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**parsec** · 10-29-2013, 12:58 PM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

The question is, what BIOS version are you using?

You must use the 3.20 BIOS version with your new i7-4930K. That BIOS allows the use of Ivy Bridge E processors like your new one.

If you did not update to BIOS 3.20, you must do that carefully since it also updates the board's IME firmware.

Just tell us what BIOS version you have now.

**Mr_nUUb** · 10-29-2013, 02:09 PM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

I updated to UEFI Version L3.21 before installing the new CPU.

Since NOTHING seems to work properly, I decided to put the 3930K back in and use PCIe 2.0.
I was tinkering for a week now, and I really do not want to put more effort into it.
I'll send the 4930K back and OC the 3930K. Works much better and is stable -.-

I guess I just have a bad board, since DDR3-2400 isn't working, too.

BTW: I had to force PCIe 3.0 with this nVidia patch (no guarantee it would work properly).
nVidia only enables PCIe 3.0 for Ivy-Bridge-E and GTX 780 or Titans, there are no plans to implement it for the Geforce 600 series.

**odiebugs** · 10-29-2013, 08:32 PM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

The pci-e 3.0 is a joke, nothing can use it, there is no difference between the card on a patched 2.0 and 3.0. The patch was designed for the 600 series, it was out before the 700 even came out,
so not sure where you get it wasn't. But it's not about the card anyway, it's about the pci-e controller.

The Ivy -b-e enables 3.0 on the bridge, any card that is 3.0, which the 600 series is is going to be considered 3.0. Saying- (only enables PCIe 3.0 for Ivy-Bridge-E and GTX 780 or Titans, there are no plans to implement it for the Geforce 600 series.)
Is wrong.

It would be the same as placing a Sata 3 SSD on the new Sata -E, you can't do better then what the SSD can achieve.

**parsec** · 10-29-2013, 09:50 PM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

Originally posted by Mr_nUUb View Post

I updated to UEFI Version L3.21 before installing the new CPU.

Since NOTHING seems to work properly, I decided to put the 3930K back in and use PCIe 2.0.
I was tinkering for a week now, and I really do not want to put more effort into it.
I'll send the 4930K back and OC the 3930K. Works much better and is stable -.-

I guess I just have a bad board, since DDR3-2400 isn't working, too.

BTW: I had to force PCIe 3.0 with this nVidia patch (no guarantee it would work properly).
nVidia only enables PCIe 3.0 for Ivy-Bridge-E and GTX 780 or Titans, there are no plans to implement it for the Geforce 600 series.

My point in asking about the BIOS version is the Ivy Bridge processor compatible BIOS must be installed before an IVB-E processor can be used without issues. That BIOS update includes an Intel Management Engine firmware update, that is done while the PC reboots after the BIOS update is complete. The USB flash drive must be left in the PC during the reboot for the IME firmware update to happen. The INF file installation program must also be run, and a new version of the IME software installed as well. We don't know if you did those things. If you did not complete all those steps, that would explain why your IVB-E processor (4930K) was not working correctly.

The beta BIOS 3.21 came after 3.20, so should have the IVB-E updates in it. The instructions for performing this critical BIOS update are not obvious (to say the least) and all the steps must be done or it won't work right.

Does your BIOS have an option to enable PCI-E 3.0? That is usually in the "Northbridge Configuration" menu, even though the PCI-E support is provided by the IVB CPU. The X79 board itself should not be a limiting factor for PCI-E 3.0, since all it does is provide the connections from the PCI-E x 16 lanes to the CPU, and the number of PCI-E 3.0 lanes on an IVB-E processor is the same as the number of PCI-E 2.0 lanes on a SB-E processor (40.) (Odie, please confirm this!)

My ASR Z77 board with an IVB processor (i5-3570K) has PCI-E 3.0 support, and a GTX 650 card I used with it was at 8Gb/s speeds.

Is the Nvidia patch for PCI-E 3.0 still needed for X79 boards using an IVB-E processor? I doubt it, and that should be removed if possible, or will that take a fresh video driver installation, or OS installation, or editing of the registry? GTX 600 cards support PCI-E 3.0 on their own.

