Migrated build with: 2500k Z77N-WIFI itx motherboard XFX R9 290 Card is being limited by PCIe bus setting somehow -- it won't go above PCIE 2.0 2x speed meaning performance is severely hampered. On my previous motherboard it worked perfectly. On idle it runs at PCIe 2.0 @ 1x, rendering or games will push it to 2x speed (maximum 5.0 Gbps). On CCC hardware info says Graphics Bus Capability = PCIE 2.0 despite this slot being a PCIe 3.0 16x (which I understand is a limitation of Sandy CPUs). HWinfo also tells me max gaming power consumption is ~150w, I expected more but could be a red herring. Things I've tried: Motherboard BIOS update to F4a (beta) Disabling onboard graphics setting BIOS PCIe generation to Gen3 or Gen2 reseating graphics a few times cleaned PCIE slot and GPU pins with denatured alcohol Flipped GPU Bios switch added slight OC in Overdrive on CCC upped PCIe freq from 100mhz to 101mhz Swapped PCIe power connections in various configs Swapped in a Radeon 5450 - still same problem I have moved from the exact same build as before, except now with the ITX motherboard. I have also added a full cover waterblock but cannot imagine this would cause any problems. Any ideas guys? I'm pretty desperate here...
An SB CPU won't do PCI-E 3.0, but that doesnt seem to be your problem here - it should still utilise all sixteen PCI-E lanes, just at PCI-E 2.x speed. Just for 100% checking, have you checked the CPU slot for any bent/out of position pins?
Indeed, which made me think "hardware" - like bad PCIe slot or something. But having checked and cleaned all the pins in the 16x slot I'm fairly convinced it's not that. No, I haven't checked the CPU slot yet. Thanks for the suggestion, I will add this to my troubleshooting list to try later on (watercooling is a mission to detach everything)... Forgot to add I've tried latest AMD drivers plus the 14.17 beta, though both worked fine on the previous mobo. EDIT: Since this mobo supports UEFI, anyone know of better support with a UEFI graphics BIOS? Going to look into it, though probably won't flash yet.
Aside from the CPU socket pins, I'm at a bit of a loss. Did you re-install your OS when you changed motherboards?
Problem solved, in a fashion. Checked the pins as you suggested - all fine. Removed motherboard to give it a look under the magnifying glass and couldn't see anything wrong.. until I flipped it over and checked the backside. On the rear of the PCIe slot a couple of the SMD resistors have broken off and a couple more half broken but hanging on by a thread. Guess even trustworthy ebay sellers may be pulling a fast one I had never noticed the problem before as the last build was a HTPC/ hackintosh without a powerful gpu. So for anybody else trying to track down a strange fault, don't be too quick to dismiss physical damage just because you've looked after your hardware.
I wonder if our very own Margo Baggins might be able to help on SMD duties here? Next time I speak to him, I'll ask if you like?
