tetranitrocubane
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I'm thinking about getting an EVGA GTX 980 card, but I'm unsure if it would work well with my existing motherboard. Currently I'm running an ASUS x79 Sabertooth (BOIS 3501) motherboard and an intel i7 3930K processor. From what I've heard, the x79 chipset and possibly the 3930K CPU may not be compatible with PCI-e 3.0. Further, it sounds like maybe the x79 chipset motherboards have issues with the 980 series overall? Some people seem to report not even being able to POST with a 900 series card on an x79 motherboard. I'm not sure, because it's very hard to pick out the reliable information from the forums here and at nVidia.
Would these components work together reasonably? Or would I just be making headaches for myself? Sorry to ask, but I just want to be sure before I invest the time and effort to upgrade. Thanks much!
Specs: x79 Sabertooth ASUS mobo, Intel i7 3930K CPU, 64 GB RAM, GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid GPU, 512 Samsung SSD, 2 TB WD HDD, Sound Blaster Z Soundcard, Corsair tx850W PSU.
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Tropickz
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:32:23
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The board supports pci-e 3, so not sure why a 980 wouldn't be compatible.
As long as the latest drivers for bios and the GPU are clean installs, you shouldn't have any issues it seems.
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tetranitrocubane
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:37:42
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I was under the impression from this link that the 3930K processor was only PCIe 2.0. http://ark.intel.com/products/63697 But if what you say is true, then that's a load off my mind. I've been very worried that an upgrade would cause more problems than it would provide benefits. Additionally, I've seen that the x79 chipset simply doesn't work with PCIe 3.0 according to some, regardless of being 'able' to. Something about only an unofficial patch actually providing compatibility? http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1700629 I'm not sure if this would provide compatibility for a newer card.
post edited by tetranitrocubane - 2014/12/22 15:40:43
Specs: x79 Sabertooth ASUS mobo, Intel i7 3930K CPU, 64 GB RAM, GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid GPU, 512 Samsung SSD, 2 TB WD HDD, Sound Blaster Z Soundcard, Corsair tx850W PSU.
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Sajin
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:43:28
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You shouldn't have a problem running a 980 on a x79 board. You will need to run force-enable-gen3.exe to allow the 980 to run PCI-E 3.0 though since your using a SNB-E CPU.
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bcavnaugh
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:43:33
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bcavnaugh
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:46:33
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Sajin
You shouldn't have a problem running a 980 on a x79 board. You will need to run force-enable-gen3.exe to allow the 980 to run PCI-E 3.0 though since your using a SNB-E CPU.
I was First 
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Sajin
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/22 15:47:26
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bcavnaugh
Sajin
You shouldn't have a problem running a 980 on a x79 board. You will need to run force-enable-gen3.exe to allow the 980 to run PCI-E 3.0 though since your using a SNB-E CPU.
I was First
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dave851
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/23 05:21:36
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Also just want to say while you should be able to get pci 3.0, its not the end of the world if you can't. I have a gtx 980 on an old x58 on pci 2.0 and I'm getting pretty much identical performance as any review I've seen.
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tetranitrocubane
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/23 09:41:18
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Even if I can get the 980 to run at PCIe 2.0 speeds, I'll be quite happy. I'm not planning on going SLI, either.
But I'm just very concerned that after upgrading, my machine won't POST, or it will fail on the DisplayPort connection, or it will be in some other way incompatible.
If there's confidence that a 980 will work with the x79 chipset and a 3930K CPU, then I'll move forward with the upgrade for sure!
Thanks much for the information and the assist, everyone. I'll be looking into that PCIe 3.0 fix if I manage to get the initial upgrade worked out.
Specs: x79 Sabertooth ASUS mobo, Intel i7 3930K CPU, 64 GB RAM, GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Hybrid GPU, 512 Samsung SSD, 2 TB WD HDD, Sound Blaster Z Soundcard, Corsair tx850W PSU.
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comrade
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Re: 980 on an x79 Sabertooth?
2014/12/23 11:12:25
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tetranitrocubane
I'm thinking about getting an EVGA GTX 980 card, but I'm unsure if it would work well with my existing motherboard. Currently I'm running an ASUS x79 Sabertooth (BOIS 3501) motherboard and an intel i7 3930K processor. From what I've heard, the x79 chipset and possibly the 3930K CPU may not be compatible with PCI-e 3.0. Further, it sounds like maybe the x79 chipset motherboards have issues with the 980 series overall? Some people seem to report not even being able to POST with a 900 series card on an x79 motherboard. I'm not sure, because it's very hard to pick out the reliable information from the forums here and at nVidia.
Would these components work together reasonably? Or would I just be making headaches for myself? Sorry to ask, but I just want to be sure before I invest the time and effort to upgrade. Thanks much!
I had two, EVGA GTX 980SC's running in SLI on an ASUS X79 Rampage IV Extreme with no problems. Using the Nvidia hack to force GEN 3 speeds worked and GPU-Z always reported them as running at PICE 3.0 x16 for both cards. They replaced two EVGA GTX 780's running on the same board. The new cards gave a nice boost in speed to most everything. I don't think you'll have any trouble.
Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Pro WiFi Amd sTRX4 ATX MB, AMD Ryzen 9 Threadripper 3960x, EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING, 24G-P5-3988-KR, twin - 28" 3840 x 2160 Monitors, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB, M2 NVME SSD for OS, 3x2 TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD's for storage, Samsung SH-203 SATA DVD Drive, Coolermaster 1000 Watt PSU, Win 11 Pro, Coolermaster HAF 932 Advanced case. EVGA Z20 Gaming Keyboard, Razer Orochi 2013 Mouse.
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