PCIe x2 3.0 on RTX 3060 after resetting cmos

[bael300]

As the title says it, its pretty straightforward. I tried resetting cmos because my rtx was constantly on x16 3.0 instead of 1.1 even while idle. I did the reset and it was a success, but when I chcked gpu z, pcie was x2 3.0.

What happened? Any ideas? Bios config seems okay, nothing wrong there. Is it possible the reset damaged the motherboard? Opinions if possible, please.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Knowing more about what sort of setup you are running would help immensely.

 

[bael300]

Knowing more about what sort of setup you are running would help immensely.

Rtx 3060 12 gb
I7 7700
Asrock z270 sli/br
500w setup
1 nvmie ssd and one SATA ssd
32 gb ddr4 RAM

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Can you go into the bios and manually set PCI-E to 3.0?

 

[bael300]

Can you go into the bios and manually set PCI-E to 3.0?

Already tried that, was really hoping it would work, sadly it did not

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Tried reseating your 3060?

If you have a spare computer available. It might be worthwhile taking your 3060 and plugging in to the spare computer just to see if the behaviour carries over

 

[bael300]

Tried reseating your 3060?

If you have a spare computer available. It might be worthwhile taking your 3060 and plugging in to the spare computer just to see if the behaviour carries over

I might try switching to my old gtx 1070ti or just reinstalling the rtx 3060, but tbh I'm puzzled, its weird that resetting the cmos had this effect. Gpt suggested reinstalling the cpu? Might try that too if gpu does not work.

 

[LabRat 891]

Most of the time, a GPU not handshaking all supported lanes is a mis-seated card or dust in the slot.

The PCIe generation being lower, is part of PCIe Power Management; that's normal.

 

[bael300]

Most of the time, a GPU not handshaking all supported lanes is a mis-seated card or dust in the slot.

The PCIe generation being lower, is part of PCIe Power Management; that's normal.

Might be that, its just weird that it happened right after resetting cmos. Maybe I touched something and that caused the motherboard to not recognize all pcie? Just hope reinstalling the gpu fixes it.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

The mode in which PCIe operates depends on the current needs. In this case, if the graphics card is not heavily loaded, it is normal for the reading to be as you describe. Start a heavy game or benchmark and double-check which PCIe version and how many lanes it shows in GPU-z, which should also be turned on while you are playing or benchmarking.

 

[bael300]

The mode in which PCIe operates depends on the current needs. In this case, if the graphics card is not heavily loaded, it is normal for the reading to be as you describe. Start a heavy game or benchmark and double-check which PCIe version and how many lanes it shows in GPU-z, which should also be turned on while you are playing or benchmarking.

I understand, whoever even when playing bg3 its still shows pcie x2 3.0. It runs fine, even staying at 60 fps and not stuttering, which is strange for a game like bg3 on high settings. Shouldnt it be laggy with pcie x2?

 

[TumbleGeorge]

I understand, whoever even when playing bg3 its still shows pcie x2 3.0. It runs fine, even staying at 60 fps and not stuttering, which is strange for a game like bg3 on high settings. Shouldnt it be laggy with pcie x2?

Perhaps this question should also be asked in the GPU-Z topic, in case it turns out to be not hardware problem.
There is a chance that the reading is incorrect due to some dependency that is not working after resetting the CMOS on MB.

 

[bael300]

I reinstalled the gpu and is now working fine, needed to clean the pcie connectors, they were quite dusty.

Perhaps this question should also be asked in the GPU-Z topic, in case it turns out to be not hardware problem.
There is a chance that the reading is incorrect due to some dependency that is not working after resetting the CMOS on MB

But its still always on pcie x16 3.0, never idle, I dont get it.

I reinstalled the gpu and is now working fine, needed to clean the pcie connectors, they were quite dusty.

 

[LabRat 891]

I reinstalled the gpu and is now working fine, needed to clean the pcie connectors, they were quite dusty.

Glad to hear it was that simple.
Quick (related) story: Years ago, I worked not-geeksquad as an onsite and in-store 'tech'.
Once, I had an old Dell entry-level Workstation no POST upon returning it to a customer's home. The machine worked on the bench before transit but, no POST in-home.
Turned out, dust migrated into the AGP slot on the car ride between the store and the customer's home. Treating the card like it was a game cartridge for a Nintendo and reseating the card immediately resolved the issue.

But its still always on pcie x16 3.0, never idle, I dont get it.

(probably) PCIE ActiveStatePowerManagement is disabled or, you have manually set that slot to gen3 in-BIOS. If the GPU's slot is set to anything other than Auto, it will never gear down to Gen 2 or Gen 1.1.


I've *had* a personal preference to manually-set the PCIe Gen. in-BIOS, myself. However, every single hardware swap I've done in 2025, I forgot that I'd set that and caused problems.

Nowadays, I only manually set PCIe Gen in-BIOS for stuff I expect having an issue at 'max handshake' (Riser'd and adapter'd stuff, mainly)

 

[archie_kaos]

Most of the time, a GPU not handshaking all supported lanes is a mis-seated card or dust in the slot.

The PCIe generation being lower, is part of PCIe Power Management; that's normal.

After i cleaned the Dust inside my Case - i had the same Problem. It was not dirt, the Card was mildly moved in the Slot when i used a Vacuum-Cleaner for the Case (not the Electronic-Parts). I took the Card outside of the Slot and reinserted the Card propely - that should help. There is always a minimal movement in the Slot even in reinforced Metal-Slots. This Problem is very common.

And you are 100 Percent right, the Powermanagment lowers the PCIe Version in lower States but NEVER the amount of Lanes connected. From 5.0 down to 1.1.