Dedicated PhysX card made 980 Ti run at x8 3.0

[Nex Cube]

Hello everybody. Brand new here and first time posting. I have a question about using a dedicated card for PhysX, as I just learned that that was even possible today.

My rig is:

EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified

i5 4670k

1 TB SSD

16GB DDR3 RAM

 

I upgraded my graphics card to the 980 Ti not too long ago, and the GTX 770 that I replaced has been just sitting around in a box since then. However, when I was playing Borderlands 2 today (just bought it), I was noticing a lot of framerate drops whenever enemies would show up. My frames would drop to the 40's and even the high 30's at times. This was with PhysX on high, and it got quite a bit better, although not perfect, when I turned PhysX down to low. I did a little bit of research (since Borderlands 2 should be giving me no issues whatsoever...) on this and apparently it's a known issue with Borderlands 2 and the PhysX is implemented very poorly. I also found out I could stick my GTX 770 back in and use it as a dedicated PhysX card, so I decided to give it a try. Everything is working fantastic with it set up like that, and my framerate isn't dropping at all anymore in Borderlands 2. However, I now have a new concern. I decided to check my cards to make sure everything was running the way it should with GPU-Z afterwards... and unfortunately found that my GTX 980 Ti is now running at only x8 3.0 PCI-E in a x16 PCI-E slot... so my question is, is there anyway to fix it so that I can use my GTX 770 for PhysX and still get the full x16 out of the slot my GTX 980 Ti is in? and if not... am I actually losing any performance or horsepower by having it at x8 3.0 like this? I also have my GTX 770 in my x8 slot... if that matters... I was wondering if it might fix it if I put it in the x4 slot instead, but then would that give my 770 plenty to handle the PhysX still? Thanks for your time guys.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Nex Cube said:

Hello everybody. Brand new here and first time posting. I have a question about using a dedicated card for PhysX, as I just learned that that was even possible today.

My rig is:

EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified

i5 4670k

1 TB SSD

16GB DDR3 RAM

 

I upgraded my graphics card to the 980 Ti not too long ago, and the GTX 770 that I replaced has been just sitting around in a box since then. However, when I was playing Borderlands 2 today (just bought it), I was noticing a lot of framerate drops whenever enemies would show up. My frames would drop to the 40's and even the high 30's at times. This was with PhysX on high, and it got quite a bit better, although not perfect, when I turned PhysX down to low. I did a little bit of research (since Borderlands 2 should be giving me no issues whatsoever...) on this and apparently it's a known issue with Borderlands 2 and the PhysX is implemented very poorly. I also found out I could stick my GTX 770 back in and use it as a dedicated PhysX card, so I decided to give it a try. Everything is working fantastic with it set up like that, and my framerate isn't dropping at all anymore in Borderlands 2. However, I now have a new concern. I decided to check my cards to make sure everything was running the way it should with GPU-Z afterwards... and unfortunately found that my GTX 980 Ti is now running at only x8 3.0 PCI-E in a x16 PCI-E slot... so my question is, is there anyway to fix it so that I can use my GTX 770 for PhysX and still get the full x16 out of the slot my GTX 980 Ti is in? and if not... am I actually losing any performance or horsepower by having it at x8 3.0 like this? I also have my GTX 770 in my x8 slot... if that matters... I was wondering if it might fix it if I put it in the x4 slot instead, but then would that give my 770 plenty to handle the PhysX still? Thanks for your time guys.

I am not sure but maybe that i5 is bottlenecking with that 980ti.

y u get that??

btw Welcome to the fourms!

[FAQBytes]

Even with Gen2 PCI-E x8 no card will saturate it. That isn't your problem.

[Big-G]

It's because you are running two GPU's, they are splitting the dedicated 16 lanes between them... even though they aren't in SLI, they are both accessing the CPU, thus the CPU PCI Controller will split the access. This is not a problem as the GPU doesn't utilize the full 16 lanes, it's more like 4-6 lanes... so in 8x mode it's still got enough access to the CPU to perform at it's best.

