VT-D Support for Fatal1ty Z97M Killer

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   Ok, I found the Quirk wich was confusing me.
In the Z97X manual there are prett easy to see VT-D Options.
On the Picture shown and also in the text:

Primary Graphics Adapter
Select a primary VGA.

 VT-d
 Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O helps your virtual machine
monitor better utilize hardware by improving application compatibility and
reliability, and providing additional levels of manageability, security, isolation, and
I/O performance. 

PCIE2 Link Speed
Select the link speed for PCIE2.

and so on ......

In the Z97M manual there is NO VT-D support in textform visible.
On the Picture no Option to Enable/Disable/Auto or something:

Primary Graphics Adapter
Select a primary VGA.

PCIE2 Link Speed
Select the link speed for PCIE2.

.....

But when you take a closer look at the UEFI Pictures in both manuals ( wich i didnt ) then there is a big difference!

Z97X mainboard

VT-d Capabilty Supported

---------------- other options

Z97M mainboard

VT-d Capabilty Unsupported

---------------- other options

And thats because there is a CPU in this (virtual?) Z97M system wich doesnt support VT-D
The mainboard checks for the support and shows the status "Supported/Unsupported"
and only when it is supported it shows the option to Enable/Disable VT-D

Thats it! And ofc it has to be like that, cause if the mainboard would NOT support VT-D, why check and show the status of the VT-D capability of the CPU?

So for me nearly everything is clear, cause my board supports vt-d by 99% :D I only believe this by 100% when i see it on my own system running :D :D

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mrcs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote mrcs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: VT-D Support for Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 11:55pm
	Ok, I found the Quirk wich was confusing me. In the Z97X manual there are prett easy to see VT-D Options. On the Picture shown and also in the text: Primary Graphics Adapter Select a primary VGA. VT-d Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O helps your virtual machine monitor better utilize hardware by improving application compatibility and reliability, and providing additional levels of manageability, security, isolation, and I/O performance. PCIE2 Link Speed Select the link speed for PCIE2. and so on ...... In the Z97M manual there is NO VT-D support in textform visible. On the Picture no Option to Enable/Disable/Auto or something: Primary Graphics Adapter Select a primary VGA. PCIE2 Link Speed Select the link speed for PCIE2. ..... But when you take a closer look at the UEFI Pictures in both manuals ( wich i didnt ) then there is a big difference! Z97X mainboard VT-d Capabilty Supported ---------------- other options Z97M mainboard VT-d Capabilty Unsupported ---------------- other options And thats because there is a CPU in this (virtual?) Z97M system wich doesnt support VT-D The mainboard checks for the support and shows the status "Supported/Unsupported" and only when it is supported it shows the option to Enable/Disable VT-D Thats it! And ofc it has to be like that, cause if the mainboard would NOT support VT-D, why check and show the status of the VT-D capability of the CPU? So for me nearly everything is clear, cause my board supports vt-d by 99% :D I only believe this by 100% when i see it on my own system running :D :D

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26933	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 11:35pm
	The option will only be visible if the CPU supports it. Tech support did not mention any exceptions so I would assume the Z97M should be capable.


parsec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996	Post Options Post Reply Quote parsec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 10:47pm
	Isn't this fun! The only "spec" we've not shown is whether or not the processor and chipset must BOTH support VT-d in order for it to work. Good luck finding that one... Yes, nothing like being exactly not certain what is correct.


mrcs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote mrcs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 10:39pm
	Yeah thats what i think also ... but ... e.g. the fatality z97X Killer ( not 97M ) ( difference is fullsize ATX vs mATX ) has VT-D support shown in the manual on page 88 in the pdf ! the 97M doesnt :( to be honest i am pretty new to uefi so i dont know if the vt-d support is only shown on screen when a vt-d capable cpu is installed. Hmm ... i really dont like situations where i dont know things exactly

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26933	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 10:22pm
	If tech support says it is dependent on the CPU then that means that all Haswell based boards must have support for it.


mrcs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote mrcs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 9:47pm
	yeah thx but the mainquestion is about the board and not the cpu cause i will buy a xeon cpu anyway.

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26933	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 9:16pm
	That may well be the case, it is possible they disabled VT-D on the first series of Haswell K CPUs due to the overclocking features but then left it in place on the refresh or Devils Canyon CPUs, likely because the feature proved stable even with an overclock in place. In that case a Xeon or even an i7 4790k should give you VT-D support. I wouldn't bother upgrading from Haswell to Skylake as the performance gains are negligible and as with most new architectures there still seem to be a fair number of bugs in Skylake systems.


mrcs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote mrcs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 9:05pm
	After a little bit of research it seems like this: initial Haswell "k" CPUs dont support vt-d 4770 = vt-d - 4770k = no vt-d Haswell Refresh "k" CPUs suppert vt-d 4790 = vt-d - 4790k = vt-d This is alos for the i5 series ... so it seems my CPU just dont support vt-d by itself

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 26933	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 8:49pm
	What they are saying is that if the CPU supports it then so does the motherboard. If a CPU without support is installed in a motherboard then the option disappears from the UEFI (would have been grayed out in the days of BIOS). As you can see on the links they provided you there is a "VT-D = yes" filter applied. I find it very odd that your i7 4770K seems to be the only i7 not listed with support. It may be an error in the data on the ARK site, you could contact intel and ask them. Given the 4770 (non K) is in fact listed it stands to reason that the 4770k should be too. Edited by Xaltar - 08 Mar 2016 at 8:52pm


mrcs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2016 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote mrcs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 08 Mar 2016 at 8:34pm
	This i got from the tech support via mail: Hello, if CPU support VT-D = The mainboard support it as well??u> All socket 1150 CPU that support VT-D: http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced?s=t&SocketsSupported=FCLGA1150&VTD=true All socket 1151 CPU with VT-D support: http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced?s=t&SocketsSupported=FCLGA1151&VTD=true Best regards, ASRock Support ASRock Europe B.V. Bijsterhuizen 1111 6546 AR Nijmegen The Netherlands www.asrock.com So ... what is correct now?