StarTech PCIe USB card (PEXUSB3S44V) and SLI setup

[UdoG]

Hi, 

I would like to buy the StarTech PCIe USB card for my Rift setup. Currently I have two graphics cards installed and I still have one PCIe port left (Mainboard = ASUS Strix X99 Gaming). My CPU has 40 lanes - 32 lanes are used for the SLI setup (16x + 16x), so 8 lanes left. As far as I know I need only 4 lanes for the StarTech, so it seems to be not a problem - correct?

Does anyone have the same setup and can confirm that everything works fine?

Do you need to plug in the external power source for the Rift sensors?

Thanks.

[Calibos]

I've an Asus Z170-A mobo with the 20 something lanes. Running a single GTX1080 at x16. Not that it would make much difference but I didn't want to knock it down to x8 nor block the fans with an add-on card anymore than I had to. I used the 3rd PCIe slot on the board, the one furthest from the GPU. Discovered it runs at x1 by default, I had to go into the UEFI to switch it to x4 which is what the 4 Controller Startech card needs (don't know about the 2 controller version) I also discovered it shares bandwidth with my 5th and 6th Sata3 ports. I had 2 HDD's on those so I moved them to other free Sata ports and also disabled the No. 5&6 Sata ports in the UEFI.

TLDR: Check how many lanes that PCIe slot defaults to and change it to x4 if necessary. Check whether that Slot shares bandwidth with any other ports/devices in your system.

IIRC on Heaney555's setup guide on Reddit he says to use the external power source. I had a spare Sata power cable for my PSU already so was good to go.

Thats my Startech 4x Controller card in the last slot on my mobo: