Wow Z97 doesn't even have it's own forum anymore? :(
 

STILL waiting for the FIRMWARE update EVGA!!!! Some EVGA admin please give us an answer

cdc-951
STILL waiting for the FIRMWARE update EVGA!!!! Some EVGA admin please give us an answer

They gave us an answer a year ago... "You are now on IGNORE!"

Hello all, I have just posted a PLX update that should resolve the problem, and it is available in http://www.evga.com/support/download/ Motherboard tab - "Intel Z97" - "152-HR-E979 - EVGA Z97 Classified" - "Firmware"
Unfortunately for several reasons it was not possible to integrate this into a BIOS update, and due to other limitations it is recommended to do the update from within DOS.
 
Please remember for all who read this, this is ONLY for the Classified, as it is the only board in this line with a PLX chip.
 
The update can be downloaded here. 
Below are the steps also found on the download page:
 
It is recommended to use a USB bootable drive running DOS.
 
If you do not have one, we can recommend: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool.shtml
1. Run HPUSB (from above link) on a USB thumb drive to build it as a DOS startup disk. Previous data on the USB drive will be lost.
2. Extract contents of E979_PLX_Update.RAR
3. Copy FW tools into USB disk
      A. Be sure the following files are on the USB disk (PlxCm.exe, PlxEep.exe, 151207.BIN, and update.bat)
4. Ensure a PCIE device is plugged into a PCIE 16 slot 2/3/4/6 to ensure PLX is initialized prior to the update.
5. Boot into USB disk and run update.bat file.
6. Reboot when done
 
This should get the PLX running non-graphics cards at the speed they should be, I apologize for the issues.

Sorry to be snippy but WHAT TOOK YOU GUYS SO LONG??  That said HUGE Difference,  Now I don't feel so horrible about spending so much on this Drive.  Interesting thing is as you see below It was running in Pcie Gen 1x4   The New run is Pcie Gen 3 x4    I am not sure if that is because of the adapter limiting it or if there is a x16 adapter ( have not seen one ) anyway you see the Jump in speeds.. Sure it isn't close to the Max but MUCH MUCH better.  I knew it as soon as I booted.
 
 Read              Write       SEQ                                           Read                          Write    RANDOM
 832                 586                                                         203,598                    77,405
 
AFTER             
 
2460                1452                                                          316,528                 79,904                                         

bschimp
Hello EVGA Fans,
 
I have looked for this specific question and have not found an answer.  I have the EVGA Z97 Classified and beginning a new build and I will be SLI'ing two GTX 980ti's.  In doing Forum research, I understand that the best install procedure is to use Slot 1 at x8 (CPU) and Slot 4 at x16 (PLX).  I would like to add a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 with an M.2 PCIe SSD - PCIe 3.0 4-Lane Adapter - not to be used as a boot drive but as a separate standalone drive to be loaded with games.
 
My specific question is with the above Slots used - what PCIe slot should I utilize (if able) to get x4 bandwidth to ensure I get the full speed from the 950?  As I understand it - Slot 1 is Native x16 tied to the CPU - if SLI is used, dropping it down to x8 - what other PCIe Slot is tied to the CPU as x8?  The diagram below annotates the remaining 4 PCIe Slots as PLX so I am thinking that any add-in card will drop the x8 (Slot 1) - x16 (Slot 4) SLI setup to x8 (Slot 1) - x8 (Slot 4) and x8 (x4 for the 950) in any remaining PCIe Slots.  Therefore - since there is not another PCIe Slot tied to the CPU - I will simply not be able to use the remaining x8 bandwidth.  Thank you in advance.    
 
   

I also have looked deep into this as I run a 4790k in an ASUS Maximus VII Hero and I had two 770SC before I upgraded to my 1080 Classified. Since the CPU has 16 Lanes and the Chipset has another 4, that gives you 1 card at 16x or two at 8x, HOWEVER........ The 980 Ti's only require x16 PCIe GEN 2 to utilize it's max potential, so yes... you can put one 980 Ti in the CPU slot, the second 980 Ti in another CPU slot. The 4 PCIe Gen 3.0 Lanes are from the PCH which were meant to compensate for other devices such as sound cards, network cards and even your M.2 you'd like to run.
 
Make sure your Motherboard has the latest BIOS update as the Z97 came out before M.2 was mainstream and most companies have further improved their compatibility with this tech.
 
:)
 
-TunnelRat

cdc-951
So is there a combination that allows us to use the full M.2 speeds on a PCIE slot and have 16x sli on both of my 980 TIs with little to no latency?

the short answer is no. the plx chip is what it is, latency is inherent to them. the only sure way to get full x16 sli and full m.2 speed is to use a cpu with more lanes which unfortunately doesnt exist for these boards. the pch lanes are limited to pcie 2.0 so no love there either.   

EVGATech_DaveB
Agreed, PLX chips give you the extra PCIE lanes at the cost of latency.  Currently the only way to get x16 x16 w/o a PLX for a normal platform is an X99.
Z97 PCH is Gen2 only unfortunately, that was imho one of the best features about Z170 vs Z97 was the Gen3 PCH, that opened a lot of doors and really was a step forward.

yep. it is cool that you guys do take the time to try and help people with older products use new tech in them, that is a very rare thing that i think some dont appreciate.  

CPU: i7-4790k @ 4.6GHz
MOBO: ASUS Maximus VII Hero
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Classified @ 2.18GHz
 
I manage just fine with my "Old" tech. :) The reason why I haven't upgraded yet is because the 4790k is still the best processor to date for single core performance. It can handle x16 PCIe Gen3.0 for my new 1080 Classified, so I just upgrade Storage and Cases and fancy RGB lighting and liquid cooling etc. I won't upgrade Chipsets/CPU/Mobo/DDR4RAM until I'm impressed. So far the Kaby Lake X and Skylake X are looking promising on the LGA 2066 socket.... Crossing my fingers for the X299 Chipset.

So is there no way to get the full NVME speeds with this new Firmware update? Dave?

well since the gpus will be on the PLX chips how much more latency we talking about

https://www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-bridges/pcie-switches/
 
 
PEX 8748
 
Found the latency if anyone is wondering!!! 126 ns. So that is not a lot really. Do you guys thinks that much latency will affect frame timings though for sli? Such as micro stutter on the cards communicating
 

From all of the testing I have seen, the only time, outside of benchmarking, where you can see the difference in performance in video cards between x8 and x16 is when you are running some elaborate setups like 4k surround, otherwise, it really doesn't matter that much.
I think you will see slightly better NVMe speeds from PE1, and yes slots 2 and 4 give you the highest theoretical bandwidth, BUT, it is theoretical, and on most setups you will not see a performance difference.  If it were my Z97 Classified, I would likely put the NVMe on PE1, then my cards on 2 and 4, I think everything would be easiest to install that way, because when there is very little performance difference I would build it how it would be easiest to build and tube (im typically all water) and how it would be easiest to take apart for maintenance and component upgrade/replacement as limitations from hand size or cases vary person to person, build to build.

I am getting an error 5 on flashing the firmware through dos usb why..... @Dave

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