[imperialplanet]

your getting x8 because the cpu only has 16 pci lanes, and its fine you'll have no performance loss

[Nex Cube]

1 minute ago, josephaltareb said:

I am not sure but maybe that i5 is bottlenecking with that 980ti.

y u get that??

btw Welcome to the fourms!

Thanks. I was actually wondering about that, but from the research I did it didn't seem like a 980 Ti would get bottlenecked by my CPU. Do you think it might be? I was trying to overclock it the other day and I got it to 4.3GHZ stable but Rise of the Tomb Raider was having weird frame hitches that I wasn't getting before the overclock... So I just undid it and decided not to mess with it.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Nex Cube said:

Hello everybody. Brand new here and first time posting. I have a question about using a dedicated card for PhysX, as I just learned that that was even possible today.

My rig is:

EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified

i5 4670k

1 TB SSD

16GB DDR3 RAM

 

I upgraded my graphics card to the 980 Ti not too long ago, and the GTX 770 that I replaced has been just sitting around in a box since then. However, when I was playing Borderlands 2 today (just bought it), I was noticing a lot of framerate drops whenever enemies would show up. My frames would drop to the 40's and even the high 30's at times. This was with PhysX on high, and it got quite a bit better, although not perfect, when I turned PhysX down to low. I did a little bit of research (since Borderlands 2 should be giving me no issues whatsoever...) on this and apparently it's a known issue with Borderlands 2 and the PhysX is implemented very poorly. I also found out I could stick my GTX 770 back in and use it as a dedicated PhysX card, so I decided to give it a try. Everything is working fantastic with it set up like that, and my framerate isn't dropping at all anymore in Borderlands 2. However, I now have a new concern. I decided to check my cards to make sure everything was running the way it should with GPU-Z afterwards... and unfortunately found that my GTX 980 Ti is now running at only x8 3.0 PCI-E in a x16 PCI-E slot... so my question is, is there anyway to fix it so that I can use my GTX 770 for PhysX and still get the full x16 out of the slot my GTX 980 Ti is in? and if not... am I actually losing any performance or horsepower by having it at x8 3.0 like this? I also have my GTX 770 in my x8 slot... if that matters... I was wondering if it might fix it if I put it in the x4 slot instead, but then would that give my 770 plenty to handle the PhysX still? Thanks for your time guys.

 

Just now, imperialplanet said:

your getting x8 because the cpu only has 16 pci lanes, and its fine you'll have no performance loss

Yes, consider getting a better i7 4690k, or if needed, i7 4930k for all doe lanes.

[Nex Cube]

3 minutes ago, GidonsClaw said:

It's because you are running two GPU's, they are splitting the dedicated 16 lanes between them... even though they aren't in SLI, they are both accessing the CPU, thus the CPU PCI Controller will split the access. This is not a problem as the GPU doesn't utilize the full 16 lanes, it's more like 4-6 lanes... so in 8x mode it's still got enough access to the CPU to perform at it's best.

 

1 minute ago, imperialplanet said:

your getting x8 because the cpu only has 16 pci lanes, and its fine you'll have no performance loss

Awesome, thank you very much guys. Seems like this will work great then.

[FAQBytes]

2 hours ago, Nex Cube said:

Thanks. I was actually wondering about that, but from the research I did it didn't seem like a 980 Ti would get bottlenecked by my CPU. Do you think it might be? I was trying to overclock it the other day and I got it to 4.3GHZ stable but Rise of the Tomb Raider was having weird frame hitches that I wasn't getting before the overclock... So I just undid it and decided not to mess with it.

You shouldn't have an issue with it unless you see it constantly running games pinned at 100%.

[ivan134]

USING AN EXTRA CARD FOR PHYSX HAS BEEN USELESS FOR ALMOST A DECADE NOW. THERE SHOULD BE A STICKY FOR THIS.

