Vertical GPU Riser Cable Compatibility

[d3sign8t3ddrunk]

I'm currently searching for a compatible Vertical GPU riser cable for my build. I bought the corsair one b/c I have their 7000x case, but I had posting issues and it would randomly stop intiailizing the monitor. I thought maybe the cable was defective, so I ordered a new one (only b/c I bought all these parts months ago and it was past return dates)....Installed the new one last night, and it immediately did the same thing so obviously this Crosshair MB don't like this particular cable. The likelihood of getting 2 bad cables in a row is slim to none and I've never had any issues with corsair products in the past builds. So what I'm looking for, is a compatible cable for this board, that will mount correctly to the case. The one I'm using is a makeshift deal only b/c I know the cable itself works. I need one that the PCIe board, screws into risers on the case so stabilize the GPU.


Here is my build specs.

Corsair iCUE 7000x Full-Tower Case
ASUS ROG Crosshair Viii Hero (WIFI) Motherboard Bios 3702
Ryzen 9 5950x CPU
128GB (4x32GB) Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-3600 Ram
EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming Hydro Copper GPU
Be Quiet! Dark Power 12 1000W, 80 Plus Titanium Efficiency PSU

[Murph_9000]

It sounds like you've possibly got a PCIe 3.0 cable; but your motherboard, CPU, and graphics card are all 4.0. That will cause problems unless you configure the graphics card slot to 3.0 in the BIOS. 4.0 is double the bandwidth of 3.0, and needs a higher spec cable. There's no problem running 3.0 devices in a 4.0 system, or running 4.0 devices at 3.0 speed, you just need to avoid running 4.0 over 3.0 cables.

I'm successfully using a 4.0 riser cable from LINKUP in a build not that different to yours. Beware the variation in length measurements for riser cables; LINKUP exclude the boards and just measure the cable, so their 20cm cable is the same as the 24cm ROG Strix cable, for example. I picked them based on EK including their riser cables in one of their products, trusting EK to have picked a decent product, and I've not been disappointed with it, it's worked great and seems nicely made. CableMod have also started doing 4.0 riser cables, and I'd trust them too (but they were out of stock when I needed one).

[d3sign8t3ddrunk]

Murph_9000 wrote:
It sounds like you've possibly got a PCIe 3.0 cable; but your motherboard, CPU, and graphics card are all 4.0. That will cause problems unless you configure the graphics card slot to 3.0 in the BIOS. 4.0 is double the bandwidth of 3.0, and needs a higher spec cable. There's no problem running 3.0 devices in a 4.0 system, or running 4.0 devices at 3.0 speed, you just need to avoid running 4.0 over 3.0 cables.

I'm successfully using a 4.0 riser cable from LINKUP in a build not that different to yours. Beware the variation in length measurements for riser cables; LINKUP exclude the boards and just measure the cable, so their 20cm cable is the same as the 24cm ROG Strix cable, for example. I picked them based on EK including their riser cables in one of their products, trusting EK to have picked a decent product, and I've not been disappointed with it, it's worked great and seems nicely made. CableMod have also started doing 4.0 riser cables, and I'd trust them too (but they were out of stock when I needed one).

I thought PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 had backward compatibility, but you would only run at PCIe 3.0 speeds...so I guess I got confused. I'll order a 4.0 cable and see if this issue persists. Thank you

[Murph_9000]

d3sign8t3ddrunk wrote:
I thought PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 had backward compatibility, but you would only run at PCIe 3.0 speeds...so I guess I got confused. I'll order a 4.0 cable and see if this issue persists. Thank you

Yes, PCIe is very forwards and backwards compatible, with the exception of riser/extension cables. Cards directly into slots automatically use the highest common speed between motherboard and card; so a 3.0 card in a 4.0 motherboard should run fine at 3.0 speed, and a 4.0 card in a 3.0 motherboard should run fine at 3.0 speed, with the lower speed normally being automatic. The exception is where you have a lower spec cable, as the smart stuff on each end of the cable has no way to properly detect that. If you've got a 3.0 cable and a 4.0 system, you need to configure the slot used with the cable as max 3.0 in the BIOS, then it will probably work. The same goes all the way back to PCIe 1.0, as far as I know, so 1.0 and 5.0 systems (and everything inbetween) should normally interoperate, but not when it comes to cables.

If you change your slot config to 3.0 in your BIOS, it will probably work, if that's the problem, but better all round to just get a 4.0 cable if you can.

[d3sign8t3ddrunk]

Murph_9000 wrote:
Yes, PCIe is very forwards and backwards compatible, with the exception of riser/extension cables. Cards directly into slots automatically use the highest common speed between motherboard and card; so a 3.0 card in a 4.0 motherboard should run fine at 3.0 speed, and a 4.0 card in a 3.0 motherboard should run fine at 3.0 speed, with the lower speed normally being automatic. The exception is where you have a lower spec cable, as the smart stuff on each end of the cable has no way to properly detect that. If you've got a 3.0 cable and a 4.0 system, you need to configure the slot used with the cable as max 3.0 in the BIOS, then it will probably work. The same goes all the way back to PCIe 1.0, as far as I know, so 1.0 and 5.0 systems (and everything inbetween) should normally interoperate, but not when it comes to cables.

If you change your slot config to 3.0 in your BIOS, it will probably work, if that's the problem, but better all round to just get a 4.0 cable if you can.

I ordered the LinkUp one off Amazon, put it in Friday and it fixed all my problems. Zero issues since. It also mounted in my case without modification like I was looking for as well. I very much appreciate the info!

[ahfoo]

To be honest, there is none vertical GPU riser cable guarantee the combabilities and stabilities. Not even corsair which design the 7000X and I own the too but the airflow version and release the riser cable. Sorry if I am blunt about it.