Help PCI-E x16 stuck at x1

crayonmuncher

New member
Member
Local time
6:59 AM
Messages
29
i just got a new mobo, m5a99x, and gpuz, cpuz, aida all show pci express to be at x1 with a capabilty of x16.

Works fine in my old board and I tested at gtx 260 in the new board and it was at x16.

Tried reseating, cleaning etc, what is going on?

Btw i tried this in both pci express slots and again both at x1, specs in the sig and there seems to be no options in the bios for pci express link, bios also updated.
__________________

CPU: Phenom II 965
Graphics: XFX HD6950.
RAM: 8GB 1600Mhz DDR3 (Corsair and Gskill modules)
HDD: OCZ Agility 60GB SSD And Samsung F3 500GB
PSU: Antec Truepower New 650
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
When you installed the card into the slot, did you have any problems with the card lining up with the backplate? I had that issue once and found that the problem was when I screwed the bacplate of the card into the case, it picked up the front of the card to where the pins were not making contact with the complete slot. I may not have explained that to where you understand. If that is true, try this. Seat the card completely in the slot to where all the pins are completely down. Now, hold your hand on the front (right side) of the card and screw in the backplate onto the motherboard. But, only screw it into the backplate, slightly, just enough to where it won't fall out, without letting the right end of the card move at all. Plug in the connections completely until you hear a click and try it.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
    Cooling
    EVGA 280 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
    Mouse
    Logitech G502
    Internet Speed
    24/1
    Antivirus
    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
    Browser
    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
In addition to what essenbe mentioned above, slightly loosen all motherboard mounting screws to allow the board to move slightly when you insert the card. It could be an alignment problem, which is often solved by doing this. Don't forget to tighten the screws afterwards.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
CPU
Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.4GHz)
Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
Memory
4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
Graphics Card(s)
MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
Monitor(s) Displays
ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen (VGA)
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility 3 SSD 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
PSU
XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
Case
Gigabyte IF233
Cooling
1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
Mouse
Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
Internet Speed
NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
Antivirus
Avast! 8.0.1497
Browser
IE 11
Other Info
Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
I think it is actually the gpu, just tried it back in my old mobo and it wont even boot no matter what you try, stuck in the gtx 260 perfect every time, again with the new mobo amd card stuck at x1, gtx 260 is at x16.

Ive had a few other problems with this card which include having to manually set the 2d clocks to avoid artifacts, common problem apparently, and the driver crashes numerous times which was only fixed by setting the cards clocks to constant( or just not very low like the powerplay settings do)

I cant find anything in the bios for the pci express lanes, only for the frequency, pci express spread and few other bits and bobs but not for the lanes.

Cards been deemed faulty by xfx. Awaiting returns process now

In addition to what essenbe mentioned above, slightly loosen all motherboard mounting screws to allow the board to move slightly when you insert the card. It could be an alignment problem, which is often solved by doing this. Don't forget to tighten the screws afterwards.

Btw i tested the mobo out of the case in case of this issue to ensure this was not the issue, it boots but again still stuck at x1
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
sorry about my newbie question.. from what i know the PCI E x1 and the PCI E x16 are differents slots as the picture display here : http://cdn.avsforum.com/2/25/25ea8192_20050601.gif .
so how did you pluged the same video card to those both slots ? ( the x1 and the x16 )
thanks in advanced ..
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell
OS
Windows 7 professional x64
CPU
i3-2370M 2.4GHz
Motherboard
-
Memory
4GB
Graphics Card(s)
intel hd graphics 3000
Hard Drives
Hitachi 320GB 5400RPM
Antivirus
AVG
Browser
Chrom
Yax1, The card was defective. He had it plugged into an X16 slot. It's just the card will only run at X1.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
    Cooling
    EVGA 280 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
    Mouse
    Logitech G502
    Internet Speed
    24/1
    Antivirus
    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
    Browser
    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
Cards been deemed faulty by xfx. Awaiting returns process now

Personally I'd sell the XFX and go with another brand.

XFX GPU quality is very hit and miss.

