Asus Z690-E and 3090 Ti aren't working with PCIe 5.0 x16 or 8x connections.
Asus Z690-E and 3090 Ti aren't working with PCIe 5.0 x16 or 8x connections.
Hey everyone, I recently installed a new rig and am facing issues with the GPU not utilizing full PCIe 5.0 8x bandwidth. I understand that having an M2 in the M2_1 slot caps the speed, and power-saving settings can also limit performance. My GPU sometimes runs at different speeds—3.0x at 8x, 4.0x at 4x, and 4.0x at 8x—depending on the boot sequence. I’ve noticed it doesn’t consistently hit 5.0x even though the card supports it. The PCIe lane is fully engaged and the latch confirms it’s seated properly. I’ve shared my current GPU readings from Gpu-z and my system specs, which are i7-12700k with a 64GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 5200MHz, RTX 3090 Ti, and an Asus ROG Z690-E M.2 NVMe 4TB. Thanks for your help!
Starting with the 3090Ti, it doesn't support PCIe 5.0—it uses 4.0. Regardless of what you try, GPU-Z won't show it as using 5.0. However, GPU-Z reflects the active link speed at the moment. If you're not running heavy tasks, it should drop to a lower speed (my 1070 is currently at PCIe 1.1 x16). When you run the render test with the question mark next to the link speed, it should increase to 4.0 x16. This isn't a major concern, as I haven't encountered any link speed problems with these systems before.
I started the GPU-z render check and it maintains 4.0 @ 4x. When BIOS loads, it confirms the lane operates at 4x. I understand I can’t reach full x16 if there’s an M2 in the z690-e top slot because it competes for bandwidth and will cap at 8x. I was worried something might be faulty since the render test didn’t show a speed increase.