The ASUS PRIME Z270-AR is easily available but the ASUS PRIME Z270-A is totally not.  Big question I have is can you utilise the 7 pcie slots for gpus on the ASUS PRIME Z270-AR??

According to the ASUS specs:

A

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1

AR

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1

The pics of both look indentical (same number and type of pcie connectors)

Based on the above I would assume that one of the slots on the AR is an unconnected dummy.  But I have read in various places including here that some people have ASUS PRIME Z270-AR running 7 gpus and even 8 utilizing the M.2.

Can someone out there who actually has the AR version confirm (or deny) that it works with 7 GPU's?