While testing the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, I encountered a recurring issue with active PCIe lanes. On PCIe 5.0 motherboards, the card often fails to run in x8 mode even in a x16 slot, starting instead in slower x1, x2, or x4 modes. The same behavior occurred across three RTX 5060 Ti models from MSI, Gainward, and Asus. The issue likely stems from how these motherboards handle compatibility with PCIe 5.0 graphics cards using eight lanes.
Performance comparison: PCIe 5.0 x1 vs. PCIe 5.0 x8 on the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti
Until now, we’ve mostly covered theory, detection, and synthetic tests, which aren’t always a true reflection of reality. So I ran a set of gaming benchmarks with the card operating in PCIe 5.0 x1 and PCIe 5.0 x8 modes. The performance difference was noticeable – usually between 0% and 8%, but occasionally dipping as much as 20%.
| Gainward GF RTX 5060 Ti Python III, 16 GB, x8 | Gainward GF RTX 5060 Ti Python III, 16 GB, x1 | RTX 5060 Ti, PCIe x1 vs PCIe x8 difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, scaling off, 1920 × 1080 | 124.2 fps | 118.7 fps | 95.6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 1920 × 1080 | 87.0 fps | 86.0 fps | 98.9 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., 1920 × 1080 | 160.8 fps | 150.5 fps | 93.6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 269.8 fps | 253.8 fps | 94.1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, scaling off, 1920 × 1080 | 55.3 fps | 53.2 fps | 96.2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 1920 × 1080 | 53.0 fps | 51.3 fps | 96.8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., 1920 × 1080 | 105.0 fps | 97.7 fps | 93.0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 183.5 fps | 173.1 fps | 94.3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, scaling off, 1920 × 1080 | 30,5 fps | 30,1 fps | 98,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 nat. AA, 1920 × 1080 | 29,8 fps | 29,4 fps | 98,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., 1920 × 1080 | 79,4 fps | 74,9 fps | 94,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., fg 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 135,7 fps | 135,9 fps | 100,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, scaling off, 2560 × 1440 | 78,9 fps | 76,4 fps | 96,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 2560 × 1440 | 51,5 fps | 50,5 fps | 98,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., 2560 × 1440 | 113,7 fps | 109,0 fps | 95,9 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 189,3 fps | 184,9 fps | 97,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, scaling off, 2560 × 1440 | 34,2 fps | 33,6 fps | 98,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 2560 × 1440 | 32,9 fps | 32,1 fps | 97,6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., 2560 × 1440 | 71,5 fps | 68,1 fps | 95,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 120,9 fps | 120,0 fps | 99,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, scaling off, 2560 × 1440 | 18,5 fps | 18,3 fps | 98,9 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 nat. AA, 2560 × 1440 | 18,0 fps | 17,8 fps | 98,9 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., 2560 × 1440 | 53,3 fps | 51,2 fps | 96,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., fg 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 89,7 fps | 91,8 fps | 102,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, scaling off, 3840 × 2160 | 34,1 fps | 33,7 fps | 98,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 3840 × 2160 | 21,7 fps | 21,8 fps | 100,5 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., 3840 × 2160 | 56,3 fps | 54,8 fps | 97,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 89,2 fps | 88,8 fps | 99,6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, scaling off, 3840 × 2160 | 16,2 fps | 16,1 fps | 99,4 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 nat. AA, 3840 × 2160 | 15,6 fps | 15,1 fps | 96,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., 3840 × 2160 | 36,9 fps | 35,9 fps | 97,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, FSR3 bal., fg 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 60,8 fps | 60,1 fps | 98,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, scaling off, 3840 × 2160 | 8,6 fps | 8,6 fps | 100,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 nat. AA, 3840 × 2160 | 8,4 fps | 8,3 fps | 98,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., 3840 × 2160 | 27,7 fps | 27,2 fps | 98,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, FSR3 perf., fg 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 45,2 fps | 44,9 fps | 99,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLAA, transf., 1920 × 1080 | 52,2 fps | 50,1 fps | 96,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., 1920 × 1080 | 101,1 fps | 92,0 fps | 91,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., fg 