Hello and thank you.

Both. Bios says x16,X1,X8,X8. So does GPU-z.

Correct.

You mentioned upgrading and downgrading the BIOS. Which method did you use to do so? And when you reseated the CPU, did you inspect the socket for any bent or missing pins?

Hello again,

Cpu socket is OK. Checked with magnifying glass.
Bios updating thru EZupdater in Windows 7.
Bios downgrading with Asus flashback procedure with usb stick.
I also tried both Bios1 and 2 positions with the red switch.

No use.

Carefully cleaned slots 2 and 3 ( red slots ). No.
What I have concluded up to now is that the pair of slots 2 and 3 which normally share a X16 bus, use only half of the bus, ie x8 lanes.
That is why a 2 way sli set up does not work as 16/16 but 16/8, a 3 way not as 16/8/8 but 16/1/8 and a 4 way as 16/1/8/8.

The second Titan ( Evga SC hydro ), is really getting a punch of gpu torturing having to go thru only 1 lane of communication with the cpu.
Using EVGA scanner with four monitoring windows open, and the benchmark running, load of all other three Titans is at 43% at full blast with
cards overclocked to 1500 boost and Titan 2 on pcie slot 2 goes to 95% load ( 1 lane ).

Should I rma the board ?
It is only 2 months old.

Well,

Since my last resource and hope for help was here, it seems that I will have to rma the board.
Kind of frustrating, since it is the second RVE with issues.
First was defective out of the box, second has problematic pcie slots.

Oh well,

Maybe it is an excuse to give Gigabyte Soc Champion a shot.

gkinvest wrote:


PCIe slot 2 defaults at x1 link speed even with one card installed.

Did you try this slot with each of your GPU to test? Or did you test it with only one GPU?

Please confirm that you have populated the EZ PLUG connector on your motherboard.

I think my first post was clear.
I tried all four Titans both on slot 2 and slot 3. Each slot alone and then together ( 2+3 ).
Whatever the combination slot 2 is populated as 1x native and slot 3 as 8x native.
If I try slots 1 + 3 they populate 16/8 instead of 16/16.
And yes EZ plug is firmly attached.

I also tried all the above and much more with four Asus Strix GTX980 and two MSI R9 290X Lightning.

Nope. Same thing.
Chino, I am n.10 in enthusiast category at HWBOT under the user name George.Kokovinis.

I think I know pretty well what I am doing.

Two processors with 40 lanes ( 5960X and 5930K ) and 10 graphic cards of three different brands ( EVGA, ASUS, MSI ) behave
exactly in the same way.

What is left ?
The motherboard.
Since socket pins are in pristine condition, the only reasonable conclusion is that lanes from the cpu ate not assigned correctly.

Yes ?

So, I am moving on, unless Asus has some idea that I can't think off.

I discussed the problem with Dancop, Der8auer and Gunslinger who are all good internet pals and they all told me to rma the board and/or
buy a Gigabyte Soc Champion.

As I said above, this is the second RVE with issues.
The first was defective out of the box and although even Akane got personally involved with the embarrassing for Asus situation, the board
was NOT finally replaced despite promises and fat words.
So I had to buy a new one. With issues again.

Massman and Christian Ney were aware for the first mishap and tried their best to help.
Seems that Asus is deaf or does not care.

So, either something drastic happens here or I am going with Gigabyte.
Shame because I am in all the 3d benchmarks in the top 10 list worldwide, either at HWBOT or Futuremark.

I am also holding some WR even without LN2 cooling of the cards.

So, long story short, I think I am done with RVE, unless, as I said something drastic recurs the whole situation.

Thank you,


George Kokovinis

Should I consider this thread as finished or is there any case Asus might help ?

Thank you.