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Video card is only running at x8 instead of x16

brokEN2 said:
So yea I found this program called gpu-z and when I opened it, it said my video card was running at x8 speed instead of x16. My video card is a 5870 with the latest drivers and my motherboard is a http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=377

So is this bad and will changing it to x16 so a big increase?


Here is the SS of the gpu-z http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/11/11/19/e0b.png

I also have my PC set to high performance if that matters.
Click to expand...

According to your manual, your GPU needs to be in the PCI-E slot closest to the CPU or, top of the card. Is that where it is?
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
According to your manual, your GPU needs to be in the PCI-E slot closest to the CPU or, top of the card. Is that where it is?
Click to expand...

Running at x8 instead of x16 is going to have almost no decrease in performance. If you don't have the "paddle card" for your mobo, I wouldn't worry.

According to his manual for the mobo he linked, his GPU needs to be in the lower slot (PEX16_1) and he needs to have the paddle card inserted into the upper slot.

PEX16_1: PCI-Express Gen2 x16 Slot (x16/x8 Speed)
- PCI-Express 2.0 compliant.
- PCI-Express Gen2 supports a raw bit-rate of 5.0Gb/s on the data pins.
- 2X bandwidth over the PCI-Express 1.1 architecture.
- x16 Speed Mode: Maximum theoretical realized bandwidth of 8GB/s
simultaneously per direction, for an aggregate of 16GB/s
totally. (Must with DCCFX-P2 in PEX16_2)
- x8 Speed Mode: Maximum theoretical realized bandwidth of 4GB/s
simultaneously per direction, for an aggregate of 8GB/s
totally. (Without DCCFX-P2 in PEX16_2 or using
CrossFireX)
- PEX16_1 slot is reserved for graphics or video cards. The design of this
motherboard supports dual PCI-Express graphics cards using CrossFireX
technology with multiple displays. When using CrossFireX, this slot is
master and runs with x8 speed.
- To make this slot run with x16 speed, please insert the Paddle Card
DCCFX-P2 into PEX16_2.
Click to expand...
 
Jovec said:
Running at x8 instead of x16 is going to have almost no decrease in performance. If you don't have the "paddle card" for your mobo, I wouldn't worry.

According to his manual for the mobo he linked, his GPU needs to be in the lower slot (PEX16_1) and he needs to have the paddle card inserted into the upper slot.
Click to expand...

You're right, I misread it. I've never seen a MB with that kind of paddle card.
 
Jovec said:
Running at x8 instead of x16 is going to have almost no decrease in performance. If you don't have the "paddle card" for your mobo, I wouldn't worry.

According to his manual for the mobo he linked, his GPU needs to be in the lower slot (PEX16_1) and he needs to have the paddle card inserted into the upper slot.
Click to expand...

I have the paddle card so where does the paddle card go and where does my GFX card go?
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
Paddle card gos in the slot closest to the CPU. Graphics card goes in the slot furthest away next to the bottom of the card. RTFM 😀 but do it better than I did.
Click to expand...

Ok and will I seen any FPS increase or anything like that? Is it better to run at x16 instead of x8
 
well most people still want their components to be working as advertised. and TBH I had never even heard of a paddle card before. 😱
 
toyota said:
well most people still want their components to be working as advertised. and TBH I had never even heard of a paddle card before. 😱
Click to expand...

I agree. If I had a card running at 8X when there is a 100% possible way to have it running at 16X, I would opt for 16X. Shrugging it off with the idea that the performance benefit is negligible is the lazy way out. None of my motherboards have even come with a paddle card. Maybe the cheaper ones have it.
 
Last edited:
Ok i got the paddle card in and it is still running at x8 speed but it is saying its a 2.0 slot instead of a 1.1 so im assuming it worked in some matter

edit: when I switched slots I also had to reinstall the drivers lol
 
Make double sure with another application that its running x8. There have been some cases where gpu-z gave the wrong reading on certain motherboards.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
You're right, I misread it. I've never seen a MB with that kind of paddle card.
Click to expand...


the ASUS ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 is the same way, the lower x16 slot is x16 only when the paddle board is inserted and the one next to the CPU socket is x8 no matter what. I have 2 of these and in one I have the video card is in the x8 slot only because the case it's in has lousy air flow to the x16 slot. my daughter doesn't notice any difference in performance.
 
Related question...

If your motherboard only does x16x8 and you run SLI, will both cards effectively run at x8? Don't SLI cards have to match in performance?
 
Go into the BIOS and look for "Link Width" It defaults to auto so try manually setting it to 16x and see if that works.
 
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