I'm torn between the MB and Graphics forums for this post, but I thought I'd start here and check I haven't misunderstood the MB spec / settings. I've read a few posts and websites about similar issues, but nothing which quite matches my situation.
The card is installed in the blue PCIe x16 slot, and there are no other PCIe cards (or, indeed, PCI cards) installed. BIOS settings are at default for most things, and is latest version (3503). I may have changed the ASPM setting, but I've tried most combinations and nothing changes the results. Catalyst drivers are also at latest version for this card (12.4).
Basically, I can't persuade this graphics card (according to CCC, GPU-Z and HWINFO anyway) to run above x4. Pretty much every tool I've tried reports the same thing, which is some variation on:
PCIe v2.0 x16 (5.0 Gb/s) @ x4 (5.0 Gb/s)
Now, for a start, that looks fishy - why would the transfer rate be the same at x16 and x4? GPU-Z gives the warning that it isn't running at full speed, but the render test doesn't change anything. HWINFO shows these 4 lines against the graphics card:
PCI Express
Version: 2.0
Maximum Link Width: 16x
Current Link Width: 4x
Maximum Link Speed: 5.0 Gb/s
Current Link Speed: 5.0 Gb/s
Soooo, maybe I'm not understanding the PCIe spec very well, but how can the Max and Current show such contradictory figures? And, if you look at the CCC screen capture below, why does CCC suggest that x4 is the maximum setting? Is there something specific I need to do / check on in the BIOS? I haven't actually disabled the onboard GPU, as I'm worried if I total the new card I'll need something to fall back on to see the BIOS screens, rather than having to physically remove the new card.
Now, I realise from reading around this that in fact I probably won't see much performance change if I did get this card to run at x16, given that it's not exactly a top-end GPU. However, I'm interested for the sake of learning and ensuring I am getting the most I can out of the system.
Is there anything else I can do, other than try the AMD graphics card forum?
Thanks,
Dave
CCC Info Panel:
HWINFO Summary:
GPU-Z:
The card is installed in the blue PCIe x16 slot, and there are no other PCIe cards (or, indeed, PCI cards) installed. BIOS settings are at default for most things, and is latest version (3503). I may have changed the ASPM setting, but I've tried most combinations and nothing changes the results. Catalyst drivers are also at latest version for this card (12.4).
Basically, I can't persuade this graphics card (according to CCC, GPU-Z and HWINFO anyway) to run above x4. Pretty much every tool I've tried reports the same thing, which is some variation on:
PCIe v2.0 x16 (5.0 Gb/s) @ x4 (5.0 Gb/s)
Now, for a start, that looks fishy - why would the transfer rate be the same at x16 and x4? GPU-Z gives the warning that it isn't running at full speed, but the render test doesn't change anything. HWINFO shows these 4 lines against the graphics card:
PCI Express
Version: 2.0
Maximum Link Width: 16x
Current Link Width: 4x
Maximum Link Speed: 5.0 Gb/s
Current Link Speed: 5.0 Gb/s
Soooo, maybe I'm not understanding the PCIe spec very well, but how can the Max and Current show such contradictory figures? And, if you look at the CCC screen capture below, why does CCC suggest that x4 is the maximum setting? Is there something specific I need to do / check on in the BIOS? I haven't actually disabled the onboard GPU, as I'm worried if I total the new card I'll need something to fall back on to see the BIOS screens, rather than having to physically remove the new card.
Now, I realise from reading around this that in fact I probably won't see much performance change if I did get this card to run at x16, given that it's not exactly a top-end GPU. However, I'm interested for the sake of learning and ensuring I am getting the most I can out of the system.
Is there anything else I can do, other than try the AMD graphics card forum?
Thanks,
Dave
CCC Info Panel:
HWINFO Summary:
GPU-Z: