Question GPU running at PCIE x4?

[masnaf]

Frist I am totally green at this, so pardon me if I will say something stupid. While ago I bought RTX 3060, so I looked on the internet and compared fps in some games that I had, and some of them worked far better on YT videos than on my pc, though specs were the same. I looked at GPU-Z and find out that bus interface is x4, rather than x16 (screen) (it's up bewteen 1.1 and 3.0) and in BIOs i have this (screen). How do I make it use x16? or at least x8? my mobo is b660 gaming x ddr 4.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Frist I am totally green at this, so pardon me if I will say something stupid. While ago I bought RTX 3060, so I looked on the internet and compared fps in some games that I had, and some of them worked far better on YT videos than on my pc, though specs were the same. I looked at GPU-Z and find out that bus interface is x4, rather than x16 (screen) (it's up bewteen 1.1 and 3.0) and in BIOs i have this (screen). How do I make it use x16? or at least x8? my mobo is b660 gaming x ddr 4.

Did you put the GPU into the top PCIe port (has metal around it and is just below the IO panel)?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Did you try reseating the card. sometimes it's just a slot contact issue.

 

[masnaf]

Did you put the GPU into the top PCIe port (has metal around it and is just below the IO panel)?

no, it's in *black* port, (heres the guts of the pc). should i change the slot?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

put it in the top slot by the CPU. that is the x16 slot.

 

[jeremyj_83]

no, it's in *black* port, (heres the guts of the pc). should i change the slot?

Yes. The only slot that will run it at full x16 is the top slot.

 

[masnaf]

Yes. The only slot that will run it at full x16 is the top slot.

it won't fit though ( i mean,gpu will collide with other stuff like ram etc). beside isn't that lane for pcie 4.0? like, shouldn't i still would be able to use pcie 3.0 x16 in that lower lane? or at least x8.

 

[jeremyj_83]

it won't fit though ( i mean,gpu will collide with other stuff like ram etc). beside isn't that lane for pcie 4.0? like, shouldn't i still would be able to use pcie 3.0 x16 in that lower lane? or at least x8.

It should be able to fit as that is the GPU slot with a few mm to spare so you can get the RAM in or out. The other slots while x16 in length only run at x1 speeds and you cannot change that.

1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
   * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
   (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 4.0 standard.)
2. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x1 (PCIEX1_1, PCIEX1_2)
   (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)

 

[Avro Arrow]

it won't fit though ( i mean,gpu will collide with other stuff like ram etc). beside isn't that lane for pcie 4.0?

This is what it means when an expansion slot is referred to as a PCI-Express v4.0 x16 slot:

• The slot can fit ALL PCI-Express expansion devices that don't use an M.2 interface.
• The slot allows ALL PCI-Express devices rated at PCIe4 and below to run at their native speeds.
• The slot is compatible with ALL PCI-Express v5.0 devices but is limited to PCIe4 x16 speeds.

This is the slot that's supposed to hold your primary video card. By putting your card in a different slot, you're choking your card's bandwidth. In some cases it may not matter because the RTX 3060 is a pretty weak card to begin with but there's no question that it will be unable to reach its maximum performance potential. You have essentially removed 75% of its connectivity bandwidth.

like, shouldn't i still would be able to use pcie 3.0 x16 in that lower lane? or at least x8.

No, it doesn't work that way. Here are your PCI-Express expansion slot specifications from Gigabyte:

1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
   * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
   (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 4.0 standard.)
   
   
2. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x1 (PCIEX1_1, PCIEX1_2)
   (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)

Those slots are able to hold an x16 device but if you look inside the slots, you'll see that the length of the copper connectors inside will be no more than ¼ the length of the slot itself while the top (silver armoured) slot will have copper lining its inside for its entire length. That is the difference between x4, x8 and x16, the length of the slot itself and/or the amount of the slot that is used as more than just a securing point for a PCI-Express device.