Strix Z490 Gaming-E board GPU running at 4x??

[Exigeous]

Just noticed while looking at some settings in BIOS that it's reporting my GPU is running at x4 rather than x16. I've verified this with GPU-Z however the performance I'm getting is what I'd expect at x16. Here are the full details:

BIOS: 0607 (current, released 6/11/20)
PCI-e slots: single 2080Ti, top slot (the x16 slot), ALL other slots empty
NVMe drives: x2 (Samsung 970 Pro 512GB, slot 1 - Samsung 970 Evo Plus TB, slot 2)
SATA drives: x3 (x2 500GB Samsung 850, x1 3TB 7200 RPM) - in SATA_1, _2 and _3)

As I understand my final 2 SATA ports are disabled by using the second M2 slot but I can't understand why the GPU is report x4. Given the performance I'm seeing I sorta think it's just reporting incorrectly as I don't see how I'd be getting the framerates I'm getting otherwise (this GPU was in my previous z270/8086k machine and the framerate I'm seeing is 5-10% higher, basically what I'd expect).

Thoughts? I'm seeing this reported in GPU-Z and on one of the screens in BIOS.

Thanks!

[LotusExige]

UPDATE

I can't edit the first post anymore but wanted to give an update - it turned out to be a defective board. Returned and replaced and we're all good to go!

~x

[BloodBaron]

LotusExige wrote:
BUMP? Anyone???

i have the z490-e as well, and 2 nvme drives, what happens if you disable sata in the bios? does it then report x16 iin gpuz? i noticed my 2nd nvme was just running at x2 until i changed a bios setting.

[LotusExige]

BloodBaron wrote:
what happens if you disable sata in the bios?.

Makes no difference. I've tried taking out the 2nd NVMe and all SATA drives and no difference.

BloodBaron wrote:
does it then report x16 iin gpuz?

No, it reports "PCIe x16 3.0 @ x4 3.0" in GPU-Z. When I click the ? icon and "Start Render Test" it doesn't change (as it could be a power issue but I have it set to max performance in the Nvidia control panel)

BloodBaron wrote:
i noticed my 2nd nvme was just running at x2 until i changed a bios setting.

I'm not sure where to verify that, what setting did you change, do you remember?

I'm still sorta convinced it's displaying it wrong, as I don't see how I'm getting the performance I am if it was only running at x4 mode. That said if it's true I definitely want to fix it as I'd potentially get even better performance with that.

~X

[BloodBaron]

LotusExige wrote:

I'm not sure where to verify that, what setting did you change, do you remember?

Bios -> Advanced ->onboard devices configuration -> m.2_1 set to pcie, m.2_2 set to m.2_2 x4

have you tried resetting bios to default, maybe you enabled a PCIe power save mode?

Have you also tried moving the gpu to another slot? the lower full slots should give you at least x8?

let me know if you want me to check more settings

[Sathorn]

Found a solution, posted it there https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?120177-STRIX-z390-E-Gaming-PCIEX16_1-x4&p=813245#post81324...

[LotusExige]

BloodBaron wrote:
Bios -> Advanced ->onboard devices configuration -> m.2_1 set to pcie, m.2_2 set to m.2_2 x4

Thanks - no change

BloodBaron wrote:
have you tried resetting bios to default, maybe you enabled a PCIe power save mode?

Yep - no change

BloodBaron wrote:
Have you also tried moving the gpu to another slot? the lower full slots should give you at least x8?

Yep - no change

BloodBaron wrote:
let me know if you want me to check more settings

Sathorn wrote:
Found a solution, posted it there https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?120177-STRIX-z390-E-Gaming-PCIEX16_1-x4&p=813245#post81324...

Thanks for sharing but sadly - no change.

I'm still baffled by this and still want to think something is just displaying wrong as the performance I'm getting is exactly what I'd expect - so if it is wrong then I want to get the performance I'm losing back!

Any other ideas folks? I appreciate the help very much.

~X


UPDATE - I can't reply as every time I try (on multiple machines/browers) I get redirected to an Access Denied page - so here is what I was gonna post


Okay so I did a BUNCH more testing today and still no dice:

- First I disabled SATA, no change

- Moved the card to the 2nd slot - there I do get x8 speed at least

- I removed my 2nd NVMe drive, no change

- When looking at the config for the slots (Advanced \ System Agent \ PEG Port Configuration) it only shows 2 slots (the third is not there). I spoke with a friend who has the A revision of the board (no WiFi and it's white) and he sees all 3 slots

I took some pictures of the BIOS screens here, below. Can anyone else confirm they have 3 slots on this board (the Z490 Gaming-E revision). Running latest BIOS of 0607.

BIOS Defaults
https://i.imgur.com/VzxKUkH.jpg

Card in 2nd (middle) slot (I do get x8 here)
https://i.imgur.com/U5HPjj0.jpg

Card in top slot, SATA disabled, 2nd NVMe removed
https://i.imgur.com/lpdMVYh.jpg

I'm just totally lost. Again the performance I'm getting is right on par with what I'd expect. I have a friend with a very similar setup (i9 9900k, 2080Ti, both liquid cooled like mine) and he scores essentially the exact same in things like Heaven Benchmark (where my best is 202 FPS).

Tomorrow is 30 days from when I bought the board so I may just take it back and return it. I do have another friend with the exact same board who is building it machine in the next 2 days so I can see what he gets to see if maybe mine is just (oddly) defective in some way.

Thanks again for all the help! I knew when I posted this it wouldn't be easy.

~X

[BloodBaron]

LotusExige wrote:
Thanks - no change


- When looking at the config for the slots (Advanced \ System Agent \ PEG Port Configuration) it only shows 2 slots (the third is not there). I spoke with a friend who has the A revision of the board (no WiFi and it's white) and he sees all 3 slots

I took some pictures of the BIOS screens here, below. Can anyone else confirm they have 3 slots on this board (the Z490 Gaming-E revision). Running latest BIOS of 0607.

~X

https://i.imgur.com/WGY62yk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zAjweWi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PXULqDW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CTQ4VEO.jpg

here are all my current bios settings:
https://pastebin.com/aBRYTEZG

[Sathorn]

LotusExige wrote:


Thanks for sharing but sadly - no change.

I'm still baffled by this and still want to think something is just displaying wrong as the performance I'm getting is exactly what I'd expect - so if it is wrong then I want to get the performance I'm losing back!

Any other ideas folks? I appreciate the help very much.

In the post I linked, there is a video which explains that even there is very similiar performance while your port is working at x8 or x4, there is no mistake and it displays right number.
Also, could you post your BIOS settings as BloodBaron did via pastebin?

[LotusExige]

Sathorn wrote:
In the post I linked, there is a video which explains that even there is very similiar performance while your port is working at x8 or x4, there is no mistake and it displays right number.
Also, could you post your BIOS settings as BloodBaron did via pastebin?

Well there is very little difference in x16 and x8, but x4 to x16 there is gonna be something. As for posting my settings absolutely, is it pretty obvious in BIOS? I'll look when I'm home.