090 and two sound cards? Thanks for the help.

Fennario · Nov 1, 2021

1. Video cards occupy a single PCIe slot but may require you to open/use more than one of the slots on the back of the case (ie. a 3 slot card.)

2. My Asus Hero XIII has 2 exposed full length slots below my 3090 FTW Ultra and takes up 3 of the rear slots on my case.

3. Putting a card in the slot directly below my GPU would significantly impact thermals/airflow... not so much for the bottom most slot.

4. Using a vertical bracket on the GPU may allow for both cards + better layout/airflow

5. Liquid cooling the GPU will eliminate the large heatsink and fans - can reduce things to a single slot thickness.

OldNslow · Nov 1, 2021

Thank you Fennario. I took a quick look at the ASUS hero. From your description in point two, I’m thinking that the 3090 uses one pcie16 and covers up two of the pcie1 slots. What is left exposed is two pcie16 slots as well as a pcie1 in between those two. does that sound right?