SOLVED-Fatal1ty Z87 Killer wont use all PCIE lanes
Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3908
Printed Date: 21 Jul 2025 at 9:05am
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Topic: SOLVED-Fatal1ty Z87 Killer wont use all PCIE lanes
Posted By: omega552003
Subject: SOLVED-Fatal1ty Z87 Killer wont use all PCIE lanes
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 10:49pm
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UPDATE: CPU had damage that I was unaware about that was done by previous owner trying to delid the CPU. In the process of deliding, he damaged the PCB which caused the CPU to lose some of its PCIE lanes, 4~7 as at least 9 were usable 8 on the primary GPU and 1 on the secondary. This was validated by accident when I went to swap in an i3-4330TE and the i7-4770K's IHS fell right off. http://i.imgur.com/hPxKklV.jpg" rel="nofollow - http://i.imgur.com/hPxKklV.jpg Setup: Motherboard: Asrock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K GPU: 2 x AMD Radeon R9 Fury X OS: Windows 10 N x64 No Overclocking So I have noticed that one Fury X was stuck at PCIE 3.0 8x and would never go to x16 when it's by it's self. I got a second Fury X and wanted to crossfire them. Readeon settings cant because the the second card, no matter what slot it is in, is 1x and XDMA needs more lanes to activate crossfire. I did try updating the chipset drivers and noticed that sometimeswhen the PCIE drivers are updated/changed/removed that the lanes goto 4x until restart. I've also checked the UEFI settings and there isn't any settings for PCIE lanes. I'd appreciate any help. |
Replies:
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 11:43pm
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" rel="nofollow - You are running windows 10, was this an upgrade install or a fresh one? Your issue looks very much like a driver conflict. I would download and run DDU (display driver uninstaller) from safe mode and clean out your current display drivers then reboot and install the latest. You can also try clearing CMOS, it is usually a good idea to do that when making major hardware changes (GPU, CPU and RAM). ------------- 
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Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 12:10am
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" rel="nofollow - Xaltar, not being that knowledgeable with all things Intel, his i7-4770K has 16 PCIe lanes. http://ark.intel.com/products/75123/Intel-Core-i7-4770K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz That why? |
Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 12:15am
| I do think it could be a driver problem, but its the Intel Chipset drivers for the Z87, not display drivers. The only info on reinstalling the chipset drivers I've found was that only a reinstall of windows would do this. Though I did try installing an older version and it does ask if I wanted to downgrade, but Windows still perfers the newer drivers (Good job Windows 10). |
Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 12:34am
" rel="nofollow -
Stop Windows 10 from Windows Update d/l'ing and installing driver updates Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Hardware tab > Device Installation Settings > "Do you want to automatically download manufacturers apps and custom icons available for your devices?" > Select No, then select Save Changes |
omega552003 wrote:Posted By: parsec
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 1:24am
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" rel="nofollow - Chipset "drivers" are not related to this at all. They are INF files, not drivers, that simply identify the hardware on an Intel mother board. Windows 10 upgrade, always questionable. Yes, you don't know what the upgrade installed until you check. Would I trust this type of installation? NO CHANCE! When Win 10 automatic updates are applied, you better check what happened, since it might include a new video driver, and possibly resets any configurations. SOO many other things causing this, and many things to consider. Advice given above is valid and really quite basic. So is the following: Yes, 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes in this platform. PCIe 3.0 lane allocation per x16 slot: 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE5/PCIE7: single at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE5); triple at x8 (PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE5) / x4 (PCIE7)) All of those three x16 physical lanes are not x16 electrically. From top to bottom, the three slots listed above are connected electrically as x16 x8 x4. The 16 lane PCIe 3.0 limit is then applied to each slot, depending upon the number of video cards in use. Which slots are you using? Are you using any other cards in the PCIe x16 slots? With ONLY two cards in the PCIe x16 slots, the best you'll get is x8 x8. With PCIe 3.0, the difference between an x8 and x16 connection is 1% at best. If you have any other cards in the PCIe x16 slots, you'll have fewer PCIe 3.0 lanes for the video cards. Windows Power Plan, Advanced settings. PCI Express, Link State Power Management. Must be set to Off if you want your video card(s) to not reduce their PCIe link speed at idle. Updating drivers can also change this. Clearing the UEFI/BIOS is needed to start over again. In the UEFI/BIOS, Chipset Configuration screen, set the PCIe slots you are using to Gen3. Are you following the instructions in your board's manual for connecting and activating Crossfire? Both for installation, and activating Crossfire with the AMD Catalyst Control Center software. No mention of this in your post. Have you cleared the UEFI/BIOS since installing both video cards? If not, you MUST do so. While I listed this last, this is the FIRST thing you should do after installing any video card(s). ------------- http://valid.x86.fr/48rujh" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 2:36am
Deleted my previous post, Parsec has clarified things more accurately than I did  I will however repeat that the display drivers can and do effect PCIe speed (version) and lane usage. -------------
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Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 6:43am
Ok that makes sense, always wondered what the INF ment.
