M17X single GTX 260m is only running at x8

Here a couple s/c I took. the 260m is a PCI-E x16 2.0, but in the M17x it is only at x8 2.0.

this is machine just idle

 

this is it running a game.

 

WOW what is going on ... i know the chipset splits it but its like redundant

 

I wouldn't worry about it, the PCI-E bandwidth is still more than enough; you have to remeber PCIE2 8x is equivalent to PCI-E (1) at 16x, which is more than sufficient for any single card.
It may well be a BIOS or a motherboard limitation, a similar thing was seen in early SLI/Crossfire motherboards, where they'd have 2x16 slots, but they'd only operate at 8x electrically. If it becomes a major issue; I'd imagine a BIOS update will be released if at all possible, but I really wouldn't worry, it won't effect your real world performance in the slightest

 

I also have a Dell XPS 630i with dual 9800gt in SLI they also pci-e x16 2.0, but they are running at x8 also. I read somewhere it's something dell does to the motherboards.

 

I'm not a PCI-e expert by any means, but is it possible that maybe these boards are scalable, and it will only run at x16 if it runs out of bandwidth at x8, which with these cards it shouldn't.

Edit: also maybe it's just a glitch within GPU-Z as it is also not reading the card 100% correctly.

 

Could load up ntune and see what it says under that . ill take a peak tomorrow if not.

 

Ntune blue screens my laptop nvoclk64.sys error

 

Which version did you download ? you need 6.05 .

 

i have 5.05, the one listed on a thread here. i'll get the new one

 

@jhosler: I get the same thing with my dual GTX 280Ms in SLI. i don't understand why it's not PCIE2 @ 16x since that's what the card is.

 

Yeah, not sure whats up, but in all honesty it's not really that big a deal, 8x PCI-e 2.0 has enough bandwidth to run a desktop GTX 280 without saturation, so I don't see any problems for a single mobile card, and in SLI the M17x runs both cards at 8x each also, so really nothing to worry about for SLI or future upgrades either really.

 

The chipset in these systems only supplies 20 PCI-e 2.0 lanes. So there will be 8x to each card. The manufacturer most likely hard wired this in as supposed to having it switchable since the board is designed for 2 cards anyways, and it will not be any tangible performance loss. Also reduces building cost by removing that switching logic.

As already mentioned, you will not be able to tell the difference between x8 and x16 since it is 2.0 bandwidth. If it makes you feel better, the pm45 in the m17 has the same pci-e limitation, 2 slots hardwired at x8 each.

 

how come my hw monitor shows up nvida 0x0862 underenith my gtx280?