Two weeks ago, we published an article about issues with PCIe 5.0 slot speeds on newer graphics cards in certain motherboards. After powering on the PC, the slot often failed to initialize correctly, causing graphics cards to start with fewer active lanes than expected. With the new GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, the card was booting in PCIe 5.0 x1 or x2 mode nearly every other time. Gigabyte investigated the issue and addressed it with the F5a BIOS update.
Two weeks ago, I addressed in the article GeForce RTX 5060 Ti PCIe Lanes Problem: Do You Have This Issue? the issue of the number of active lanes on the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti on certain motherboards.
During testing of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti from several manufacturers, I encountered a recurring issue with the number of active PCIe lanes. Nvidia limited the number of lanes in the PCIe 5.0 slot to eight for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. As if that weren’t enough, it often happened that upon booting the computer, the card didn’t start in the expected PCIe 5.0 ×8 mode, but instead had only one, two, or four PCI Express lanes active. This occurred across various card brands (MSI, Asus, Gainward), and I encountered the lanes issue on three different builds, including the latest generation motherboards with the X870 chipset and a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor.
On the ASUS Prime Z690-P motherboard for the LGA1700 platform with a Core i7-13700K processor, where the cards consistently started with only one active PCIe 5.0 lane, the issue was due to a long-outdated BIOS, and everything was resolved by updating to the latest version. However, on the AMD AM5 platform test setups with the X870 Aorus Elite WIFI7 motherboard from Gigabyte, even updating to the latest available BIOS version F4 from March 13, 2025, did not help.
What makes this especially tricky is that the number of active lanes didn’t remain consistent. It could change with every system reboot, so checking the slot speed just once is not enough.
After ruling out potential causes on my end, I began addressing the issue directly with Gigabyte support through their local representative. While testing the same type of motherboard, the manufacturer identified the issue and most likely fixed it with a new BIOS update.
Which motherboards and graphics cards are affected?
The issue with PCIe lane initialization was particularly noticeable with the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. The card is supposed to start with eight lanes, but sometimes it comes up with just x1, x2, or x4 instead. The issue can also occur even when the PCIe bus speed is limited to Gen 4. If the card initially started with fewer lanes, restarting the PC one or more times without shutting it down usually resolved the issue and initialized the card with the full eight lanes on Gigabyte boards.
However, even higher-end models with a full x16 PCIe interface aren’t immune to the problem. While the issue is less common, I’ve occasionally seen the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 also initialize with only eight lanes. In the previous article, I mentioned that I hadn’t encountered this problem with Radeon cards. However, after analyzing a larger set of logs, I did find a few instances where the Radeon RX 9070 XT was running on just four lanes after startup.
It’s hard to say how many motherboards are affected among users. What I can say for sure is that the problem may occur with some Asus boards running very old BIOS versions. When PCIe 5.0 graphics cards didn’t exist yet, there was no way to verify compatibility. It’s reasonable to assume that, in some cases, PCIe 5.0 graphics cards may not work reliably with outdated BIOS versions, and that a BIOS update might be needed.
That said, even with an up-to-date BIOS, I encountered issues on my dedicated GPU test rig. The issue definitely affects the X870 Aorus Elite WIFI7 boards. In contrast, the model X870E Aorus Elite WIFI7 with the better-equipped X870E chipset does not suffer from this issue; lane initialization worked properly.
It’s unclear whether other Gigabyte motherboard models are affected. However, the F5a BIOS updates containing the fix were released at the same time for a wide range of Gigabyte boards, including models with different chipsets.
I can’t say for certain whether the update was primarily intended to fix the PCIe initialization issue, as the new firmware version also includes an updated AGESA and improved memory compatibility.
Therefore, I strongly recommend occasionally checking the PCIe bus speed after startup on Gigabyte boards—regardless of the card installed in the slot.
Is your card running at full speed?
The quickest and easiest way to check the PCIe bus status—for free—is directly in Windows using GPU-Z. Make sure to download the latest version – the first one with official support for RTX 5060 Ti is 2.65.1. Older versions don’t recognize the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti properly and incorrectly report it as having sixteen PCIe 5.0 lanes. GPU-Z correctly shows PCIe x8 5.0 starting with version 2.65.1. The card’s current operating mode is displayed after the @ symbol in the Bus Interface field.
