Single GTX 970 SC on pcie 3.0 x8

[TheLizardKing]

I've seen this question asked in several different forums but the answers always vary. I have a gigabyte z97x gaming 7 mobo and recently snapped off what i now believe was an audio capacitor. After getting it repaired I noticed my audio will randomly start raising and lowering but when I switch to the pcie x8 the audio is flawless. So will my graphics take a hit running a single GTX 970 in the pcie x8 slot rather than the x16?

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4959#sp
These are the specs of my mobo and it seems that pciex8 will run only up to 4x mode and pciex16 will run up to x8 mode.

After Today's Nvidia Driver update Everything is working properly. No more audio issues and no more performance loss. so all is well with my new build... Thank God.. I thought i was gonna have to buy a new motherboard

 

[bignastyid]

All the 16x slots on that board should be running at pci-e 3.0 speeds(only the 3 1x slots run at 2.0). Running a 970 on a 8x 3.0 slot will be fine, you will see very little to no difference between 8x and 16x.

 

[TheLizardKing]

All the 16x slots on that board should be running at pci-e 3.0 speeds(only the 3 1x slots run at 2.0). Running a 970 on a 8x 3.0 slot will be fine, you will see very little to no difference between 8x and 16x.

good to hear I really hope you're right! im gonna test Witcher 3 on ultra and see if there's any significant performance loss. Wish me luck!

 

[Tchota]

I'm running an GTX 750 in a PCIE running at x4 mode, and even an GTX 980 could run at x8 without any performance lose. Note that SLI with z97 boards uses x8 mode, so dont worry about ting your GTX 960 at x8 PCIE slot.

I'm not sure, but since the first PCIE is not populated, the second one should be running at 16x

 

[TheLizardKing]

I'm running an GTX 750 in a PCIE running at x4 mode, and even an GTX 980 could run at x8 without any performance lose. Note that SLI with z97 boards uses x8 mode, so dont worry about ting your GTX 960 at x8 PCIE slot.

I'm not sure, but since the first PCIE is not populated, the second one should be running at 16x

In my Mobo specs it says my x8 slot can run at a max of x4. There is a slight performance loss in the x8 slot compared to the x16. Maybe its in my head but I was running Witcher 3 on ultra at a constant 60fps with everything turned on. now I have to completely disable hairworks to have a smooth image

 

[bignastyid]

The motherboard has 3 16x slots.
The top slot runs at 16x(8x if the 2nd slot is populated) and this is where the gpu should preferably be installed where you are only running 1.
The 2nd slot(in the middle) runs at 8x speeds unless all 3 slots are populated then it runs at 4x.
The bottom slot runs at 4x.
If for some reason you can't use the top slot use the middle slot.
"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.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX8 and PCIEX16 slots. When the PCIEX4 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode and the PCIEX8 will operate at up to x4 mode.
* When installing a x8 or above card in the PCIEX4 slot, make sure to set PCIE Slot Configuration (CPU) in BIOS Setup to x4. (Refer to Chapter 2, "BIOS Setup," "Peripherals," for more information.)
(The PCIEX16, PCIEX8 and PCIEX4 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)"
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4959#sp

 

[Tchota]

If you put the GPU at the second PCIE you shouldnt have to lower any settings.

 

[TheLizardKing]

at x4 things are different, my GTX 750 ti is probably 35% slower than your GTX 960, so its normal that you might need to lower some of the settings.

I dont have a 960. and I'm not using SLI. I have a single gpu that I was running in the x16 slot before I damaged a near by capacitor which I believe dealt with the x16 slot's audio. After having it repaired the audio volume will get louder and then almost silent and just keep fluctuating. So I tested it in my x8 slot and audio was fine. I just wanted an answer on whether it will be able to handle the full power of my GTX 970.

 

[Tchota]

at x4 things are different, my GTX 750 ti is probably 35% slower than your GTX 960, so its normal that you might need to lower some of the settings.

I dont have a 960. and I'm not using SLI. I have a single gpu that I was running in the x16 slot before I damaged a near by capacitor which I believe dealt with the x16 slot's audio. After having it repaired the audio volume will get louder and then almost silent and just keep fluctuating. So I tested it in my x8 slot and audio was fine. I just wanted an answer on whether it will be able to handle the full power of my GTX 970.

My mistake, I thought you had a GTX 960.

If you are referring to the middle PCIEx16, yes, it should be able to handle the full power of your GPU, even if in fact it was running at x8.

 

[TheLizardKing]

The motherboard has 3 16x slots.
The top slot runs at 16x(8x if the 2nd slot is populated) and this is where the gpu should preferably be installed where you are only running 1.
The 2nd slot(in the middle) runs at 8x speeds unless all 3 slots are populated then it runs at 4x.
The bottom slot runs at 4x.
If for some reason you can't use the top slot use the middle slot.
"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.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX8 and PCIEX16 slots. When the PCIEX4 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode and the PCIEX8 will operate at up to x4 mode.
* When installing a x8 or above card in the PCIEX4 slot, make sure to set PCIE Slot Configuration (CPU) in BIOS Setup to x4. (Refer to Chapter 2, "BIOS Setup," "Peripherals," for more information.)
(The PCIEX16, PCIEX8 and PCIEX4 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)"
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4959#sp

I changed the bios settings before I tested it, I'm getting slightly decreased performance but I can live with it for now. I was already looking into external speakers anyhow to run directly from my mobo. so maybe i can switch back to the x16 since its really only an audio issue dealing with the x16 slot.