RX 6700 XT only using x8 PCI-E lanes, not the full x16 lanes during testing

[3LowBytes]

My specs:

 

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 @ Stock

MB: ASUS ROG Strix B450-I (Latest BIOS version 4502)

GPU: Sapphire Pulse RX 6700 XT OC 12 GB VRAM

RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3600MHZ 16 GB (2x8)

SSD: Crucial MX500 500 GB SATA M.2 drive

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA GT 650 / 650W 80+ Gold

 

Got my new GPU a couple of days ago. Decided to try it out. Everything seems to work fine with no major issues regarding drivers, crashes, or artifacts. However, I noticed in the Radeon drivers and in GPU-Z that the GPU was only using up 8 PCI-E lanes instead of all 16 lanes. I stress tested my 6700 XT to make sure it was a fluke, but it looks like the GPU is not using all 16 of my PCI-E lanes during full use. I know my CPU and MB don't support PCI-E Gen 4, but I wasn't expecting that in the first place. I was expecting my GPU to use all 16 of my PCI-E Gen 3 lanes during full use. I've tried the built-in stress tests in both GPU-Z, the Radeon drivers, and I've used Unigine Superposition for stress testing. Even after all that, my GPU-Z readings don't show my GPU utilizing more than 8 Gen 3 lanes during full load.

 

Can anyone help me figure out what the issue could be? Thanks.

[StephanTW]

42 minutes ago, 3LowBytes said:

Crucial MX500 500 GB SATA M.2 drive

which slot is this installed in?

 

cause basicly the only thing i can think of has to do with this

where m.2_2 is the one on the back of the MB

[3LowBytes]

34 minutes ago, StephanTW said:

which slot is this installed in?

 

cause basicly the only thing i can think of has to do with this

where m.2_2 is the one on the back of the MB

It's installed on the front of the motherboard (M.2_1).

[GuiltySpark_]

Deleted this post, I didn't see what @StephanTWposted initially. 

 

Still looking into this.

[3LowBytes]

Just now, rickeo said:

Which slot is your GPU installed in, not your M.2 SSD.

It's a Mini-ITX board. There's only one slot. That's where my GPU is installed in.

[StephanTW]

5 minutes ago, 3LowBytes said:

It's installed on the front of the motherboard (M.2_1).

well there goes my idea

 

 

1 minute ago, rickeo said:

Which slot is your GPU installed in, not your M.2 SSD.

no was most definitely meaning the ssd as its only got one pcie lane

[StephanTW]

there supposidly is this option somewhere in the bios

 

but since it says cofiguration options PCIEX16 only i fear that will be the only setting it has X16, but it might be worth a shot to look for it

Edit 1
also on a sidenote your CPU accepts gen 4 its just the MB that doesn't, which shouldn't cause issues...

[3LowBytes]

7 minutes ago, StephanTW said:

there supposidly is this option somewhere in the bios

 

but since it says cofiguration options PCIEX16 only i fear that will be the only setting it has X16, but it might be worth a shot to look for it

 

I've checked the BIOS. Sadly, it's the only setting that it has (PCIEX16) and it's the only setting selected by default.

 

I previously reseated the GPU and the PCI-E power cables, but that didn't seem to help with the lane allotment.

 

At this point, I'm hypothesizing that it's my motherboard since my GPU doesn't seem to be broken or scratched anywhere. It works fine for the most part. Maybe there's a problem somewhere in the latest update of the motherboard BIOS that's not properly assigning all 16 PCI-E Gen 3 lanes to my GPU. But I don't know; I could be wrong.

[StephanTW]

7 minutes ago, 3LowBytes said:

I've checked the BIOS. Sadly, it's the only setting that it has (PCIEX16) and it's the only setting selected by default.

 

I previously reseated the GPU and the PCI-E power cables, but that didn't seem to help with the lane allotment.

 

At this point, I'm hypothesizing that it's my motherboard since my GPU doesn't seem to be broken or scratched anywhere. It works fine for the most part. Maybe there's a problem somewhere in the latest update of the motherboard BIOS that's not properly assigning all 16 PCI-E Gen 3 lanes to my GPU. But I don't know; I could be wrong.

there is a new bios that was released yesterday, you could try that but in prior bios's i have seen this mentioned "Removes Gen 4 support when using Ryzen 3000 CPUs" which kinda worries me as your GPU Z and CPU Z seem to partly indicate gen 4, which strikes me as odd

[3LowBytes]

16 minutes ago, StephanTW said:

there is a new bios that was released yesterday, you could try that but in prior bios's i have seen this mentioned "Removes Gen 4 support when using Ryzen 3000 CPUs" which kinda worries me as your GPU Z and CPU Z seem to partly indicate gen 4, which strikes me as odd

Oh, wow. I didn't even notice that. Might as well try it out and see if it helps.

[3LowBytes]

Went ahead and updated the BIOS.

 

Sadly, it didn't seem to help fix the issue. Not so sure what else I can do now.

[StephanTW]

9 minutes ago, 3LowBytes said:

Went ahead and updated the BIOS.

 

Sadly, it didn't seem to help fix the issue. Not so sure what else I can do now.

mhhh well that was all my knowledge, if no other fixes come up here I would  start a support ticket with asus and see if they know the issue and or if it even is something that an RMA can fix.
hope for the best and good luck