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X99-Deluxe II - Bad PCI-E socket or CPU? x8 native

BB_Deluxe
Level 7
Has anybody with a X99-Deluxe II motherboard had issues where they couldn't get the 1st PCI-E x16 slot to read as x16 native ( linked) but the 3rd slot worked fine?

I've been researching and troubleshooting this for the last several days and have seen similar issues with the x8 cap on other systems but usually it's consistent across the PCIE slots. After reading how painful RMAing an Asus motherboard can potentially be, I'm starting to wonder if I should get another cpu ( maybe 6800 even though it has 12 less lanes than my current ) and test to make sure that isn't the issue before I try to RMA the board. The kicker is that I just recently had my I7-6850k die ( qcode 00 and red cpu light ) and the replacement allowed my system to boot up quickly with no issues...well except this PCI-E problem. I *thought* before the CPU replacement that I was running in x16 native but I'm not positive. I realize that in practice x8 vs x16 is a tiny performance difference but with the money I've paid for this board, and the possibility of there being other issues I'm not seeing yet, I'm not comfortable looking the other way.

Some of the things I've already tested and by the way, I've been on latest BIOS 1401 for awhile:

1) Removed my M.2 drive from the M.2 slot in case there was a bug where it was forcing PCIEX16_1 to x8 ( basically no other devices hooked up in the PCIE slots except for the single video card at any given time )
2) Re-checked all cables and connections as well as integrity of PCIEX16_1 slot. No broken or weird pins, no debris. Re-seated card and it's definitely all the way in.
3) Reset CMOS and even re-flashed BIOS to 1401 again and Reset CMOS again. Even removed the battery for 30 min after disconnecting mobo/psu power.
4) Set my PCI-E_1 speed to GEN3 instead of AUTO ( no luck )
5) Tried different PCI-E power cables from my HX1000i for 1070 and other 2 cards ( test on voltmeter as well)
6) Disabled OCP from Corsair Link software ( probably not necessary but what the hell )
7) Tried using PCIEX16_3 and 1070 shows up as x16 native. Hmmm interesting...
6) Tried two other videocards - VERY interesting results:
- - 2nd card: Geforce GTX Titan 1st gen = Same exact problem as 1070
- - 3rd card: Geforce Quadro 5000 = x16 in slot 3 but "NO VGA detected" beep errors when in PCIEX16_1 :eek:

I should probably stress that I have plenty of clearance in my PC case to add videocards to slot 1. The ONLY things that could be preventing the card from being secure in the slot would be Asus's own motherboard parts which seem to be at the safe height when I inspected.

Once it looked like the videocard wasn't the culprit and it was either the CPU, PCIEX16_1 slot or motherboard I tested the following:

1) Potential bent or touching pins on the CPU socket ( None that I could see- took lots of hiRes photos with multiple light sources and used magnifying glass )
2) Used intel's diagnostic software for processors ( no issues found )
3) Checked the PCIE16_1 socket again and again to look for broken pins or debris. Couldn't find anything.

ps I verified through GPU-Z and CPU-Z that even when the GPU wasn't underclocked it was still reading as x8 native Link instead of x16. It just cycled from 1.1 to 3.0 once the GPU was stressed.
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2 REPLIES 2

Testing12
Level 7
Hi BB_Deluxe , was the above problem ever resolved?
Thanks...

Testing12 wrote:
Hi BB_Deluxe , was the above problem ever resolved?
Thanks...


Unfortunately it was never fully resolved as I was not wanting to go through the hassle of RMAing the board or attempting to order another processor ( in case there was something wrong with the pins related to that 1st x16 slot ). I ended up just leaving my geforce 1070 in the PCIEX16_3 slot so that I could get the 16x rating.