Plus the ASR X79 EX 4 board does not have the add-on "plex" chips to provide (fake) PCI-E 3.0 support, so I would think it would be easier to get it working at PCI-E 3.0 speeds.

Odie, what am I missing here about X79 and all this, if anything?

**Mr_nUUb** · 10-30-2013, 02:39 AM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

To clarify a few things:

I'm not a noob at PCs, building PCs, BIOS/UEFI and BIOS/UEFI modding, but I'm loosing my hair because of this issue.
I updated to UEFI version L3.21 before installing the new CPU. Afterwards I installed the 4930K CPU.
I checked the Intel ME FW version, it's version 8.whatever (before: 7.whatever).
Then I enabled PCIe Gen 3 in UEFI.
I did a fresh install of Windows 8, updated to Windows 8.1 and installed all drivers after updating to 8.1 (chipset and ME drivers from ASRock support website, other drivers from corresponding websites).
The nVidia Control Panel still said PCIe 2.0.
I googled a bit, this is what I found: nVidia has absolutely no plans on enabling PCIe 3.0 for X79, IB-E and Geforce 600 series. Only Geforce GTX 780 and Titan are supported for X79 with IB-E CPU. SB-E isn't supported at all, this patch is not guaranteed to work.
So the patch is still needed, because otherwise I would need to buy 2 GTX 780 cards or some AMD cards (without PhysX support? Definitely a no-go!)
Even with IB-E CPU, UEFI settings and the patch, nothings is working as expected. PCIe 3.0 is extremely unstable with my setup and with PCIe 2.0 I don't reach the desired OC.

I am really disappointed. This is excellent harassment from nVidia. They produce PCIe 3.0 compliant hardware and disable it for enthusiast systems.
I'm disappointed in ASRock and/or G.Skill, because the RAM isn't running at desired speeds (DDR3-2400).
I'm disappointed in Intel, for compatibility issues when downgrading a IB-E to SB-E CPU (need to install Windows again, otherwise the login screen won't load).

Since PCIe 3.0 isn't working at all and I don't see a solution anywhere, I downgraded to 3930K and sent the 4930K back.
There is no point in using a 4930K, when PCIe 3.0 isn't working and the stable OC clocks are lower.

Source (Post 4 and 6)

@odiebugs: I'm aware, that the Geforce 600 series is capable of PCIe 3.0, BUT the driver is limiting it to PCIe 2.0. You still need the "force enable" patch from nVidia. PCIe 3.0 is automatically enabled, if the driver (or setup?) detects an IB-E CPU and a Geforce GTX 780 or Titan card.

**Mr_nUUb** · 10-30-2013, 06:40 AM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

OK, I give up on understanding odiebugs post...

For gaming, PCIe 3.0 is irrelevant, I fully understand this. But what do you want to tell me besides that?

Tere is no such thing as a north or south bridge on a X79 system, there is simply the CPU and the PCH.
The CPU consists of the classical CPU, a memory controller, a PCIe controller and the DMI controller.
The PCH consists of SATA, USB, some PCIe 2.0 x1, and DMI (and some other thingys).

So there is no "bridge" that magically enables PCIe 3.0 if an IB-E CPU is installed. The CPU itself provides it.

**odiebugs** · 10-30-2013, 06:56 AM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

Originally posted by Mr_nUUb View Post

To clarify a few things:

I'm not a noob at PCs, building PCs, BIOS/UEFI and BIOS/UEFI modding, but I'm loosing my hair because of this issue.
I updated to UEFI version L3.21 before installing the new CPU. Afterwards I installed the 4930K CPU.
I checked the Intel ME FW version, it's version 8.whatever (before: 7.whatever).
Then I enabled PCIe Gen 3 in UEFI.
I did a fresh install of Windows 8, updated to Windows 8.1 and installed all drivers after updating to 8.1 (chipset and ME drivers from ASRock support website, other drivers from corresponding websites).
The nVidia Control Panel still said PCIe 2.0.
I googled a bit, this is what I found: nVidia has absolutely no plans on enabling PCIe 3.0 for X79, IB-E and Geforce 600 series. Only Geforce GTX 780 and Titan are supported for X79 with IB-E CPU. SB-E isn't supported at all, this patch is not guaranteed to work.
So the patch is still needed, because otherwise I would need to buy 2 GTX 780 cards or some AMD cards (without PhysX support? Definitely a no-go!)
Even with IB-E CPU, UEFI settings and the patch, nothings is working as expected. PCIe 3.0 is extremely unstable with my setup and with PCIe 2.0 I don't reach the desired OC.

