I just built a new PC and connected everything, but after checking with HWINFO and CPU-Z, I found that my graphics card is running at x8 instead of the expected x16 speed. Can anyone help me understand why this is happening and how I might be able to configure it to run at x16? Here are my specs:
- Motherboard: Asus X870 F ROG STRIX GAMING WIFI
- CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- RAM: Kingston FURY Beast RGB 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
- Storage: Kingston Fury Renegade M.2 2TB & 4TB
- GPU: Gigabyte RTX 5080 Windforce SFF OC 16GB
- PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W
2 Answers
Yeah, the bandwidth sharing is common with motherboards that have multiple M.2 slots. ASUS has chosen a design that compromises performance in some situations to include more M.2 ports. You might want to consider switching out the second M.2 SSD or placing it in a different slot to get back that x16 functionality. Just keep an eye on the manual for the best slot configuration!
It looks like your second M.2 drive is connected to the M.2_2 slot, which shares bandwidth with the PCIe x16 slot. When both are in use, the main GPU slot will drop to x8 speed. To fix this, try moving the second M.2 drive to M.2_3 or M.2_4, which should restore the GPU speed to x16.
Thanks for the tip! I'll check out the manual and see where I can move the second M.2.