[Nex Cube]

1 minute ago, ivan134 said:

USING AN EXTRA CARD FOR PHYSX HAS BEEN USELESS FOR ALMOST A DECADE NOW. THERE SHOULD BE A STICKY FOR THIS.

It made a pretty big difference though.

[Big-G]

A 4930K or 5930K CPU will allow you to access two bundles of 16x lanes (one per GPU)... but that's not necessary and not needed... aka Overkill

[FAQBytes]

2 hours ago, ivan134 said:

USING AN EXTRA CARD FOR PHYSX HAS BEEN USELESS FOR ALMOST A DECADE NOW. THERE SHOULD BE A STICKY FOR THIS.

No need to shout it. 

In general, I agree, but I do believe there have been advancements.

[Nex Cube]

2 minutes ago, josephaltareb said:

 

Yes, consider getting a better i7 4690k, or if needed, i7 4930k for all doe lanes.

Would that actually be a worthwhile upgrade? I was wanting to upgrade my CPU but that's about the best I can do without replacing the entire motherboard.

[Nex Cube]

2 minutes ago, FAQBytes said:

You shouldn't have an issue with it unless you see it constantly running games pinned at 100%.

To be honest with you it seems like my CPU is usually pinned at 100% >.>

[Big-G]

1 minute ago, Nex Cube said:

Would that actually be a worthwhile upgrade? I was wanting to upgrade my CPU but that's about the best I can do without replacing the entire motherboard.

x9xx CPU's are mainly 2011-x socket, so you would need a more expensive board...

[Guest]

Just now, Nex Cube said:

Just now, Nex Cube said:

Would that actually be a worthwhile upgrade? I was wanting to upgrade my CPU but that's about the best I can do without replacing the entire motherboard.

you need to get a x97 board for it i think.

[FAQBytes]

2 hours ago, Nex Cube said:

To be honest with you it seems like my CPU is usually pinned at 100% >.>

Even when just browsing the web? In that case that might mean that there is an issue elsewhere.

[Nex Cube]

1 minute ago, GidonsClaw said:

x9xx CPU's are mainly 2011-x socket, so you would need a more expensive board...

Oh I see... in that case I would upgrade more if I was getting a new board. I could still put an i7 4690k in this board though couldn't I? Surely that would be a negligible upgrade for the money right?

[Ostwind]

5 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

USING AN EXTRA CARD FOR PHYSX HAS BEEN USELESS FOR ALMOST A DECADE NOW. THERE SHOULD BE A STICKY FOR THIS.

It helps when you have a lower end main GPU in a game with heavy PhysX implementation(like BL2), its not necessary for something as powerful as a 980 ti. I'm of the mind that the recent dogshit NV drivers are to blame for OP's performance issues. As they've been causing loads of problems across a wide range of games.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, GidonsClaw said:

x9xx CPU's are mainly 2011-x socket, so you would need a more expensive board...

not much more expensive,

[FAQBytes]

2 hours ago, GidonsClaw said:

x9xx CPU's are mainly 2011-x socket, so you would need a more expensive board...

You are correct, so with the same motherboard he should stick with a quad core i7 (x97 series).

[Nex Cube]

1 minute ago, FAQBytes said:

Even when just browsing the web? In that case that might mean that there is an issue elsewhere.

No, my bad I guess that was kind of confusing. I just meant when I'm doing anything that is CPU intensive at all, such as playing a game.

[Guest]

Just now, Nex Cube said:

Oh I see... in that case I would upgrade more if I was getting a new board. I could still put an i7 4690k in this board though couldn't I? Surely that would be a negligible upgrade for the money right?

oh crap, in the ark, it has 16x as well,. shit im sorry you cant use that either.

[Big-G]

1 minute ago, Nex Cube said:

Oh I see... in that case I would upgrade more if I was getting a new board. I could still put an i7 4690k in this board though couldn't I? Surely that would be a negligible upgrade for the money right?

Agreed