XIII Hero - PCIE16_1 in 8x

[Zeroed85]

My GPU in the PCIE16_1 slot is running at 8x. I thought perhaps my PCIE 1x sound card occupying PCIE16_2 was causing this but after removing the sound card the PCIE16_1 slot is still in 8x. I have just one NVMe occupying the M.2_4 slot but no where in the manual does it say M.2_4 will share bandwidth with the PCIE16_1 slot.

Can someone from Asus clarify? Why is my PCIE16_1 slot in 8x with just one NVMe plugged in? Please note I am using a 10th gen 10900K but the manual clearly states that 10th gen will run the PCIE16_1 slot in 16x mode.

[Silent_Scone]

Zeroed85 wrote:
Last post I told a lie, I moved the sound card from PCIE16_2 to PCIE16_3. I removed the sound card completely this afternoon and PCIE16_1 is now reporting running in 16x mode. However I am stuck with a bit of a problem, the XIII Hero only has one 1x slot that I cannot put the sound card into because my GPU obstructs it. My question is why does the PCIE16_3 slot when populated with the PCIe 1x sound card drop the PCIE16_1 slot into 8x? The manual doesn't state anywhere that PCIE16_3 shares bandwidth with PCIE16_1.

Hello,

Your 10th Generation CPU has a maximum number of 16x PCIE lanes

[Zeroed85]

Silent Scone@ROG wrote:
Hello,

Your 10th Generation CPU has a maximum number of 16x PCIE lanes

But isn't PCIE16_3 connected to the chipset? If I plug the sound card into PCIE16_3 shouldn't it be running off the chipset not the CPU?

[EncodeGR]

Zeroed85 wrote:
But isn't PCIE16_3 connected to the chipset? If I plug the sound card into PCIE16_3 shouldn't it be running off the chipset not the CPU?

That is correct. Pluging your sound card into PCIe16_3 will occupy chipset lanes not CPU lanes.
For a 10th gen CPU, you only want a singe GPU at PCIE16_1 in order to run it at x16.

So, for *10th Gen* a setup for a GPU at x16 with an M.2 Nvme and a sound card, would be like:
PCIE16_1 --> GRAPHICS CARD
PCIE16_2 --> Empty
PCIE16_3 --> SOUND CARD
M.2_1 --> Empty
M.2_2 --> Empty
M.2_3 --> M.2 NVME DRIVE
M.2_4 --> Empty

For *11th Gen*, you can instead use the M.2_1 for the M.2 Nvme drive, which will use CPU lanes too, but that's ok since the 11th gen CPU has extra 4 more lanes (20 total).

[Zeroed85]

EncodeGR wrote:
That is correct. Pluging your sound card into PCIe16_3 will occupy chipset lanes not CPU lanes.
For a 10th gen CPU, you only want a singe GPU at PCIE16_1 in order to run it at x16.

So, for *10th Gen* a setup for a GPU at x16 with an M.2 Nvme and a sound card, would be like:
PCIE16_1 --> GRAPHICS CARD
PCIE16_2 --> Empty
PCIE16_3 --> SOUND CARD
M.2_1 --> Empty
M.2_2 --> Empty
M.2_3 --> M.2 NVME DRIVE
M.2_4 --> Empty

For *11th Gen*, you can instead use the M.2_1 for the M.2 Nvme drive, which will use CPU lanes too, but that's ok since the 11th gen CPU has extra 4 more lanes (20 total).

Well my NVMe is in M.2_4. When I plugged the sound card into PCIE16_3 with the NVMe in M.2_4 PCIE16_1 was still in 8x... Does M.2_4 share bandwidth with the CPU?

So with a 10th gen CPU can I only use 1 NVMe with this board?

[Zeroed85]

If this could be clarified it would be great. I really hope that I can run the sound card and at least 2x NVMe with CML + XIII Hero.

With the sound card in PCIE16_3 SATA ports 3-4 are disabled. Hopefully I can move the two SATA drives on 3-4 to 5-6. Strangely PCIE16_1 still reported 8x when the sound card was in PCIE16_3.

[Saltgrass]

I think you are going to find the logic on the motherboard is controlling how this stuff works. Since I could find no way to change, in the Bios, how this process works, it appears what you are asking is not available. I don't know if even having an 11th processor would change how the logic works in your situation except perhaps you could move the NVMe drive to M.2_1..

When I look at the charts in the Owner's manual relating to PCIe slots, M.2_3 is not mentioned for some reason, just M2_1, _2 and _4.. except for saying it runs at x4 mode..

The only other thing I might try is to disable Thunderbolt in the Bios. Maybe that would free up some resources..

Have you looked into the sound system on the motherboard and found it deficient? The sound card you have is very impressive and I understand why you would want to keep it. Maybe something will change, even with a newer Windows build to help you do that.

[Zeroed85]

Saltgrass wrote:
I think you are going to find the logic on the motherboard is controlling how this stuff works. Since I could find no way to change, in the Bios, how this process works, it appears what you are asking is not available. I don't know if even having an 11th processor would change how the logic works in your situation except perhaps you could move the NVMe drive to M.2_1..

When I look at the charts in the Owner's manual relating to PCIe slots, M.2_3 is not mentioned for some reason, just M2_1, _2 and _4.. except for saying it runs at x4 mode..

The only other thing I might try is to disable Thunderbolt in the Bios. Maybe that would free up some resources..

Have you looked into the sound system on the motherboard and found it deficient? The sound card you have is very impressive and I understand why you would want to keep it. Maybe something will change, even with a newer Windows build to help you do that.

I have found previous motherboard sound chips won't drive my planar magnetic headphones satisfactorily. Planar magnetic need a lot of amp power. The SB AE-5 has a more powerful amplifier. I have not tried the sound chip on the XIII Hero.

No where in the manual does it say PCIE16_3 will cut bandwidth to PCIE16_1 when populated, only that PCIE16_3 will disable SATA ports 3-4. PCIE16_3 should be running off the chipset and should not interfere with PCIE16_1. Next step will be to unplug the drives I have on SATA ports 3-4 completely and try the sound card again in PCIE16_3.

[Zeroed85]

@EncodeGR Can you clarify why NVMe goes into M.2_3? Can both M.2_3/4 be used with CML processor?

[Zeroed85]

So figured out if I select in the BIOS - Onboard devices - PCIX16_1 + PCIX16_2 the GPU now runs at 16x in PCIX16_1 with the sound card in PCIX16_3.

If I select Onboard devices - PCIX16_1 + PCIX16_2 + M.2_2 the PCIX16_1 goes into 8x. This concerns me. SATA ports 3-4 are disabled by having the sound card in PCIX16_3. SATA ports 5-6 are disabled by having M.2_4 populated. This only leaves me with M.2_3 as a viable M.2 slot and I want to run at least two NVMe.

Why does M.2_2 make PCIX16_1 8x? If M.2_1 already uses the extra 4 lanes from a RKL processor why would M.2 share lanes with the CPU?? If I can only run one NVMe on this board with CML I am going to be very disappointed.

[Zeroed85]

Well the spec page clearly states M.2_2 shares bandwidth with PCIX16_1/2 so I goofed up. I don't understand though, why would anyone want to use M.2_2 when it half's the bandwidth to the GPU?

It's clear that RKL + PCIE 4.0 has been the focus here but with CML (which the platform supports) the storage and PCIE lane options are severely limited.