Sabertooth Z77 only 8 pci-e 3.0 lanes

[gorg_graggel]

hello,

i have a sabertooth z77 with an i7 3770k and a radeon 7970 card.
the video card supports pci-e 3.0 with 16 lanes and according to the specs on the website the sabertooth also does when a 3rd gen i7 is used.
i'm using the first pci-e slot and don't have any other slot populated with anything.

the problem is that only 8 lanes are active.

i have updated to the latest bios and drivers to no avail in this regard.

it's showing up in the bios as using only 8 lanes, as does gpu-z in windows.

and no, this is not about the issue where pci-e 3.0 is reduced to pci-e 1 due to energy saving.

i have tried setting the pci-e setting in the bios from auto to gen3 with the outcome of only using 1 (one!) lane and i have also tried a different slot with no success in this regard...

any ideas?

cheers

[HiVizMan]

I assume you are using GPUz to determine that the graphic card is running at 8x speed.

If you are - please look at the question mark next to the PCie lane value. Press that and then enable the render test. You will see your lane value change up to 16x

[gorg_graggel]

yes, i did use gpu-z and also checked the bios...both say 8 lanes...

no, it doesn't change to 16 lanes, when i stress the card...
what's happening when i stress it is the pci-e version changing from 1.1 to 3.0, but the lanes always stay at 8...
quoting myself here...

and no, this is not about the issue where pci-e 3.0 is reduced to pci-e 1 due to energy saving.

[HiVizMan]

Ah thank you.

Is your system overclocked? Have you maybe made any changes to the PCIe lanes settings? Do you still have 8x when running default BIOS settings?


Can you change your PCIe slot that you have the graphic card fitted in, and see if the 8x is duplicated on different slots?

[gorg_graggel]

quoting myself again... ;)


i have tried setting the pci-e setting in the bios from auto to gen3 with the outcome of only using 1 (one!) lane and i have also tried a different slot with no success in this regard...

and no, i don't overclock...i have even turned of any asus specific overclocking stuff in the bios.
i only use intel's turbo in default mode and an xmp profile for my memory...

[HiVizMan]

And have you tested the card in different slots (have checked and it seems you will not be able to quote yourself on this one) :D

[gorg_graggel]

actually i mentioned a different pcie slot in my last selfquote... :p

[HiVizMan]

ROFLMAO - yes I know you did, so please forgive my sense of humor. :)

Seriously now, have you tested with another VGA? Or tested your VGA on another board?

If you duplicate the 8x on your Sabretooth then RMA the board. If your VGA runs 8x on another board, then RMA the card.

[gorg_graggel]

well, i don't have another pcie 3.0 capable card or board, only 2.0...
but will try those when i get home from work...and after todays soccer matches...so maybe not today at all... :p

ps: couldn't this also stem from a faulty cpu? the pcie controller is on cpu after all...

[HiVizMan]

Yes that is why I ask if you could test your card on another motherboard.

With regard to the other VGA all it needs to do is show the lane, a gen2 card will do that too.

What do you forecast the score for the game tonight?

[gorg_graggel]

hmmm, i could also put in both cards to see if i get 2 x8 links...if so, i guess it would rather be a bios problem/bug...

i dunno what to forecast. neither germany nor netherlands played all to well in their first match. but i'm rooting for germany and hope oranje gets destroyed... :p

[gorg_graggel]

tried a different cpu and gpu...
same result...so, i guess mainboard needs to be rma'd...
will post an update as soon as the situation is resolved (or if not...).

[Arniebomba]

I'm also running a Sabertooth Z77 mobo. When i look in GPU-Z i see: PCI-E 1.1x16@x8 1.1
Does this mean the PCIe slots are not using the 3.0 interface but 1.1? If this is so, how could i manage to use the 3.0?

[Arniebomba]

This is what it says:
9541

[Arniebomba]

For further info to others.. I flashed the bios and now the PCIe 3.0 interface works!

[gorg_graggel]

the thing with the pcie 1.1 is just a power saving measure. it's not a bug.
if there's no load on the card, it will always downgrade to 1.1.
stress it (for example by pressing the "?" in gpu-z next to the pcie interface box and start the test) and observe the interface go up to 3.0.

[Arniebomba]

In my case, flashing the bios did actually work. I couldnt see the 3.0 status in GPU-Z first, after flashing i saw 3.0.
Besides that, my benchmark scores rized instantly after updating the bios and going from 1.1 to 3.0

[gorg_graggel]

it never goes back to 1.1 when your cards are idle?
maybe thats some SLI or nvidia thing...

i also have the latest bios and my pci-e version switches between 1.1 and 3.0 depending on load.
my problem is that i only get 8 lanes although i only have one card installed in the primary slot.
when i put it into the secondary slot, i even get only one (1!) active lane.
same behaviour with a different card and different cpu (which is where the pci-e controller is built in)...
so it seems, my board is just defective and doesn't pass the lanes correctly over...

i'm just hesitating to rma it, because i'm a lazy ass ******* and haven't set up another rig for the time it's being sent around... :p

[Arniebomba]

It might be a SLI this, i dont know. I just noticed the difference. ALso in performance (3DMark11 performance boost of P1000)

You've got a crazy board out there. I love my Sabertooth now. I wanted to wait for the maximus V Formula of extreme, but for my needs, this board is perfect and Asus is very slow with the production of large quantities of ROG products. Just RMA is and get a new tooth!