[SOLVED] Why is my 970 evo running at half speed?

Jan 20, 2020
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Userbenchmark showed it performing way below expectations at 9th percentile. I doublechecked and confirmed this with crystaldiskmark 1785 MB/s read and 1680 MB/s write. In researching this found some people say that their m2 was running at X2 instead of X4, but cant find anything in BIOS to change that. Im running an Asus 470 Pro.

UPDATE: I specifically told my coworked who built it to put it in the 1st slot which has a heatsink so i couldnt imagine it wouldnt be there, until i took the time to look last night. You were right, thanks. Im afraid to strip the screw and move it myself like i have read multiple people have done because Asus has started using Blue Loctite on their HDD screws, which make it really tough to remove which means dragging the tower to work again which stinks. Thank you for your help.


MOD EDITED: Re ordered comments so thread makes sense for others with same issue.
 
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yes that board and im using the first slot. Is there anyway to confirm what speed the m2 is actually running at?

Samsung Magician shows what pci-e speed (x2 or x4) you are running - and also if you are using the Microsoft driver or the driver Samsung specifically provides for their NVMe drives (download at Samsungs support site).
There's probably different software which would be better, but an advantage with Samsung Magician, is that you kan update the drive to the most recent firmware, and you kan test drive (Read/Write/IOPS) performance and so on.

So that's an option at least
 
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Jan 20, 2020
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Ah there was a different screen on magician that says interface PCIe gen. 3X2 does that mean 2X? I already tested it in magician as well 1778 read, 1677 write
 
Yes, it should indicate 3 x4 if running at full speed. The read / write speeds you get, also indicate that the drive is running at x2 speed

Are you using the most recent version of Magician, and did you update the firmware (in case it wasn't up to date)?

In my case there were firmware updates for both of my 970 Evo drives, eventhough I purchased them only a couple of months ago.

You could also try the Samsung NVMe drivers, if you arent using them already. I gained a little bit of extra performance when installing the Samsung drivers. That won't change the x2 interface problem though.
 
Jan 20, 2020
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Yes, it should indicate 3 x4 if running at full speed. The read / write speeds you get, also indicate that the drive is running at x2 speed

Are you using the most recent version of Magician, and did you update the firmware (in case it wasn't up to date)?

In my case there were firmware updates for both of my 970 Evo drives, eventhough I purchased them only a couple of months ago.

You could also try the Samsung NVMe drivers, if you arent using them already. I gained a little bit of extra performance when installing the Samsung drivers. That won't change the x2 interface problem though.
Yes im running most recent version and i am using the samsung drivers. Ive checked and it is the current firmware as well.
 
What CPU are you using? Specs say AMD Ryzen™ 2nd Generation, storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
AMD X470 chipset : M2-2

1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 2 mode)*2
 
Hi
My rog strix x470 f gaming has always showed the same.
And very CURIOUS if we are having the same issue.
I was about to start a thread in Win 10.

I can temporarily get my 970 M.2 speeds and userbench to report running above expectations after Manually updating the Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller driver
EVERY TIME userbench or any other benchmark utility says it is below expectation or low reads/writes.

In device manager go to storage controller
And expand
Choose the Ms controller
Click update driver
Choose second option down
Then choose let me pick
You should see the Ms storage spaces controller driver click on it the click next
It will show the driver has been updated.
When you click ok it will tell you must reboot click ok.
Can you try that and then rerun your checks to see if its better but recheck again later maybe after a couple reboots and see what the results are. IF it goes back to below expectation we have the same issue.
I can say i noticed this since about july of last yr while i still had the 2600x and now on the 3600x on this mobo and a clean install on a new Samsung M.2
 
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falcon291

Honorable
Jul 17, 2019
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If your mainboard only supports x2 there isn't much thing we can do.

But I have a Strix Z390-F. It is Intel, a very different chipset, but disabling some SATA ports, it was possible to set it as x4. Read your mainboard manual. Maybe there is a way to set it x4 disabling SATA ports. Or I don't know but maybe not using some SATA ports, 4x automatically enabled.
 

rgd1101

Don't
Moderator
If your mainboard only supports x2 there isn't much thing we can do.

But I have a Strix Z390-F. It is Intel, a very different chipset, but disabling some SATA ports, it was possible to set it as x4. Read your mainboard manual. Maybe there is a way to set it x4 disabling SATA ports. Or I don't know but maybe not using some SATA ports, 4x automatically enabled.
that only for intel.
for the first slot, amd is using x4 lane from the cpu.
 
The board supports X4, chapter 3 page 15 of your manual "PCIEX16_3 4X-2X Switch:
This item allows you to set the PCIEX16_3 Mode. Configuration options: [Auto] [2X] [4X][Auto] Automatic configuration.If PCIe mode M.2 device is inserted to M.2_2, switches PCIEx16_3 to X4 mode;Else if no device or SATA mode M.2 device is inserted to M.2_2, whenever PCIEx1_1 or PCIEx1_3 is occupied, switches PCIEx16_3 to X2 mode;When a device (with bandwidth >= 4X) is inserted into PCIEX16_3 and no device is inserted into both PCIEx1_1 and PCIEx1_3, switches PCIEX16_3 to X4 mode.[X2] Forces PCIEX16_3 to run at X2 mode.[X4] Forces PCIEX16_3 to run at X4 mod
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X470-PRO/E13883_PRIME__X470-PRO_UM_WEB.pdf
 
Jan 20, 2020
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The board supports X4, chapter 3 page 15 of your manual "PCIEX16_3 4X-2X Switch:
This item allows you to set the PCIEX16_3 Mode. Configuration options: [Auto] [2X] [4X][Auto] Automatic configuration.If PCIe mode M.2 device is inserted to M.2_2, switches PCIEx16_3 to X4 mode;Else if no device or SATA mode M.2 device is inserted to M.2_2, whenever PCIEx1_1 or PCIEx1_3 is occupied, switches PCIEx16_3 to X2 mode;When a device (with bandwidth >= 4X) is inserted into PCIEX16_3 and no device is inserted into both PCIEx1_1 and PCIEx1_3, switches PCIEX16_3 to X4 mode.[X2] Forces PCIEX16_3 to run at X2 mode.[X4] Forces PCIEX16_3 to run at X4 mod
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X470-PRO/E13883_PRIME__X470-PRO_UM_WEB.pdf
So am i correct then that as long as im in M2_1 it should run at 4X? All the other options involve M2_2
 
Jan 20, 2020
13
0
10
Hi
My rog strix x470 f gaming has always showed the same.
And very CURIOUS if we are having the same issue.
I was about to start a thread in Win 10.

I can temporarily get my 970 M.2 speeds and userbench to report running above expectations after Manually updating the Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller driver
EVERY TIME userbench or any other benchmark utility says it is below expectation or low reads/writes.

In device manager go to storage controller
And expand
Choose the Ms controller
Click update driver
Choose second option down
Then choose let me pick
You should see the Ms storage spaces controller driver click on it the click next
It will show the driver has been updated.
When you click ok it will tell you must reboot click ok.
Can you try that and then rerun your checks to see if its better but recheck again later maybe after a couple reboots and see what the results are. IF it goes back to below expectation we have the same issue.
I can say i noticed this since about july of last yr while i still had the 2600x and now on the 3600x on this mobo and a clean install on a new Samsung M.2
Did what you said and got the exact speeds as before