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 163,1 fps | 151,4 fps | 92,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal. + frame gen. 4×, 1920 × 1080 | 282,7 fps | 266,0 fps | 94,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLAA, transf., 1920 × 1080 | 30,7 fps | 29,8 fps | 97,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., 1920 × 1080 | 81,0 fps | 74,4 fps | 91,9 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 134,9 fps | 126,4 fps | 93,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 4×, 1920 × 1080 | 239,0 fps | 226,0 fps | 94,6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLAA, transf., 2560 × 1440 | 32,0 fps | 32,0 fps | 100,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., 2560 × 1440 | 69,0 fps | 65,0 fps | 94,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., fg 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 108,0 fps | 104,0 fps | 96,3 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., fg 4×, 2560 × 1440 | 185,0 fps | 179,0 fps | 96,8 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLAA, transf., 2560 × 1440 | 19,0 fps | 18,0 fps | 94,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., 2560 × 1440 | 55,0 fps | 52,0 fps | 94,5 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 90,0 fps | 86,0 fps | 95,6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 4×, 2560 × 1440 | 157,0 fps | 151,0 fps | 96,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLAA, transf., 3840 × 2160 | 15,0 fps | 15,0 fps | 100,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., 3840 × 2160 | 36,0 fps | 35,0 fps | 97,2 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal., transf., fg 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 60,0 fps | 58,0 fps | 96,7 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Ultra, DLSS bal. + frame gen. 4×, 3840 × 2160 | 104,0 fps | 101,0 fps | 97,1 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLAA, transf., 3840 × 2160 | 8,0 fps | 8,0 fps | 100,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., 3840 × 2160 | 29,0 fps | 28,0 fps | 96,6 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 50,0 fps | 48,0 fps | 96,0 % |
| Cyberpunk 2077, RT Overdrive, DLSS perf., transf., fg 4×, 3840 × 2160 | 88,0 fps | 87,0 fps | 98,9 % |
| F1 24, high, TAA, 1920 × 1080 | 183,0 fps | 148,0 fps | 80,9 % |
| F1 24, high, TAA, 2560 × 1440 | 147,3 fps | 129,0 fps | 87,6 % |
| F1 24, high, TAA, 3480 × 2160 | 96,0 fps | 93,3 fps | 97,2 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, TAA, 1920 × 1080 | 73,0 fps | 70,3 fps | 96,3 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, TAA, 2560 × 1440 | 52,7 fps | 51,3 fps | 97,3 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, TAA, 3480 × 2160 | 28,0 fps | 28,0 fps | 100,0 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal., 1920 × 1080 | 95,7 fps | 89,3 fps | 93,3 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal., 2560 × 1440 | 79,7 fps | 75,7 fps | 95,0 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal., 3480 × 2160 | 52,7 fps | 51,7 fps | 98,1 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal. + frame gen. 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 169,7 fps | 146,0 fps | 86,0 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal. + frame gen. 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 137,7 fps | 123,0 fps | 89,3 % |
| F1 24, ultra high, FSR bal. + frame gen. 2×, 3480 × 2160 | 86,0 fps | 85,0 fps | 98,8 % |
| F1 24, DLAA, 1920 × 1080 | 59,0 fps | 57,0 fps | 96,6 % |
| F1 24, DLAA, 2560 × 1440 | 44,3 fps | 43,0 fps | 97,1 % |
| F1 24, DLAA, 3840 × 2160 | 25,0 fps | 25,0 fps | 100,0 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., 1920 × 1080 | 82,0 fps | 76,3 fps | 93,0 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., 2560 × 1440 | 69,0 fps | 64,0 fps | 92,8 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., 3840 × 2160 | 48,0 fps | 46,0 fps | 95,8 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., frame gen. 2×, 1920 × 1080 | 140,0 fps | 132,3 fps | 94,5 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., frame gen. 2×, 2560 × 1440 | 112,0 fps | 105,0 fps | 93,8 % |
| F1 24, DLSS Bal., frame gen. 2×, 3840 × 2160 | 69,0 fps | 68,0 fps | 98,6 % |
| Metro Exodus EE, Extreme, 1920 × 1080 | 60,2 fps | 56,1 fps | 93,2 % |
| Metro Exodus EE, Extreme, 2560 × 1440 | 50,6 fps | 47,5 fps | 93,9 % |
| Metro Exodus EE, Extreme, 3840 × 2160 | 34,6 fps | 33,0 fps | 95,4 % |
The 8GB version is the one you should be testing for PCIe bottleneck, not the 16GB.
I don’t think it matters much in this case. Interestingly, the biggest performance drops happen with settings that are actually less demanding on memory.
Mobos Asus strix z370-h
CPU QTJ1 (i9-10980HK)
Ram 2x16gb ddr4
Rtx5060Ti 8gb…
Damn! Always downgrade to pcie 2.0 instead pcie 3.0 like my old rtx3060ti!
Windows 10 (last driver) and debian Linux bookworm kernel 6.12.32 (driver 575)
Considering plus last firmware official