Question PCIE x16 running at x8 causing screen tearing?

[Anomaly_76]

Having some problems getting optimum video performance. R9 5900X / 32GB DDR4-3200 / RTX3060ti. My 60hz display limits me to 60 FPS, but I can't even maintain that. Usually around 50-52. I'm getting some minor tearing on certain screen refreshes even at that.

Have two SN570s in primary and secondary M.2 slots. Manual shows that second slot shares bandwidth with some SATA ports, and GPU-ID shows the x16 slot is running at x8. Considering replacing the M.2s with a SATA6 2.5" SSD. Will that help / solve the problem?

 

[zinkles]

Having some problems getting optimum video performance. R9 5900X / 32GB DDR4-3200 / RTX3060ti. My 60hz display limits me to 60 FPS, but I can't even maintain that. Usually around 50-52. I'm getting some minor tearing on certain screen refreshes even at that.

Have two SN570s in primary and secondary M.2 slots. Manual shows that second slot shares bandwidth with some SATA ports, and GPU-ID shows the x16 slot is running at x8. Considering replacing the M.2s with a SATA6 2.5" SSD. Will that help / solve the problem?

The secondary M.2 is the one that's limiting it to x8, as it needs to share lanes with the GPU to achieve this. replacing that to a SATA should bring it back to x16.

PCIe 3.0 x16 is kind of equal to PCIe 4.0 x8, so basically you were limited to PCIe 3.0 capabilities.

While gaming, what was the usage of the GPU?

If the x8 was limiting it, it might have been the cause for the tearing. Though usually the difference is a mere 2-3% performance drop while regular gaming, its most significant while its under high load, and the bandwidth and such are maxing out.

 

[Anomaly_76]

The secondary M.2 is the one that's limiting it to x8, as it needs to share lanes with the GPU to achieve this. replacing that to a SATA should bring it back to x16.

PCIe 3.0 x16 is kind of equal to PCIe 4.0 x8, so basically you were limited to PCIe 3.0 capabilities.

While gaming, what was the usage of the GPU?

If the x8 was limiting it, it might have been the cause for the tearing.

Quite high, even using DLSS. If memory serves, about 93-97% at 6144x3240 at 100% scaling with a mix of high / ultra settings, some low. At lower resolutions (4096x2160), FPS increased to 60, but load does not decrease and tearing was actually worse. With a 75", 1440p just looks terrible.

Incidentally, core speed is curiously low at times (about 840-940 Mhz), even with high GPU load. This was only after enabling DLSS. Possibly another sign of x8 limitation?

If it makes a difference, the 3060ti is a Asus KO series 8GB OC.

 

[boju]

What's your motherboard?

Cpu has 20 lanes, 16 for graphics card and additional 4 for first M2 slot. 2nd M2 slot should be using chipset lanes and Pcie slot should be unaffected. Manual for your motherboard will explain what populating 2nd M2 with Nvme or Sata will do.

What does clicking questionmark in Gpuz say?

If you enable Vsync does tearing stop then? If it does, leave Vsync on and limit fps in NvidiaCP for whichever game to 59 to help with input lag from Vsync.

 

[Anomaly_76]

What's your motherboard?

Cpu has 20 lanes, 16 for graphics card and additional 4 for first M2 slot. 2nd M2 slot should be using chipset lanes and Pcie slot should be unaffected. Manual for your motherboard will explain what populating 2nd M2 with Nvme or Sata will do.

What does clicking questionmark in Gpuz say?

If you enable Vsync does tearing stop then? If it does, leave Vsync on and limit fps in NvidiaCP for whichever game to 59 to help with input lag from Vsync.

Full specs...

Originally was Asus Tuf B550-Plus, currently Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master.
R9 5900X / Scythe Mugen 5 / PVS432G320C6K Patriot Viper 4 Blackout (DDR4-3200, 2x16)

1 TB WD Blue SN570 (2)
8 TB WD Black Performance HD
2 TB Crucial MX500 SSD
Pioneer BDR-212DBK

Asus KO RTX3060ti 8GB-OC (V2 variant?)
ElGato 4K60 Plus Mk2

Corsair Commander Core XT /Corsair LL120 fans (6)
Corsair RM850x / Fractal Pop XL Air case

Display - 75" HiSense A6 - 60 hz

As for VSync, have tried 59 before, actually cut it to 50 at one point because 59 didn't seem to help much, even at 59hz refresh. Some minor improvement, but didn't really solve the problem.

Double checked the manuals though...

Apparently the Asus' x16_1 cuts to x1 if the x16_2 is populated (I have a ElGato 4K60 Plus MK2)
Apparently any of the Gigabyte's x16s MAY run UP TO x8 if the M2_B or M2_C are populated...

So the Asus board was choking the GPU to x1 with the ElGato, and the Gigabyte is choking it to x8 max with the secondary M.2. RTFM... 🙄

It would appear that my gaming rig simply cannot achieve peak performance doing double duty as a media server with either of these boards, and it's not likely that will change with any other. Am I seeing this right?

I thought of transferring the server / recording gear to either the old 1700 / GTX1650 or 3600X / GTX1650 rig. Unfortunately, neither can fit both an x16 and an x4. So perhaps I'll wind up with two B550 rigs, one a server, the other a gamer. Otherwise it's buying an expensive x470 / x570 board, which is not feasible.

If I split the workloads between two machines, will a 1650 be enough to record / render / transcode? Recording gameplay, DVD playback and light video editing / export (yes, I have Handbrake, it doesn't work on everything).