Depending on GPU load, the PCIe generation may drop (for example, from Gen 5.0 to Gen 1.1) to save power. By clicking the question mark next to the Bus Interface field, you can launch a synthetic load that should force the bus to run at full speed.
On Gigabyte boards, the PCIe bus status is also shown directly in the graphical UEFI interface. In Advanced Mode, you’ll find it under the System Info tab. If you’re using an RTX 5060 Ti with eight PCIe lanes in a PCIe ×16 slot and see anything other than @5.0 x8, there’s a problem.
You’ll get more reliable detection by using tests specifically focused on bus throughput. One option is the PCI Express Feature Test from the 3DMark suite, although it’s only available in the paid Advanced Edition or higher. While the measured speeds differed slightly from theoretical bandwidth, the deviation was only a few gigabytes per second.
Fewer PCI Express lanes = lower performance
Fewer active lanes mean slower communication between the graphics card and the rest of the computer, which can cause performance drops. How much depends on the type of load and how much data needs to be transferred across the bus. The following table shows the theoretical maximum bandwidths expected for different PCI Express versions and corresponding active lane counts:
| Version | Line code | Transfer rate (per lane) |
×1 | ×2 | ×4 | ×8 | ×16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 8b/10b | 2.5 GT/s | 0.250 GB/s | 0.500 GB/s | 1.000 GB/s | 2.000 GB/s | 4.000 GB/s |
| 2.0 | 8b/10b | 5.0 GT/s | 0.500 GB/s | 1.000 GB/s | 2.000 GB/s | 4.000 GB/s | 8.000 GB/s |
| 3.0 | NRZ | 8.0 GT/s | 0.985 GB/s | 1.969 GB/s | 3.938 GB/s | 7.877 GB/s | 15.754 GB/s |
| 4.0 | 128b/130b | 16.0 GT/s | 1.969 GB/s | 3.938 GB/s | 7.877 GB/s | 15.754 GB/s | 31.508 GB/s |
| 5.0 | 128b/130b | 32.0 GT/s | 3.938 GB/s | 7.877 GB/s | 15.754 GB/s | 31.508 GB/s | 63.015 GB/s |
From this, it’s clear that the theoretical bandwidth of the PCIe 5.0 bus, when reduced to eight lanes, drops from 63.015 GB/s to 31.5 GB/s. In the worst-case scenario, when the card boots in the slowest mode of PCIe 5.0 x1, bandwidth may fall as low as 4 GB/s.
Performance loss in games when running in PCIe 5.0 x1 mode instead of PCIe 5.0 x8 ranged from 80–100%, depending on the test and graphics settings. On average, performance dropped by 4%, often by up to 8%, and in rare cases even by 19%. The performance drop was more noticeable at lower resolutions, for which the card is intended.
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I have the same problem. I have the GB AORUS Elite X870 WIFI7 and the GB AERO RTX 5060Ti 16GB. The system already had BIOS F5a before installing the 5060Ti. Before that, the GB AERO RTX 4060 8GB ran on my system without any problems. The new 5060Ti very rarely runs with PCI-E 5×8. Most of the time it is connected with PCI-E 5×1 or 2 after booting. This is very annoying and I have already flashed the BIOS but to no avail. The error still persists.
I’m at a loss. I’ve contacted Gigabyte Support, but it can take a long time for a response.
Thanks for letting us know. I was starting to think I was the only one who had a problem with it. But I guess not many people notice.
I’ll let the people I’ve addressed it with know and see what they say. It might take a little longer, partly because of the time difference and partly because everyone’s dealing with Computex right now.
It should still be resolved faster than through standard support, where they’ll just recommend the usual steps like uninstalling drivers, loading BIOS defaults, and other standard procedures.
They weren’t able to tell me which boards might have this issue, but it was supposed to be fixed with F5a. Apparently, it’s still not fixed on all of them.
It’s definitely not fixed. I’ve tried everything humanly possible to find the error, but unfortunately, so far, without success. It’s still a lottery whether the computer boots with 8 or fewer lanes. This is a sad state of affairs. I’m hoping for a new BIOS from Gigabyte. Previously, my RTX 4060 ran perfectly with 8 lanes on the WIFI7 board. I really hope you can achieve something better. Thanks.
