Sli mobo reading PCI-E 8x with only one card

[xxFlukexx]

Using:
ECS C19-A
BFG 7600 GT OC 256 MB DDR3
805D
WD Raptor
1 GB 667 RAM
etc

Following the motherboard manual, I put my graphics card in PCIE2 (slots 1 and 3 are for PCIE 1x)

But when I right click on the desktop and go to properties->settings->advanced->7600 tab then it shows PCI Express x8. Ahhhhhhh.

I have upgraded my BIOS from the ECS site (ecsusa.com) and also using 84.21 nvidia forceware version.

I *should* be getting 16x PCIE from that slot. Is the properties screen just displaying it wrong(that screen used to say AGP cards ran on the PCI bus) or is there something I need to select to get it to PCIE 16x.

 

[firepyro555]

Since there is no SLi choice card thing, i would say , have u checked the bios? also, just to make sure, u did plug it into the orange pci-e slot, right?

 

[Crashman]

Hmm, I haven't looked recently but I think the board might be using FIXED pathways.

 

[xxFlukexx]

Just tried it in the other slot, getting 8X in that slot as well. There is a PCIE frequency setting in the BIOS that looks like this: http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=472&image=ecs_c19a_bios4_lrg

I have no idea what it does.

Crashman: Thanks for the repsonse, when I looked up reviews of the mobo, it said it used the nForce4 SLI XE and according to nvidia's site, that uses flexible lanes. Every review I have read has stated that this board takes PCI-E in 16X or SLI in 8X/8X but man that is not what is showing up in my properties.

I can't be the first guy that has ever seen this before. I am hoping that it's just the properties screen that is displaying it wrong.

 

[Crashman]

Flexible pathways still require a switch for x8/x8 or x16. That switch used to be a paddle card for most motherboards (mechanical switch), but some boards had the setting in BIOS (electonic switch).

I have the same board here, and last time I fired it up I believe I found it had fixed pathways. That is, it didn't have any switch.

 

[xxFlukexx]

Well if you have the same board and it's 8X for you too then I guess it's as you say. I haven't seen anything in the BIOS that looks like a switch function.

Makes me crazy that every review site in the universe missed this (they all tested out l33torzorz sli setups) It also makes me crazy that a manufacturer would purposely gimp their product, but it won't be the first or last time it has happened.

But the good news is that I think PCI-E hasn't touched it's max bandwidth yet, I don't think AGP 8X ever maxed out it's bandwidth so I don't think it's a catastrophe that I only get PCI-E 8X.

Oh well, I checked my mobo disk for any help and reinstalled the card in my first slot again with latest drivers, still 8X. I've done everything I can think of, if your system is handy and you can start it up real quick, I'd appreciate it, but if not oh well. I still love this board though.

 

[Crashman]

Yes, you can blame me. After looking at the performance difference between x8 and x16 on other platforms, I figured it wasn't worth worrying about.

 

[firepyro555]

If this helps, this was on another forum:

jph1589

Re: PCIE x16 is only x8
Thanks.....it is in the primary slot according to the hardware documentation. Just this afternoon afer talking to ECS tech support for a week, they admitted that everyone is complaining and that they have forwarded the problem to Tawain. They wont give any guess as to whether it will ever be fixed. So the only recorse I have is to RMA the board to where I bought it and lose the shipping cost twice and their 15 percent restocking fee. That almost makes it better for me to just use it as a frisbee in the yard with the kids.

 

[Crashman]

Or use it like it is. x8 is fine. If you were running a 7950 card you would have bought a more impressive board to begin with. Anything less and you can't tell the difference.

 

[Adk_Eric]

Using:
ECS C19-A
BFG 7600 GT OC 256 MB DDR3
805D
WD Raptor
1 GB 667 RAM
etc

Following the motherboard manual, I put my graphics card in PCIE2 (slots 1 and 3 are for PCIE 1x)

But when I right click on the desktop and go to properties->settings->advanced->7600 tab then it shows PCI Express x8. Ahhhhhhh.

I have upgraded my BIOS from the ECS site (ecsusa.com) and also using 84.21 nvidia forceware version.

I *should* be getting 16x PCIE from that slot. Is the properties screen just displaying it wrong(that screen used to say AGP cards ran on the PCI bus) or is there something I need to select to get it to PCIE 16x.

Don't worry about it. The top of the line cards out right now don't make use of more bandwidth than an 8x slot anyways, and most don't use more than a 4x. Dual 16x SLI boards is just marketing at work. You're fine if for whatever reason your computer is recognizing it as 8x. Might just be your bios detecting exactly how much bandwidth is needed and adjusting the slot accordingly.

 

[Crashman]

Read the other posts in this thread, it's far more likely ECS simply split the x16 pathway into 2x8 without implementing a switch to put it back. And that would make the pathways for both slots permanently fixed at x8.

Don't make me haul the board out of my closet.

 

[xxFlukexx]

Cool, thanks for the replies, exactly what I needed to know.

Yeah, 8X should be fine for me, gonna get a 7900 GT eventually, was going to get 2 x 7900 GT eventually but I dunno, people are all amped about DX10 cards coming soon so maybe I'll stick with one 7900 GT and upgrade when the conroes and am2s and quad cores come to our planet with reasonable prices.

You have the board in your closet? Ack! It's a good board, hasn't burned my 805 OC system in 2-3 weeks so far.

 

[Crashman]

yes, but I have SO MANY motherboards...