Fingers crossed the replacement is a good one.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Systems by SmartEyeball
OS
8 Pro x64
CPU
i7 3770K 4.6GHz
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77 WS
Memory
16GB G.Skill Trident X 2666mhz
Graphics Card(s)
x2 EVGA 780 Ti Superclocked SLI
Sound Card
SB X-FI Surround 5.1 PRO USB / ATH-AD900 Headphones
Monitor(s) Displays
x3 Dell U2410 / 58" Samsung
Screen Resolution
5760*1200/ 1920*1200
Hard Drives
2x Intel 520 240GB (RAID 0) * 2x WD Caviar Blacks 2TB (RAID 0) * 2TB WD Caviar Black * Sony Optirac DVD
PSU
Silverstone Strider Evolution 1200W
Case
Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition
Cooling
Noctua NH-D14
Keyboard
Topre Realforce // Ducky Shine MX Black // Filco Ninja TKL
Mouse
Thermaltake Theron (Highly Recommended) + Razer Imperator
Antivirus
MSE
Browser
IE, FF, WaterFox
Other Info
GT Extreme V2 Sim Racing Cockpit + 40" LCD and K/B Mouse stand ▼
Fanatec CSR Elite Wheel + Clubsport V1 Pedals + CSR shifter/7G-H ▼Saitek X52 Pro ▼ TrackIR 5 Pro
Buttkicker v2 Seat Rumbler with Dedicated 5.1 and Sub Woofer attached to frame ▼
=
Bloody Big Grin
Still .. those are different ports .. does he uses any adapter?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell
OS
Windows 7 professional x64
CPU
i3-2370M 2.4GHz
Motherboard
-
Memory
4GB
Graphics Card(s)
intel hd graphics 3000
Hard Drives
Hitachi 320GB 5400RPM
Antivirus
AVG
Browser
Chrom
Still .. those are different ports .. does he uses any adapter?

A PCIe x16 slot can usually run cards that are x1 x4 x8 and x16.

If the card is designed as x1, it will run at x1 in a x16 slot.

In this case the card was faulty and would only run at x1 even though it should run a x16
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 10 Pro x64, Windows 8.1 Pro x64, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1,
CPU
INTEL i9-7920X LGA 2066
Motherboard
Gigabyte X299-WU8 F3
Memory
64 GB (4 X 16 GB) G-Skill V Series DDR4 3200 Quad Channel
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3 GB
Sound Card
Realtek Onboard ALC1220
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung S27E310
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 2 x 970 EVO Plus 500 GB NVMe
1 x 6TB WD 6003FZBX SATA
1 x 6TB WD 60EFRX SATA
12 x 3TB WD 30EFRX SATA
PSU
Seasonic X-1050
Case
Thermaltake Armor+
Cooling
Corsair H80i V2 Liquid AOI Cooler
Keyboard
Logitech G510s
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 2S
Internet Speed
200 Mb/s
Antivirus
ESET NOD32 13.1
Browser
EDGE (Dev, Canary, Beta), Chrome
Other Info
ASUS RT-AC68U router
Malwarebytes 4.0.4
Still .. those are different ports .. does he uses any adapter?

Methinks we had a failure to communicate. PCI-e have two ways they are "measured". The physical length of the slot is measured by the number of lanes it is potentially able to support. The most common physical slot sizes seen are x1, which is that little stubby one, and x16, which is the full length one. However, not all full length PCI-e slots are able to run all of the signal lanes. Many are assigned only x8 or x4. Often, due to processor and other supporting chip limitations, some PCI-e slots are connected to the same source and share lanes.

For example, on my motherboard, there are two blue slots, two black slots and two white slots. All of them are full length but not all of them support the full 16 lanes. Each blue slot can run a maximum of 16x (also called 16 lanes). The black slots run at 8x and the white ones run at 4x, even though they are physically 16x long (yeah, I know, it's weird; I'll get into that in a moment). To further confuse the issue, each blue slot and the nearest black slot share the same 16x lane allocation. As long as only the blue slot is populated and its paired black slot is empty, the blue slot will be able to run at the full x16. But if I were to also plug something into the paired black slot, then both that black and the blue slot above it would run at only x8 each. Even if I plug a 16x capable graphics card into a blue slot and another in its nearest black slot, both will run at only 8x each. Oddly enough, the drop from 16x to 8x reduces performance by only a few percent, not half as one would think. That's why two graphics card running together can give much more performance than one by itself, despite running on half the lanes.

