PCI-E 2.0 x8 Possible Fix?

[beclauss]

Hey guys, I'm aware I've asked here before about this, but do you guys think I can possibly FIX my PCI-E 2.0 x8 issue? I have done the following:

Updated BIOS
Updated Drivers
Replaced my GPU (my GPU died and I had to RMA it)
Checked the PCI-E contacts, everything looks fine.

Specs:

Intel Core i5-4570
8 GB RAM
Geforce GTX 760
MSI H81M-E33
600W PSU
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB.

Here is a pic of my PCI-E slot (its the only GPU slot I have other than an x1 slot which is not in use) http://imgur.com/JeNGf3K. If you guys know any fix for this, that will be well appreciated, since even 2.0 x16 will be best in the long run.

 

[spentshells]

What software is reporting it as an 8x slot?

In all likelyhood the software is detecting it as a pcie 3 at 8x

this is extremely likely.

 

[doubletake]

What's the issue?

 

[beclauss]

What software is reporting it as an 8x slot?

In all likelyhood the software is detecting it as a pcie 3 at 8x

this is extremely likely.

Okay, 2 things:

1. Both GPU-Z and Board Explorer report it at x8
2. This is PCI-E 2.0. , H97 and up have 3.0 sadly.... (sorry if I'm being rude at all) and I'm on an H81 platform.

 

[doubletake]

Do you know of ANYONE that actually has their PCI-E slot working at x16? Because apparently the H81 chipset is only supposed to provide up to 6 PCI-E lanes to devices, regardless of CPU. You'd technically have to be on H87 just to get that actual x8 bandwidth for the GPU lol. That's the reason why H81 is absolutely NOT intended for anything beyond a basic productivity machine.

 

[beclauss]

Do you know of ANYONE that actually has their PCI-E slot working at x16? Because apparently the H81 chipset is only supposed to provide up to 6 PCI-E lanes to devices, regardless of CPU. You'd technically have to be on H87 just to get that actual x8 bandwidth for the GPU lol. That's the reason why H81 is absolutely NOT intended for anything beyond a basic productivity machine.

I know some friends I talk to on skype that have theirs working at x16 but they have either something beyond H81 such as Z97 or X99. This PCI-E slot is advertised to be a full x16 slot using PCI-E 2.0 (3.0 and up is H97 I believe)

 

[spentshells]

What software is reporting it as an 8x slot?

In all likelyhood the software is detecting it as a pcie 3 at 8x

this is extremely likely.

Okay, 2 things:

1. Both GPU-Z and Board Explorer report it at x8
2. This is PCI-E 2.0. , H97 and up have 3.0 sadly.... (sorry if I'm being rude at all) and I'm on an H81 platform.

Yes I am aware of those things, btw b level boards are all pcie 3 not just h and up . Just like my b75 pcie 3

A pcie2 16x will actually provide the performance of a pcie3 8x slot. PCIE 3 gives the performance of a pcie2 16x slot and it's most likely being reported as such by the software, I've seen it before.

Youll note the gpuz does not specify pcie revision

 

[beclauss]

What software is reporting it as an 8x slot?

In all likelyhood the software is detecting it as a pcie 3 at 8x

this is extremely likely.

Okay, 2 things:

1. Both GPU-Z and Board Explorer report it at x8
2. This is PCI-E 2.0. , H97 and up have 3.0 sadly.... (sorry if I'm being rude at all) and I'm on an H81 platform.

Yes I am aware of those things, btw b level boards are all pcie 3 not just h and up . Just like my b75 pcie 3

A pcie2 16x will actually provide the performance of a pcie3 8x slot. PCIE 3 gives the performance of a pcie2 16x slot and it's most likely being reported as such by the software, I've seen it before.

Youll note the gpuz does not specify pcie revision

Its not just GPU-Z, in my BIOS, I have 2 options of PCI-E: Gen 1, Gen 2, and Auto. On top of that, this board is advterised as PCI-E 2.0 x16. Not 3.0. x16

EDIT: Here are my mobo's specs: http://us.msi.com/product/mb/H81M-E33.html#hero-specification

Believe me man, I wish it were 3.0 x8 lol.

Another Edit: So yeah, sadly this is indeed 2.0 x8, it isn't just GPU-Z, its also Board Explorer on my BIOS. (sorry for all the edits lol)

 

[spentshells]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

 

[beclauss]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

No, my slot is PCI-E 2.0, so it can only feed my GPU (which is a PCI-E 3.0 card) 2.0 x8 speeds. Even board explorer thats in my mobo's BIOS reports x8 speeds even if I set it to Gen 2.

 

[spentshells]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

No, my slot is PCI-E 2.0, so it can only feed my GPU (which is a PCI-E 3.0 card) 2.0 x8 speeds. Even board explorer thats in my mobo's BIOS reports x8 speeds even if I set it to Gen 2.

Clearly im beating a dead horse.

 

[beclauss]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

No, my slot is PCI-E 2.0, so it can only feed my GPU (which is a PCI-E 3.0 card) 2.0 x8 speeds. Even board explorer thats in my mobo's BIOS reports x8 speeds even if I set it to Gen 2.

Clearly im beating a dead horse.

What do you mean?

EDIT: OH.... I'm sorry, I misunderstood you lol. Yeah, my card, since it is running at 2.0 x8 is running at 3.0 x4... Sorry for the confusion

 

[doubletake]

Do you know of ANYONE that actually has their PCI-E slot working at x16? Because apparently the H81 chipset is only supposed to provide up to 6 PCI-E lanes to devices, regardless of CPU. You'd technically have to be on H87 just to get that actual x8 bandwidth for the GPU lol. That's the reason why H81 is absolutely NOT intended for anything beyond a basic productivity machine.

