I've been troubleshooting my new RTX 5090 graphics card and noticed it's only running at PCIe 5.0 x8 instead of the full x16. I reseated the GPU and even adjusted my CPU cooler which briefly got it to x8 from x4, but it just won't go any higher. My setup includes a Gigabyte Aorus Master Ice RTX 5090, MSI MPG X870E Edge Ti Wifi motherboard, Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor, and two Crucial Gen 5 x4 NVMe SSDs. The GPU is in the correct slot, and my motherboard manual confirms that the M.2 slots shouldn't be affecting the PCIe lanes. I've checked the GPU load while using GPU-Z and updated my BIOS. What can I do to resolve this?
4 Answers
Make sure to put some load on your GPU when checking with GPU-Z, as it can limit bandwidth to save energy when idle. There's a button for that in the software. It might help you get the correct reading!
It sounds like your setup is good, but have you tried swapping your NVMe SSDs to the M3 and M4 slots? It could potentially free up some lanes, or there might be a setting for that in your BIOS.
If everything else fails, ensure your motherboard firmware is fully updated—it can sometimes resolve lane allocation issues. If you're still stuck, you might want to reach out to MSI support for more targeted help.
Check your BIOS settings. Look for any option that forces the PCIe lane configuration to Gen 5 x16. Also, ensure your 5090 is in the PCIe slot closest to the CPU, which you mentioned it is.
Yeah, I found the PCI_E1 Gen Switch setting and set it to Gen 5, but the lane configuration only allows for options like x8x8. Maybe the connection is just a bit finicky since I managed to get it to x8 after reseating.
I did try the load button and even ran a benchmark, but unfortunately, no changes.