Same issue here too. I have the GB AORUS Elite X870 WIFI7 with an rtx 5080. I had to run it in gen 4 to get it to work. System was running unstable with it on Auto or on gen 5. Have there been any update on getting this to work on gen 5 from Gigabyte?
Diego, Hello
So far, no solution has been found from Gigabyte Support. (This has been going on for a few weeks now. The problem is the response time from support: it can take up to six days for a response, which is catastrophic.) You should also open a ticket with Gigabyte e-support to expedite the process.
Hi -!
I actually managed to get a response, they provided what appears to be an unreleased bios version F6, however the issue still persisted after the flash. I provided a response back about this and will wait for the next steps.
Diego, Hi / Very interesting. I’ve been in contact with Gigabyte support for weeks, but I haven’t received an F6 beta. I hope this problem will finally be resolved in the long run; I’m slowly running out of energy.
I am also experiencing this issue with 5070ti on msi x670e. Latest bios does not resolve. Enabling spread spectrum eliminates freezes but it still runs at lower gen.
Hmm, so this is something that also affects other motherboards besides Gigabyte… thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂
I am experiancing this issue with my Asus Prime 5070Ti with an Asus x870e-e motherboard
It randomly changes pice lane speed from a cold boot or restart intermittently.
Hi,
The issue I had wasn’t with the bus speed, but with the number of active PCIe lanes changing randomly on pc startup.
What you’re describing seems to be the correct function and proper behavior.
Why Your PCIe Lane Speed Changes
This is normal behavior and not a fault. It’s caused by a power-saving feature called Active State Power Management (ASPM).
When Idle: When your GPU isn’t doing much (like browsing the web or showing the desktop), the system automatically lowers the PCIe link speed (e.g., from 5.0 to 1.1) to save power and reduce heat.
Under Load: As soon as you launch a game or any demanding application, the speed instantly ramps up to its maximum (e.g., PCIe 5.0 x16) to ensure you get full performance.
How to Verify It’s Working Correctly
You can easily confirm this is working as intended using the free tool GPU-Z.
If the speed increases during the test, your hardware is behaving exactly as it should.
Hi, thank you for your reply.
Here are a few screen shots of the issue im having
https://imgur.com/a/yDYSNCA
this second screenshot is the one in full screen render
https://imgur.com/a/doxv1Dw
Most times when I boot into windows it works as you have described but sometimes it gets stuck at 4.0 x 16 as shown.
I am using lastest bios version 1701, windows 11 with all latest updates.
This is the only problem I have with this motherboard everything else works flawlessly.
My cpu is a 9950x3d
RAM is CORSAIR DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB DDR5 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 6000MHz CL30 running in expo II
I have no overlocks or undervolts everything is default in bios.
I have spent so many hours of the last month trying to find a fix but I cant find one that fixes this issue.
Anymore help would be appreciated.
Hi , I have this problem too, a new build 4090 strix oc , 7800x3d and MB is gigabyte aorus master x670e.
I’ve had issues were the pc boots to a resolution of 800×600 even though the screen is 1600×3840 , a when does this GPUZ can see the card but there are no details.
When it does boot at the correct resolution windows is slow and laggy , programs like GPUZ take 30s too open , if you move a window across the screen it lags and freezes.
GPUZ shows the pci express lanes as 16×4.0 @ 16×1.1 sometimes 2.0 this doesn’t change running heaven benchmark and 3dmark ends up freezing the pc.
The FPS in heaven is 7-8 fps. The power draw for the 4090 is 80 watts.
I think windows is laggy because the nvme it’s install on share bandwidth with the no.1 pce express slot , if it’s only running at 1.1 everything windows loads to ram is taking longer.
I updated the bios when setting up last month so will check for updates.
The gpu is on a riser cable so I’m going to put it into no.2 slot and see what happens.
Thanks for sharing your experience. 80 W on an RTX 4090 is really low. So it seems this (issue with activating a limited number of PCIe lanes) also involves GeForce RTX 40 graphics cards? 🙂
This bug solves?? any updates