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USB/PCIe Performance Issues

ssuski
Level 7
Just got a new Zenith Extreme setup with AMD 1950x processor. Build is lightning fast, but is experiencing some strange USB connectivity issues. We use a secure USB hardware key that is checked by our software at various intervals. During certain testing, this is stressed a significant amount and are seeing both exponentially reduced performance as well as random errors and disconnects. This USB device is used by our company on a daily basis, as well as by thousands of our clients, without issue. We have a new AMD Ryzen machine with an equivalent ASUS ROG motherboard that is not experiencing these issues.

So far I have tried just about every available BIOS (0305, 0503, 0601, 9980, 9906, and 9910) to no avail. I've also tried installing a separate PCIe USB 3.0 card, but experience the same issue (interestingly enough, the card which is PCIe x1 would only work at all if it was in an x16 slot, not the x1 or the x4). Have also tried disabling all other USB ports except for those on the add-on card, but that didn't change anything either.

I've tried the fix that some people were seeing benefits from of disabling and removing 'useplatformclock' via bcdedit, with no change. I've contacted ASUS technical support, but all they seemed to be able to say was "Have you updated drivers, flashed the latest BIOS, and cleared the CMOS?", which I have. Their only other suggestion was to send the board in for repair.

Basically I'm kind of in a wait state right now, hoping it's a BIOS issue that will get patched (flashed 0601 this morning, but the issue persists), or that someone has experienced similar problems so it gets some traction with ASUS. Has anyone else experienced issues related to USB or PCIe expansion performance?
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25 REPLIES 25

IM3CPO
Level 7
Have you had any similar performance issues with other USB devices (such as thumb drives)?

The first thought that came to mind when I read your description is PCIE based power savings or the board detecting the wrong PCIE version/speed (1.0 vs 2.0 vs. 3.0). Go in the BIOS and make sure all the PCIE power savings options are disabled. Also make sure to check these within your Windows power savings settings too (even if you have your computer set to high performance as I have still seen this leave the settings to "moderate" power savings on PCIE devices). I would also go and force PCIE 2.0 in the BIOS.

Try those changes and see if it makes a difference.

Made sure all power saving features were turned off for both USB and PCIe in the power plan settings. Also changed all settings in the BIOS related to PCIe speeds to latest generation, with no change in the problem.

Transfer speeds over USB to a thumb drive bounce around between 8-11 MB/s, which is more or less identical to my other machine (Alienware Aura R4), using the same drive (transferred 6 GB iso).

Thanks for the ideas. Any other thoughts?

IM3CPO
Level 7
Try lowering the PCIE version down to 2.0 or even 1.0 and see if that makes a difference. There was a time back in the x79 chipset days where Intel PCIE 3.0 SPEC's were out, but while it was listed as a feature it wasnt "certified" to run. There were a bunch of video cards and other add in cards that wouldnt work correctly eventhough they too listed it as a feature. Technically, lowering the PCIE version does lower the bandwidth (obviously) but not enough for anything to be obvious from a "using the system" perspective.

Its also possible you just need to wait for another updated BIOS too. I am currently in that boat right now as I have a 128GB RAM kit that is supposed to work in X399 Threadripper systems yet I can only populate 4 modules before the system fails to post. I am sure all these things will get worked out in the end though..

Gave lowing the PCIe speeds a shot, but no luck. I kind of figured I'd be waiting on a BIOS update, but any small glimmer of hope in the mean time is worth a try. Thanks for the help.

IM3CPO
Level 7
We are on the same page. Was a small chance, but now we know. 🙂

I too am seeing some USB weirdness. Keyboard interrupts seem slow on Ubuntu 17.04, with a noticeable lag at times (and the machine is for the most part idle). I'm also having an issue with the USB device that may or may not also be related (a random disconnect during usage).

I suspect this is more AMD chipset issues than Asus ones.

Well, I solved the problem for finally. Had to manually override the USB drivers that Windows wanted to use, with the ones in the AMD Chipset package. Don't know why it wouldn't use those to begin with, and it wants to revert back to the generic Microsoft drivers if I allow it to. Really frustrating that installing the AMD Chipset drivers didn't force Windows to use its drivers in the first place. If it helps, I manually selected the drivers from C:\AMD\AMD-Chipset-Drivers\Packages\Drivers\SBDrv\USB... and then the corresponding ones for the controllers and hubs.

Well, I solved the problem for finally. Had to manually override the USB drivers that Windows wanted to use, with the ones in the AMD Chipset package. Don't know why it wouldn't use those to begin with, and it wants to revert back to the generic Microsoft drivers if I allow it to. Really frustrating that installing the AMD Chipset drivers didn't force Windows to use its drivers in the first place. If it helps, I manually selected the drivers from C:\AMD\AMD-Chipset-Drivers\Packages\Drivers\SBDrv\USB... and then the corresponding ones for the controllers and hubs.