PCI-e to PCI extender for Scope ( experiment going to be a solution :) )

[snoopy4ever]

[...] load them in a mixer (dynamixer would do) that's forced to your Pulsar2 [...]

hello at0m.,

just did what you asked me ... and I think is crazy enough.. Please let me know if this is correct :

I loadded a dynamicMixer and set 10 stereo channels and inserted 20 MV's on the insert slots.... so far no pci problem .. I'm attaching an image, pls letme know if you see something wrong.

In your current setup, Scope OS still gets to choose on which board it loads the mixer, and I suspect that's currently on one of the Scope cards on onboard PCI. At the bottom of Dynamic Mixer, between the name of the mixer and the midi channel, there's a drag-and-select option to force the mixer (and hence, the MV's) onto a DSP card on the PCI extender. In your case, drag the board option to board2.

The important part here:
I'm trying to devise a way to measure the actual PCI throughput for the extender. Once that is confirmed, such extender would be an option for those motherboards that do not even have any classical PCI slots!

And maybe someone else could give exclusion on this: how can we be sure the MV's send traffic over the extender PCI bus and not the STDM cables to a card that is on onboard PCI?

I think the method I suggest above would be enough, but for a conclusive test, the 2 Scope cards on the extender card and no DSP card on the onboard PCI. I understand physically moving around cards is a tough and annoying job and forcing the mixer on the DSP card on the extender is an easier solution. Or maybe I should just order such an extender card and find out myself. I'm that curious

Hello at0m!!!

again ..another test done. Same old empty project with Dinamyc Mixer , this time I selected the board , on this case as you can see on the image Attached I selected the board 1 , wich is the Pulsar 2 , is the only card with 6 processors , on the Async you can se what dsp's are being used , and the total dsp usage .

Garyb already stated the MV-only test is enough to determine if the extender causes problems ( thanks garyb! )... but Let me know your thougths about this.

I think this proves the extender is a real good / working option , for users who need to expand their pic slots.

MVTEST4.jpg (197.89 KiB) Viewed 8373 times

[at0m]

Hi snoopy4ever,

thanks for going through the lengths to test this - i know i hadn't been going easy on you.. but this indeed confirms the throughput of the PCI extender. that's excellent news!!

i got a 3rd card here that i can't install at the moment, a pulsar 2, and i think i'm ordering such an extender too, after seeing this!

thanks again!

[snoopy4ever]

Hi snoopy4ever,

thanks for going through the lengths to test this - i know i hadn't been going easy on you.. but this indeed confirms the throughput of the PCI extender. that's excellent news!!

i got a 3rd card here that i can't install at the moment, a pulsar 2, and i think i'm ordering such an extender too, after seeing this!

thanks again!

Hello Atom ... pls pls... I want to help as much as I can , pls check the port that you are connecting this card , on my case that port was completely blocked by the graphics card . Therefore I had to buy this :

61Vip6HK1tL._SL1200_.jpg (85.99 KiB) Viewed 8363 times

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Q ... UTF8&psc=1

that is an extender for the port itself and beleive me it saved my life.

other than that I don't think you need anything els ( if that's the case ). But pls let me know if you have any doubt or question

Regards,

Snoopy4ever

[bosone]

that's an awesome finding!
i have a gigabyte x58 ud4 with actually very poor masterverb loading capabilities.
if the latency is good, i may give it a try.
i see the extender sells on amazon at about 40€, it could be a nice toy to try!

problem is how to fit the scope cards in the case...

thanks!

[Marco]

Hey does it still work? Did you drive a music production with 3 cards sucessful?

[snoopy4ever]

that's an awesome finding!
i have a gigabyte x58 ud4 with actually very poor masterverb loading capabilities.
if the latency is good, i may give it a try.
i see the extender sells on amazon at about 40€, it could be a nice toy to try!

problem is how to fit the scope cards in the case...

thanks!

EVER THING WORKS PERFECTLY !! .. and yes .. I had to change my case yup... but worths it.
Snoopy4ever

[snoopy4ever]

Hey does it still work? Did you drive a music production with 3 cards sucessful?

Yup... everything works just fine.. recording., synths ... processing... you name it.

snoopy4ever

[at0m]

[...]
i see the extender sells on amazon at about 40€, it could be a nice toy to try!
[...]

i found https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCI-E-E ... 89018.html for 20€ incl shipping, doesn't mention a brand, but it looks exactly the same (incl the controller) apart from the "PCE2PCI N01 VER 002" on this one, the one snoopy4ever shows "N05 VER 02". I'm betting on it. The extension cable is at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32857626033.html for 3€.