If only the black slot is populated, it is still limited by the motherboard to x8. The two white x4 slots will run at x4 no matter what is plugged in elsewhere up to a point. Motherboards have limits to the number of total lanes that can be used. Usually, that is determined by the type of CPU used. CPUs designed for the Z77 and Z87 boards, for example, are limited to 24 lanes. X79 boards can run up 40 lanes. Some boards can increase that amount by having an extra chip added to the board. On the flip side, some boards share PCI-e lanes with other functions on the board, such as additional SATA or USB ports. If those ports are activated and/or used, the PCI-e slot those ports are stealing lanes from will no longer work. If the PCI-e slot is activated, then those additional ports won't work.

One can use a freeway to describe how lanes work in a computer. A freeway may be wide enough for eight lanes but the traffic engineers may decide to paint only six lanes. This limits the amount of traffic that can flow through the freeway even though it physically has room for more.

In the case of the OP's card, it appears it is defective and is allowing only one lane of traffic to flow. To return to the freeway analogy, say there are 16 lanes of traffic on one side of a freeway (I know, some freeway!). An accident occurs that closes all but one of the lanes (two semi trucks tangled?). That is essentially what appears to have happened with the OP's card.

I hope this is a bit clearer than mud. It took me a while to grasp the concept.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
CPU
Intel i7-3930K
Motherboard
ASUS P9X79 WS
Memory
Kingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modules) 1600MHz DDR
Graphics Card(s)
MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR
Sound Card
Asus Xonar Essence STX
Monitor(s) Displays
3x Asus VG248QE 24", Vizio 32" TV
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080, ?
Hard Drives
Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer.
PSU
Corsair HX750w
Case
Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified)
Cooling
Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm)
Keyboard
Logitech G510s
Mouse
Logitech M525 (two in use)
Internet Speed
=< 32Mbps down, 8Mbps up
Antivirus
AVAST!, MBAM, SAS, Spybot S&D (all but MBAM free) Glary Util
Browser
IE11
Other Info
LSI 9211-8i HBA card (8 SATA III ports), 2.5" & 3.5" Hot Swap Bays, HooToo HT-CR001 PCI-E to USB 3.0 Internal Hub + 6 Slot Card Reader, and LG Model CH12LS28 BD-ROM Optical Drive. Also, ScanSnap S1500 ADF duplexing scanner, Canon 9000F flat bed scanner, Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers, Samsung CLP 415nw laser color printer, Cyberpower PP2200SW UPS
Many thanks man!! I didn't understand what happened here lol . Thank you!
Btw how do I recognize how many lanes do i have?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell
OS
Windows 7 professional x64
CPU
i3-2370M 2.4GHz
Motherboard
-
Memory
4GB
Graphics Card(s)
intel hd graphics 3000
Hard Drives
Hitachi 320GB 5400RPM
Antivirus
AVG
Browser
Chrom
Many thanks man!! I didn't understand what happened here lol . Thank you!
Btw how do I recognize how many lanes do i have?

By looking at the board, no. There is a way to go into the BIOS, UEFI, and/or OS to see but that will vary from board to board and I've never actually done it. The best way to see what the allocations are is to look in the MOBO's manual. Even that can be a pain to decipher. Adding to the fun is the manuals sometimes are wrong. At least mine is (it has a typo). Also, sometimes the manufacturer's description will tell what the lane allocations are.

If you would tell us the model of your Dell, one of us might be able to figure out what you have.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
CPU
Intel i7-3930K
Motherboard
ASUS P9X79 WS
Memory
Kingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modules) 1600MHz DDR
Graphics Card(s)
MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR
Sound Card
Asus Xonar Essence STX
Monitor(s) Displays
3x Asus VG248QE 24", Vizio 32" TV
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080, ?
Hard Drives
Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer.
PSU
Corsair HX750w
Case
Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified)
Cooling
Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm)
Keyboard
Logitech G510s
Mouse
Logitech M525 (two in use)
Internet Speed
=< 32Mbps down, 8Mbps up
Antivirus
AVAST!, MBAM, SAS, Spybot S&D (all but MBAM free) Glary Util
Browser
IE11
Other Info
LSI 9211-8i HBA card (8 SATA III ports), 2.5" & 3.5" Hot Swap Bays, HooToo HT-CR001 PCI-E to USB 3.0 Internal Hub + 6 Slot Card Reader, and LG Model CH12LS28 BD-ROM Optical Drive. Also, ScanSnap S1500 ADF duplexing scanner, Canon 9000F flat bed scanner, Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers, Samsung CLP 415nw laser color printer, Cyberpower PP2200SW UPS
Back
Top