Is a full install of windows, I also keep the drivers up to date as AMD has a setting to notify you if there is a new driver.
I'm using slot 2 and 5, nothing else, just the 2 GPUs.
Yup first thing i checked.
Did that also
Yes I have and the crossfire button/drop down menu is not showing. The drivers, HWInfo and GPUz show that slot 2 is at gen 3 8x and slot 5 is gen 3 1x. I am using the latest drivers "Radeon Software Version 16.11.5"
I've never known about this, typically I just plug and play like I would on older BIOS motherboards. I tried a "Load UEFI optimal settings." but that didn't work, i guess its time to pull a jumper.
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Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 7:32am
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Ok did some more things. 1. Cleared the CMOS by jumper Didn't work 2. Manually went through my device manager and removed anything with an Intel Driver, deleted the driver and verified when it showed a generic Microsoft driver. Didn't work 3. Fully uninstalled the AMD drivers and installed the latest stable "Radeon Software Version 16.9.2" Didn't work The only thing that I can do that left is a full reinstall of Windows. I must have the worst of luck with Asrock boards. This one with this weird PCIE lane issues and AD2550B-ITX that stopped working. Im by no means bad with computers as I resurect intel server boards for fun and still have my socket 7/370/771/1366 boards.
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Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 12:37pm
| I'm giving up on this board. I Did a reinstall of windows, then installed the drivers and no crossfire setting available and the PCIE lanes where 8x for slot 2 and 1x for slot 5. |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 1:44pm
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" rel="nofollow - OK, I hate to state the obvious here but have you checked the slots for dust and debris? PCIe slots are one of those things on the motherboard that can be quite tricky to diagnose issues with. So long as the first quarter of the slot is making proper contact the device will work, even if the rest of the slot isn't making proper contact. This results in an x1 connection to the device. Try removing the GPUs (both) and cleaning out the slots with a toothbrush and some compressed air (a can will do). -------------
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Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 5:22pm
Meh, you're giving up too easily.   I just spent a hour Googling this x1 with your second card. It's normal with new GPUs when not in an intensive game/load for the second card to drop back to x1 conserving power. Or, the game isn't optimized for crossfired Fury X's. Grab a utility that live stats the PCIe x? usage your cards are allotted, begin gaming and watch it go to x8 and x8. NOTE: This is assuming the ONLY two cards plugged into the PCIe slots of your MB are the crossfired Fury Xs. That is the only way you'll split your processors 16 lanes down to two x8. Post back what you observe please. |
Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 8:13am
Yeah they are clean, I cleaned them out just to be sure, same deal , 8x and the other is 1x
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Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 10:40am
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So its not the drivers, GPUs, Windows 10, or bios version(1.60 and 170 have the same results). I swapped them over to a different system (Dell T3500) and instantly they crossfired. So that narrows it down to the CPU or the Motherboard. great...
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Posted By: omega552003
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2016 at 6:42am
Update, So the guy that I bought the CPU from neglected to tell me that he delided it and  up the CPU's PCB in the process, I had no clue it was delided until I pulled it off to swap cpus. I verified it by getting an i3-4330TE and instantly the cards crossfired.Look at the closest edge and you can see scrape marks on the PCB
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Posted By: parsec
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2016 at 12:33pm
OMG that is terrible! What a loser, to sell that to you in that condition! Not only did he not tell you it was delidded, but damaged too. I hope you can do something about it. Thanks for letting us know what happened! Your integrity is so far beyond that of the guy that sold this to you, I hate mentioning him in the same sentence.  If you right click on your picture, and select View Image, you can then click on the image to magnify it. That really brings the damage out... what a butcher job!!  This is why I'm not a fan of delidding. It can be done without damaging the CPU, but takes care and everyone cannot do it correctly. Plus that is only the start of dealing with needs of a delidded processor. ------------- http://valid.x86.fr/48rujh" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2016 at 12:38pm
Hear Hear. I second that. Hopefully you paid by Card so they can reverse the charge. |
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2016 at 2:18pm
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That would definitely do it, unbelievable...
I was going to suggest checking the CPU and socket then saw the solved edit. Some people... It would have been fine if you were told it was damaged and got it for cheap but this is just downright underhanded. -------------
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