Gigabyte G1 Killer Sniper 3 Gaming Motherboard Review

The Ninjalane Multi-GPU index is a portable set of data we can use to determine the multi-gpu potential of any motherboard.  A higher index number indicates a favorable condition for multiple graphics cards while a lower number indicates a hindrance in one of our leading indicators.  Since the Index is not dependent on system architecture it can be applied to any motherboard regardless of processor or chipset generations.

Index: 4.75
Optimized: 4x
Max Support: 4x

NVidia SLI
AMD Crossfire
Lucid Virtu

As indicated by the PCI Express layout chart there are a total of four 16x PCI Express slots on this motherboard with all of them using bandwidth earmarked for video cards.  Slot one is your primary video card slot and will run at a full 16x when only a single card is installed.  Slots One Three, Five and Seven are all powered by the onboard PLX PEX 8747 a 5-port 48-lane PCI Express switch.  The primary graphic slots will be One and Five which in turn share bandwidth with their nearest downstairs neighbor.  
 
For best video performance you will want to populate slots one and five with video cards.  For proper triple card configurations, using either NVidia SLI or AMD Crossfire, you'll populate slots One, Three and Five.  This configuration will give you ample room for dual slot coolers and still remain within the confines of the standard ATX form factor.

During our tested we successfully loaded windows with four HD4850 video cards properly installed.  The G1 Sniper 3 is optimized for quad card configurations but to get more than one card running you will need to connect a SATA power connection to the motherboard.  This in turn powers the PLX chip and activates the remaining PCI Express slots.