Question R9 280 running @gen1.1 x8???

[MaxTehLegend]

recently I've been using my backup GPU (Dual-X Sapphire R9 280) and It's been running fine but i checked GPU-Z and saw that my Bus Interace was extremely strange:

i have no idea why it's running like this. i don't have anything else in any other PCI Slot. it keeps fluctuating between PCIe x8 1.1 & PCIe x8 2.0 & PCIe x8 3.0 when render testing. can someone figure this out? my specs are displayed bottom right, my motherboard is the MSI Z97 Gaming 3.

 

[kerberos_20]

variable pcie version is default power saving feature (can be disabled in windows power plan)
x8 means your gpu doesnt sits in pcie 2 slot (the big slot closest to your cpu)

 

[MaxTehLegend]

variable pcie version is default power saving feature (can be disabled in windows power plan)
x8 means your gpu doesnt sits in pcie 2 slot (the big slot closest to your cpu)

it's set to off and high performance. and the GPU is in the top pcie slot.

 

[MaxTehLegend]

the card was faulty. some scratches on the PCI-E pins.