GTX 980 Stuck in PCI-E 3.0 x4 and PCI-E 2.0 x8

[swluther]

Hello, I'm new to the forums so excuse me if anything.

I recently upgraded my hardware and after reinstalling Windows I ran a test with GPU-Z to see if my drivers were okay. I found out my card was reporting support for PCI-E 3.0 x16 but it wouldn't go above x4 even at load.

After trying a few older nvidia drivers, I decided to open my case and see if there was anything wrong with my card, then I found out one of the small capacitors next to the PCI-E tracks was missing. I must have hit something when putting it back on my new motherboard.

Is it possible to resolder another capacitor in there? And what capacitor would I need?

I have a few cards but their capacitors gave me readings of 100 nF, while the one in my GTX 980 was 198~220nF.

I own a EVGA GTX 980 ACX 2.0 .



Thanks

 

[Caring1]

It is possible to replace it, if you have the tools.
Try a lead pencil first to bridge it and see if it helps.

 

[Recon-UK]

Compare it to benchmarks and see if it's hurting performance, Gen 3.0 at x4 is 2.0 x8 i think and 1.0 x16 and that's not going to hold a 980 back.

 

[Kanan]

PCI-E 3.0 4x is like 1-2% performance loss, tops. There are tests here on TPU + hardocp.

 

[swluther]

It is possible to replace it, if you have the tools.
Try a lead pencil first to bridge it and see if it helps.

I wouldn't know how to do that. A friend of mine was going to solder another capacitor in there for me but we don't know which one to use. The other small capacitors read 198~200 nF, and we tried a 200nF capacitor. But after soldering it dropped to 10 nF.
The other 3 GPU cards I have with similar sized capacitors read 100nF though.

Compare it to benchmarks and see if it's hurting performance, Gen 3.0 at x4 is 2.0 x8 i think and 1.0 x16 and that's not going to hold a 980 back.

I know, but if there's a chance I can replace it and it's not difficult I would like to try

 

[Kanan]

Good luck and don't mess up the card even more

 

[biffzinker]

Any chance of getting a closer photo of that spot? Macro photo possible?

Edit: I'm working off the assumption that if you knocked one off it's possible the solder for the others might be compromised. Of course you could yourself use a magnifying glass to look at them.

 

[swluther]

Any chance of getting a closer photo of that spot? Macro photo possible?

Edit: I'm working off the assumption that if you knocked one off it's possible the solder for the others might be compromised. Of course you could yourself use a magnifying glass to look at them.

Yea, that was the first thing we checked and to be honest, I'm not even sure how I managed to hit that one without messing with the other capacitors.. They're perfectly soldered on the board, only that one fell off.

I actually got another image of the card:

http://i.imgur.com/9855ods.jpg

 

[dont whant to set it"']

I have a few cards but their capacitors gave me readings of 100 nF, while the one in my GTX 980 was 198~220nF.

I own a EVGA GTX 980 ACX 2.0 .

Thanks

It is posible to find a capacitor with closer ratings to chiped on in other areas of sayd donor cards,I'm assuminf here you got a capacimeter.

 

[swluther]

It is posible to find a capacitor with closer ratings to chiped on in other areas of sayd donor cards,I'm assuminf here you got a capacimeter.

Yes I do have a capacimeter. I have a few graphic cards with similar sized capacitors but they're all 100 nF. The Capacitors in my GTX 980 are 200 nF capacitance.

The one 200nF capacitor we tried to solder actually dropped to 10nF after soldering and testing it with the capacimeter. So I'm not really sure what capacitor I should use in there.

Not sure if I should try using one of the 100nF Capacitors from the other graphic cards I have.

 

[mobiuus]

once i had the same problem on my gtx 770 but not the with the capacitor issue... i also tryed different drivers but then i got advice to take the card out reset cmos and it worked.
Maybe before u start the hardware mod u try
a few times more inserting the card in...

 

[swluther]

once i had the same problem on my gtx 770 but not the with the capacitor issue... i also tryed different drivers but then i got advice to take the card out reset cmos and it worked.
Maybe before u start the hardware mod u try
a few times more inserting the card in...

Yea already tried that. Also, If i use another graphics card it goes to pcie x16 without issues. It's definitely the missing capacitor that's causing this :/

Thanks tho.

 

[Ferrum Master]

You can use a range of them. Slap any DIP cap with flexible leads. There is plenty of space.

 

[Jetster]

Run a benchmark like Heaven 4.0 and post the score. Lets see where it is before you try anything

set everything to max at 1080

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/unigine-heaven-4-0-benchmark-scores.198888/

 

[swluther]

You can use a range of them. Slap any DIP cap with flexible leads. There is plenty of space.

View attachment 78685

Thank you, I'll try that and then post here with the results.