I know some friends I talk to on skype that have theirs working at x16 but they have either something beyond H81 such as Z97 or X99. This PCI-E slot is advertised to be a full x16 slot using PCI-E 2.0 (3.0 and up is H97 I believe)

Well there's your problem. Again, your board's chipset isn't even built to provide full PCI-E 2.0 x8 bandwidth. It doesn't matter that a slot is a pin-compatible x16 slot, it can only provide what the platform supports. My own board is a good example of that, it's a z97 board with a PLX switch chip to provide bandwidth for up to 4 GPUs even though the 4790k powering it only has 16 lanes to give, which would normally only support 2.

 

[beclauss]

Do you know of ANYONE that actually has their PCI-E slot working at x16? Because apparently the H81 chipset is only supposed to provide up to 6 PCI-E lanes to devices, regardless of CPU. You'd technically have to be on H87 just to get that actual x8 bandwidth for the GPU lol. That's the reason why H81 is absolutely NOT intended for anything beyond a basic productivity machine.

I know some friends I talk to on skype that have theirs working at x16 but they have either something beyond H81 such as Z97 or X99. This PCI-E slot is advertised to be a full x16 slot using PCI-E 2.0 (3.0 and up is H97 I believe)

Well there's your problem. Again, your board's chipset isn't even built to provide full PCI-E 2.0 x8 bandwidth. It doesn't matter that a slot is a pin-compatible x16 slot, it can only provide what the platform supports. My own board is a good example of that, it's a z97 board with a PLX switch chip to provide bandwidth for up to 4 GPUs even though the 4790k powering it only has 16 lanes to give, which would normally only support 2.

Still though, this board is advertised for a full 16 lane PCI-E slot. If it were somerthing like x4, it'd say PCI-E 2.0 x16 (x4 mode). Otherwise MSI is false advertising.

 

[doubletake]

I don't see where actual PCI-E lane count is explicitly advertised in any of the marketing, nor is it anywhere in the manual. All they say is that it has a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot. So maybe it is false advertising, specifically deception through ignorance. After all, they only specify the connector type, not the link speed available and they hope most people won't bother to look up the actual chipset limitations. Most other mfgs tell you when a PCI-E slot is full-size but not full bandwidth by labeling it as such (e.g as PCI-E x16 (x8) , (x4), etc). Whatever the case is here, I think you're just going to have to give up on this "issue". There's nothing to fix as there's technically no problem, your hardware is operating per the OEM specifications. Unfortunately for you.

 

[beclauss]

I don't see where actual PCI-E lane count is explicitly advertised in any of the marketing, nor is it anywhere in the manual. All they say is that it has a PCI-E 2.0 x16 slot. So maybe it is false advertising, specifically deception through ignorance. After all, they only specify the connector type, not the link speed available and they hope most people won't bother to look up the actual chipset limitations. Most other mfgs tell you when a PCI-E slot is full-size but not full bandwidth by labeling it as such (e.g as PCI-E x16 (x8) , (x4), etc). Whatever the case is here, I think you're just going to have to give up on this "issue". There's nothing to fix as there's technically no problem, your hardware is operating per the OEM specifications. Unfortunately for you.

I guess I'm going to have to replace this motherboard then which sounds best in my opinion

 

[spentshells]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

No, my slot is PCI-E 2.0, so it can only feed my GPU (which is a PCI-E 3.0 card) 2.0 x8 speeds. Even board explorer thats in my mobo's BIOS reports x8 speeds even if I set it to Gen 2.

Clearly im beating a dead horse.

What do you mean?

EDIT: OH.... I'm sorry, I misunderstood you lol. Yeah, my card, since it is running at 2.0 x8 is running at 3.0 x4... Sorry for the confusion

Still not on the money, the card being 3.0 compliant is providing the feedback to gpuz not the slot, the reading of 8x is accurate as 8x pcie 3 is the same speed as 16x pcie 2. Im saying there is not an issue here.

 

[beclauss]

o lol no I was never saying it was 3.0 but as software is testing for bandwidth it could be reported as a 8x pcie 3 slot. As pcie3 has twice the bandwidth of pcie 2.

Set it to pcie 2 in your bios then test with different software and as you are using a pcie 3 card in that slot..... it's likely reporting that the card has access to pcie 3 8x

Seriously this is most likely whats happening. GPUz tests the card available bandwidth at the card.

You are using pcie 3 card with pcie2 bandwidth, hence the card is actually getting 8x pcie3 speeds.

No, my slot is PCI-E 2.0, so it can only feed my GPU (which is a PCI-E 3.0 card) 2.0 x8 speeds. Even board explorer thats in my mobo's BIOS reports x8 speeds even if I set it to Gen 2.

Clearly im beating a dead horse.

What do you mean?

EDIT: OH.... I'm sorry, I misunderstood you lol. Yeah, my card, since it is running at 2.0 x8 is running at 3.0 x4... Sorry for the confusion

Still not on the money, the card being 3.0 compliant is providing the feedback to gpuz not the slot, the reading of 8x is accurate as 8x pcie 3 is the same speed as 16x pcie 2. Im saying there is not an issue here.

I'm aware 3.0 x8= 2.0 x16. But this slot is 2.0. I'm running at PCI-E 2.0 x8, not 3.0 x8 (I wish) so basically I'm running at 1.1 x16