I am really disappointed. This is excellent harassment from nVidia. They produce PCIe 3.0 compliant hardware and disable it for enthusiast systems.
I'm disappointed in ASRock and/or G.Skill, because the RAM isn't running at desired speeds (DDR3-2400).
I'm disappointed in Intel, for compatibility issues when downgrading a IB-E to SB-E CPU (need to install Windows again, otherwise the login screen won't load).

Since PCIe 3.0 isn't working at all and I don't see a solution anywhere, I downgraded to 3930K and sent the 4930K back.
There is no point in using a 4930K, when PCIe 3.0 isn't working and the stable OC clocks are lower.

Source (Post 4 and 6)

***********Please post the URL from the Nvidia website, or the release notes that state the 600 will not run at 3.0 on a X79 on Ivy, and only the 7 series.

I didn't say north or south bridge, it was a reference to the slots from CPU. How about you saying, you installed chipset drivers, ROLOL.

**Mr_nUUb** · 10-30-2013, 07:51 AM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

There are no release notes, there is just this page for the force enabler and this with some statements of nVidia employee ManuelG (Post 4 and Post 6).

And then there is this...

Original post:

I really don't know how often I should explain it...

I updated my BIOS
installed the new CPU
set PCIe 3.0 in BIOS
installed Windows
updated Windows
installed EVERY driver, including chipset
looked in nVidia Control Panel, says PCIe 2.0
force enabled it for the nVidia driver, because the driver limits PCIe support in X79 systems, because there was only SB-E when the X79 platform was released and nVidia didn't remove the limiter
rebooted
system got extremely unstable and unusable
tinkered a week for NOTHING
downgraded to SB-E
installed Windows again
updated Windows again
installed every driver again
system is stable and usable again

To the DDR3-2400 memory: mainboard says yes, RAM says yes, BIOS configured correctly, system unstable
For the PCIe limit/force enabler patch: source, and one of my previous posts.
IMHO, the PCIe limiter just looks for X79 and the installed GPU - nothing else.

**odiebugs** · 10-30-2013, 05:33 PM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

I wouldn't have posted the Patch page, as it says nothing that you claim. Absolutely ZERO.

The 3.0 spec has nothing to do with Nvidia disabling anything. The X79 running Ivy B-e has 3.0.

The only mention of drivers is, ( Therefore we’ve decided to only support and guarantee PCI Express 2.0 bus speeds on X79/SNB-E with our standard release drivers. )

Number 8, How you say ( because the driver limits PCIe support in X79 systems, )

Smart move sending back the Ivy, it was Intel's money scam, useless 3.0, almost useless power saving, and in two years only a 3-5% boost, and only in a few real world apps.

To have a 2011 pin count with only 2- Sata 3 when a 1150 pin count has 6, and the 1150 300.00 CPU can match or beat a 1000.00 CPU (i7-4960x). The Intel scam of itself.

Save the money for X99, where we might actually get something for the money. More of luck that you had a problem, instead of wasting money.

If you have any problems OC the Sandy CPU, you might need to revert to the last Sandy Bios.

**Mr_nUUb** · 10-31-2013, 01:56 AM

Re: ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

@odiebugs: read post 4 and 6 from ManuelG...

And why the **** do you tell me, that I am wrong when I have seen it with my own eyes?
And now GET THE **** OUT OF MY THREAD!

Anyways, I'm outta here and I won't come back. Well done odiebugs, well done...

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ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

ASRock X79 Extreme4 and PCIe 3.0

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