System Profiler - PCIe Lane Width x4

[DrunknMunky]

Sorry for bumping the topic, but I've only just read the replies on the previous page.

I've still not found a fix for the x4 lane width, but I've narrowed it down to what I believe is going to be a driver issue. Surprise surprise.

Since I lasted posted I have dual booted my hackintosh with Windows 7 and was able to use GPU-Z to view the lane speed. Again it was only using x4 sadly, even with the official Catalyst 10.5 drivers installed.

I've also tested an older Nvidia 7900GT card that I had in an older computer of mine. It's a x16 card so I installed it into my Hackintosh and sure enough, under both OS X SL & Windows 7 it was registering x16!

What's interesting is that I never needed to install any kexts for the card under OS X, and there was full QE/CI.

So that means it's nothing to do with the BIOS or my Snow Leopard install as I initially thought. It's certainly not a hardware fault on the motherboard and I can pretty much assume it's not a hardware fault with the GPU either, now that I see other members are having the same issue (even on Nvidia cards).

In Windows 7 I was able to use the ATI overdrive tool to adjust the speed of the fan etc, but there isn't an option to edit the PCI-e lanes. The tool also reported that the HSF was running at 30% speed. I'm not sure if that's normal for the card while it is idle, but it's certainly the cause for the increased noise I am getting.

So I really need help from the more experienced members here, please. I have a backup installation of OS X SL on my HDD, so I am willing to try any suggestions you may have as it's not a worry if the install becomes corrupt etc. Any information you might need to help diagnose the issue, just ask and I will be happy to provide that too.

Thanks

 

[MacMan]

Sorry for bumping the topic, but I've only just read the replies on the previous page.

I've still not found a fix for the x4 lane width, but I've narrowed it down to what I believe is going to be a driver issue. Surprise surprise.

Since I lasted posted I have dual booted my hackintosh with Windows 7 and was able to use GPU-Z to view the lane speed. Again it was only using x4 sadly, even with the official Catalyst 10.5 drivers installed.

I've also tested an older Nvidia 7900GT card that I had in an older computer of mine. It's a x16 card so I installed it into my Hackintosh and sure enough, under both OS X SL & Windows 7 it was registering x16!

What's interesting is that I never needed to install any kexts for the card under OS X, and there was full QE/CI.

So that means it's nothing to do with the BIOS or my Snow Leopard install as I initially thought. It's certainly not a hardware fault on the motherboard and I can pretty much assume it's not a hardware fault with the GPU either, now that I see other members are having the same issue (even on Nvidia cards).

In Windows 7 I was able to use the ATI overdrive tool to adjust the speed of the fan etc, but there isn't an option to edit the PCI-e lanes. The tool also reported that the HSF was running at 30% speed. I'm not sure if that's normal for the card while it is idle, but it's certainly the cause for the increased noise I am getting.

So I really need help from the more experienced members here, please. I have a backup installation of OS X SL on my HDD, so I am willing to try any suggestions you may have as it's not a worry if the install becomes corrupt etc. Any information you might need to help diagnose the issue, just ask and I will be happy to provide that too.

Thanks

So you tested both cards in same slot? No other PCI-E cards? What is your system configuration?

Check out this thread http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=109046 for a possible answer.

 

[DrunknMunky]

Thanks for replying.

Yes I tested the 7900GT in the x16 slot (my Gigabyte P55A-UD3 only has one x16 slot).
My HD 4890 and 7900 GT cards are the only PCI-e devices I have, so I am unable to test more.

I read the topic you linked and decided to try playing GTA IV (the most system hungry game I have to test with right now), and see if it was a power saving feature of the 4890. Sadly it stayed at x4 the whole time..

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit & OS X SL 10.6.2
Intel i5 750 2.66GHz
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
XFX HD 4890
Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10600 RAM
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU

If there is anything else you need to know, just ask.

Over at the product page at XFX they recommend 500w PSU or greater..

500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/HD 4000series/4890.aspx

Just read this topic where the guy was experiencing his 4890 running with only 1 lane.

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12070

 

[DrunknMunky]

I've asked my friend if I can test the card in his pc next week. If it still reports x4 in his machine then I'll send an RMA request to XFX.

Still I'd be happy to hear suggestions in the mean time.

I tested the card today again with GTA IV and Crysis on Win7, oddly enough they both run fine without any slow down in FPS at all. I later found a forum where one member used a stock ATI Radeon 4890 with both 16 lanes and 4 lanes. The difference in frames was around 10%. Obviously that's not a huge difference, but it's still not acceptable really to be losing out on it when I shouldn't be.

Also the temps are 60 degrees idle with 30% fan and during load in both games increased to 70+degrees and 40%.

I'm not sure if using less lanes will make the card work harder or if that is just the natural temps under load for this card.

Either way I will report back anything else I find. Once I do have this working I'm replacing the HSF with an Arctic Cooling Accelero HSF

 

[DrunknMunky]

Finally got the chance to test the card in another computer and the result was even worse. It was only registering 1x lane. My friend's graphics card (can't remember what model it is, but it's another ATI) worked fine at x16 too.

The card is faulty and I'm trying to have XFX repair or replace it. So far they've asked me about drivers and errors. Obviously nothing wrong there, so now they are trying to pass the buck onto Gigabyte. I've already sent my mobo to GB recently though and there wasn't an issue with it, and I've tested a Nvidia 7900 card with my GB mobo which worked fine and it registered 16x straight away.