Edit, again, since i had posted wrong url: even cheaper, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32849431927.html and exact same "N05 VER 02"

[snoopy4ever]

[...]
i see the extender sells on amazon at about 40€, it could be a nice toy to try!
[...]

i found https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCI-E-E ... 89018.html for 20€ incl shipping, doesn't mention a brand, but it looks exactly the same (incl the controller) apart from the "PCE2PCI N01 VER 002" on this one, the one snoopy4ever shows "N05 VER 02". I'm betting on it. The extension cable is at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32857626033.html for 3€.

Edit: even cheaper, https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32857626033.html and exact same "N05 VER 02"

well at0m... you are ready!... let us know pls . I know it will be a success
snoopy

[at0m]

snoopy, ordered! Now wait some weeks for the shipment(s) to arrive... Then, in time (maybe wait for at least another to confirm?), you can change subject to "PCI-e to PCI extender for Scope". That'll make the experiment topic a bit less experiment, and more of a solution

[snoopy4ever]

snoopy, ordered! Now wait some weeks for the shipment(s) to arrive... Then, in time (maybe wait for at least another to confirm?), you can change subject to "PCI-e to PCI extender for Scope". That'll make the experiment topic a bit less experiment, and more of a solution

good idea!!! on my way

[bosone]

Hi again!
I just made a masterverb test on my syste, ( gigabyte x58 ud4).
i can load 9 masterverb classic before the PCI limit, in a completely empty project.

could you please do another test??

would you tell me how many SC-Ambient reverbs can you load?? I just cannot use this plugin. I can load 1 in an empty project. the second one causes the pci overflow. and i cannot load any SC-ambient in a standard project.... it collapses everything!


moreover, I can load 2 SC-plate and 8 Masterverb Pro.

Just to have another comparison...

if this extender can provide better performances, i will try it! it could be worth adding an external box to handle my 2 scope cards!

[snoopy4ever]

Hi again!
I just made a masterverb test on my syste, ( gigabyte x58 ud4).
i can load 9 masterverb classic before the PCI limit, in a completely empty project.

could you please do another test??

would you tell me how many SC-Ambient reverbs can you load?? I just cannot use this plugin. I can load 1 in an empty project. the second one causes the pci overflow. and i cannot load any SC-ambient in a standard project.... it collapses everything!


moreover, I can load 2 SC-plate and 8 Masterverb Pro.

Just to have another comparison...

if this extender can provide better performances, i will try it! it could be worth adding an external box to handle my 2 scope cards!

Hello Bosone, I did the test you suggested.., I can upload 3 but the 4th will show problems and asked me to reorganize the Dsp.

But I think is not because the extender, I think this tests the main board PCI , according to what garyb and others stated.
But of course I can be wrong .

Hopes this helps.

[bosone]

That's 3 times my current performance.
Worth a try!

Thanks!

[bosone]

last last question!

can I mount the extender PCI-X "motherboard" on my PCI-EX16 slots?? they are larger than the connector on the extender board... it fits, but will it work?

the small PCI-EX4 is used by the graphic card...

[snoopy4ever]

last last question!

can I mount the extender PCI-X "motherboard" on my PCI-EX16 slots?? they are larger than the connector on the extender board... it fits, but will it work?

the small PCI-EX4 is used by the graphic card...

Hello Bosone . I asked a friend of mine and said there should be no problem, on my case I used another graphics card that required a bigger slot, so I had the small one free ( had to use an extension though cause it was blocked by the cards' fans case). So I cannot say 100% it will work.. we will have to trust on the standard implementation of the Pci-e .

Snoopy4ever

[bosone]

Just bought on Ebay from china... hope it will work!

https://www.ebay.it/itm/Sintech-PCI-E-e ... XQDrJR4hw0

[snoopy4ever]

Just bought on Ebay from china... hope it will work!

https://www.ebay.it/itm/Sintech-PCI-E-e ... XQDrJR4hw0

there you go !

[haba]

Ok, let's max out this: supose you have 2 PCI slots and 2 PCIE extender, could you run 6 cards (2X3 cards in parallel, one with V5 and another with V7)? Just for the fun of it ?

[snoopy4ever]

Ok, let's max out this: supose you have 2 PCI slots and 2 PCIE extender, could you run 6 cards (2X3 cards in parallel, one with V5 and another with V7)? Just for the fun of it ?

well According to what the manuals ( even the old ones ).. PCI will handle only 3 cards.. BUT .. one day I was looking a very old MIX Magazine where they guys of CreamWare said " .. system holding up to 100 processors are possible" , it was an article of the first cards with the VDAT system and such. I wonder if there is a change for a configuration that can hold 4 or more cards ... I've never heard of that, but we never know.

Regards,

Snoopy4ever