diagnostic tool to test speed of PCI-E slot?

[sdsumike619]

Troubleshooting an issue and someone suggested that maybe my PCI Express slot isn't running at the speed it should be. Is there any kind of software utility to show the speed at which a card in a slot is running?

[redwudz]

I've used some of the PassMark software in the past for benchmarking. You might take a look at what they have available. https://passmark.com/

[sdsumike619]

Just looked on their site and didn't see anything that mentioned what I'm looking for specifically..

[redwudz]

OK. This link to Toms Hardware discusses what they use for PCI-E benchmarking: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pci-express-scaling-analysis,1572-8.html
Their site seems mostly for graphics, which I'm not sure is your problem.

And the site they seem to use: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark Scroll down a ways and you should see some freeware or inexpensive software.

[Nelson37]

What card, what mobo, and what issue are you dealing with?

Different utilities for different types of cards, slot speed very rarely an actual issue, usually a card/mobo compatibility problem and/or driver issue.

If the slot speed actually IS the issue, unless warranty covers it, no real fix other than parts replacement. Often the part is not actually defective, just not compatible, so you would need not just a new board, but a DIFFERENT one, and that would be EXTREMELY LOW on my list of probable actual cause of the problem.

There is an incredibly high number of know-nothing idiots who will offer an opinion, I would strongly suspect someone is blowing smoke up your ass, ESPECIALLY if this came from a support tech for the particular card and/or software that is the problem. Damn near an absolute guarantee.

Without specific info on the card, mobo, and actual problem, further assistance is not possible.

[jan5678]

I agree with nelson37

The pci express slots on a motherboard can run at different speeds and may not have all lanes electrical connected!
Even though it may be a physically full size slot!
So first check your motherboard manual and see how it is connected.
And check the card specifications so that they match the boards specs.

If they match there shouldn't be any speed or connectivity problems, but possibly in rare cases the bios/uefi won't/can't detect the card.

[sdsumike619]

Thanks for the replies. The board is an ASUS P8Z68V-PRO and the card is a Black Magic Design Intensity Pro 4K.
I actually spoke to tech support at ASUS briefly yesterday, and he said that if the card wasn't running at the correct speed, that it wouldn't work at all.
The problem I'm having, although I haven't done extensive thorough testing is that the video feed freezes sometimes and I have to unplug and plug back in the HDMI cable to my camcorder to re-establish the feed. From the last test we did several weeks ago, it seemed that the freeze happened when I moved the camcorder. When I reported this on the BMD forum, that's when someone said the only time he saw that happen was when the PCIE slot wasn't running at the speed it was supposed to.. And that led me to my question about diagnostic for testing the speed.
I had the card plugged into the black slot at the bottom of the board. So yesterday I tried moving it to the white slot.

[jan5678]

This is the board specs about expansion slots:

Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *1
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI

*1: The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot, PCIe x1_2 slot, USB3_34 and eSATA. The PCIe x16_3 default setting is in x1 mode.

So i think the white x16 slot is your best option, although those slots are actually meant for graphics card it should work

The black slot is not capable enough for this card according to the blackmagics specs:

Computer Interface
PCI Express 4 lane, compatible with 4, 8 and 16 lane PCIe slots.

unless the mode is set to x4 in bios (default is x1)

If you use the white slot, both blue and white slots will operate at x8 mode (at least that's what i understand from the specs)

[sdsumike619]

Yep you're correct. When I was using the black slot, I had gone into the bios and set it at X4, as I wasn't using the USB and eSata anyways.

In the first x16 slot, I have my video card. So now the capture card is in the second slot. Will have to do some testing and see how it goes.

I'm not much of a techy, so I really don't know what the difference between x4 and x8 means, but hopefully it will fix the problem

[Nelson37]

Well, X4 would be 4 times as fast as X1, and X8 would be twice as fast as X4, and X16 would be twice as fast as X8.

You have a very finicky, very demanding, high-performance card that requires all the performance from the slot and the PC that it can get. You need to use the fastest slot available, why start with the slowest one you have?

[usually_quiet]

Well, X4 would be 4 times as fast as X1, and X8 would be twice as fast as X4, and X16 would be twice as fast as X8.

You have a very finicky, very demanding, high-performance card that requires all the performance from the slot and the PC that it can get. You need to use the fastest slot available, why start with the slowest one you have?

Re-read what sdsumike619 wrote. The BMI Pro 4K is a PCI-e x4 card. It should operate correctly in a PCI-e x4 slot, which is what he was using initially, since it was configured as x4 in the BIOS. I'm the one who told him he could do it (in another thread), as long as he made the required BIOS changes, after I consulted the manual.

Because moving the camera seems to have caused the problem to appear, I would be be pointing a finger at the HDMI cable or the HDMI ports, not the expansion slot.

[sdsumike619]

I don't think it's a bad cable, and the card is brand new so I don't think it's that either. When I connect the port on the camcorder to the port on a TV, I can use it as a monitor just fine, no freezes. I'll need to do more testing now that the card is on the other slot and see how it goes... Thanks for the support!

[jan5678]

perhaps a hdmi version conflict/problem?

Are they both the same version?
It's a long shot i know

[sdsumike619]

perhaps a hdmi version conflict/problem?

Are they both the same version?
It's a long shot i know

Not quite sure what you mean about the version?

[jan5678]

Oke sorry if i'm not clear

i meant the hdmi version of the blackmagic card and from the camcorder.
If they are not the same, maybe they don't work very well together?

Another possibility is that the hdmi connector on the card is faulty, You said that on your tv there is no problem when you move the camcorder

[sdsumike619]

If there was an HDMI version issue, would it work at all? The video feed from the camcorder to the capture card is working quite well overall so I don't think it could be something like that.. I'm going to do more testing and see how it goes, will report back here...

[Cornucopia]

HDMI versions are always backwards-compatible, so when negotiating capabilities between source & sink, it falls backs to the Highest Common setting. IOW, problem is not exhibiting HDMI-version-difference symptoms.

Scott

[Nelson37]

Well, first, Mike's post did not contain ANY of the performance specs for his board or card, somebody else did that. Second, he indicated MORE THAN ONE time video has frozen, and ONE TIME that the camera was moved when this occurred.

MIKE - How Many Tests, in total, USE ACTUAL NUMBERS, and is it possible that the camera was moved, EVERY SINGLE TIME there was a failure? Do you know the old Yiddish doctor joke about "Don' go like dat!".

Video capture is not about maximum bandwidth, it is about maximum SUSTAINED bandwidth. The data stream cannot be slowed, delayed or interrupted in any way. Doing so will absolutely, positively result in errors, such as freezing. A television monitor ignores or tolerates such irregularities by design, the capture process does not. These two are dramatically different and Very Often comparing the two exposes unseen errors in the video stream.

The original, theoretically "X4" original slot shares bandwidth and clock cycles with multiple other devices and ports. Clock cycles most likely not changed by not using or disabling other ports.

Eliminate the camera and run a Blue-Ray or other similar, repeatable, different source thru the card as an additional test. Also recommend testing with strenuous effort made to certify the camera remains stable and unmoved throughout. If you have a different HDMI cable, try that as well. They are not all the same.