@Wickedt
@Lost_N_BIOS

I can confirm that. The Bios version will still show as v2201 in CPU-Z because i never touched those numbers in the Bios and pretty sure i never will. Simple reason is it is always better to let the original Bios # in place so anyone can know (modders included) from which original version a Bios was modified.

This is why i put the mod version # in the downloaded folder's name instead (Like "2201 MOD v7"). I would ideally prefer to put it in the Bios file name but i can't because the file name must be nothing else than C5FZ.CAP for anyone to be able to use Flashback.

And to be honest, even on other motherboards without Flashback, ordinary people seems to become confused by a new name and cause them to be scared and hesitate before trying to flash a Bios that is not named exactly like the original, so because of that, i always keep the original name of the Bios file intact unless a very good reason exist. Just like this one that need to be renamed from the original name "CROSSHAIR-V-FORMULA-Z-ASUS-2201.CAP" to "C5FZ.CAP" for Flashback to be able to use it.

Thanks for all the help, here are the results after installation.
*NOTE: I was able to boot up normally and clone my Evo 850 to my new Evo 970 NVME





Getting good speeds i think, how's it looking folks?

*Edit: Btw im using the QNINE NVME Adapter PCIe x16 with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express Expansion Card

can be seen here: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07J9QG...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I gather there is no way to see the temp for this as its running from pcie as opposed to m.2 slot?

@Wickedt

I see in your screenshot that you are connected at "PCIe Gen. 2 x4". Which should mean that you are using PCIe generation 2 at x4 speed. That tell me that you probably pluged it in the last bottom PCIe slot that is working at x4 speed. Maybe you have a lot of cards (video cards, sound cards, etc) pluged in and you didn't had any other choice but if not, you should plug it in a faster slot depending on what is available. The Formula-Z can work up to PCIe x16/x16 (first and 3rd large PCIe slot in use but not the 2nd) or x16/x8/x8 (First, second and 3rd in use) for the first 3 upper larger PCIe slots. Only the last large 4th one at the bottom is topped at x4 speed.

All that to say that if your PC only have one video card pluged in the upper slot and nothing else then you should put your NVMe drive in the 3rd large slot. That would give you x16 speed instead of x4. At the very least x8 speed if you need to also plug something else in the 2nd large upper slot.

For reference how to best optimise your speed and how you are using your PCIe slot, see the diagram in page 6 in chapter 1 (1-6) of the user manual.

But like i said, maybe you had no other choice. If it is the case, forget i wrote anything. lol

I saw that and wondered about it too, ill change it to the 3rd slot and report back, thanks again for your help.

Ok reason i used that slot was because the fans on my gtx980 cover the 3rd slot, i am not using another card, can i move the video card to the 3rd x16 slot and put the ssd in slot 1?

@Wickedt

Yes, i don't see why that wouldn't work. There is no harm in trying it. At worst, there may be a setting needed in the Bios to tell the Bios about the new slot the video card is using but i don't think so. You should be able to get x16 speed for both device that way without problem.

It seems the evo 970 nvme only uses 4 lanes, I have it on the 16/8x slot and it is still reporting pcie2 x4
After I changed slots, the whole thing crashed, but im up and running again after following the uefi win 10 installation method on page 1.
I think this is much better then cloning the drive, which is what I believe caused the evo970 from not booting after the slot change.

Here are the results (16/8X PCIE Slot)

Samsung Magician 5.3


EVO 850


EVO 970


Thanks for all the help guys, and thanks Pheonix for the extra :)

@Fernando could confirm that for you or not @Wickedt - I think he has a 970 SSD

@Fernando - sorry for not being clear what I wanted to know from your end! I thought you had these disks, but I guess since you never used in adapter it may not matter, since that may be the limiting factor on his setup
What I wanted to know from you, was if he should get x8 from a x16 slot with that SSD, or it's limited to x4. I bet his PCIE adapter (Or hidden bifurcation settings) is what's limiting the lane width here. << For that, I will look into the BIOS myself and see if I can find anything

* Edit - @Wickedt - Inside Advanced BIOS page, can you see RD890 PCI Express Configuration submenu? This contains all your link width settings (currently auto).
If you can't see this, I can enable for you, link me to which BIOS you are currently using and I will edit it for you.

With only 2 devices pluged in slot 1 and 3, he should get x16/x16 speed. It is only with 3 devices pluged in the first 3 large slots that he should get x16/x8/x8 speed.

I agree with Lost_N_BIOS assesment and can only see 4 possibilities that can explain to get only x4 speed in the first slot that should always be at x16:

- There is a setting in the Bios that need to be adjusted accordingly. (Unfortunately, i can't verify this untill the Week-end)
- Something else on the PC is using the missing lanes.
- The adaptor is limited to 4 lanes.
- Last and most unprobable by far but still a possibility, the first slot is damaged and only work at x4 speed. But this would mean that the video card was at x4 speed even before when the video card was there.

Other than those possibilities, i can't see anything else for now.

Let me see if i can find this in the bios, sounds like it could work, ill let you know, thanks

Nothing about RD890 in the bios, I'm using Phoenix48's last bios he posted, version 7


>ASUS-Crosshair-V-Formula-Z-2201 MOD v7 (2018-11-25)<


BTW this is the nvme card im using, it seems they are all pciex4, pcie ver 2
My Adapter

@Wickedt

After looking at your adaptor in the link you provided, i suspect the adaptor is the bottleneck. They are quick on the sale page to say everywhere that it will fit in any slot from x4 to x16 and even put the clear specification "Output Interface: PCIE X16". The problem is that the interface is NOT necessarily the speed it runs at, it is just how it is pluged in and everything that is written there makes reference to the interface. Nowhere is it written at what max speed it can run.

In fact, i can even go one step beyond for the sake of being thorough and say that nowhere in that page they precise if the adaptor can support PCIe gen2, 3 or 4.

In conclusion, i am pretty sure the problem is your adaptor slowing you down to x4.

I guess this leaves you with 2 choices:

1- You find a better adaptor that is truly running at, at least, PCIe Gen2 x16 or...

2- You keep this adaptor but, because it is limited to 4x anyway, you are better off by putting back your video card in the first slot and your drive in the last. Your PC will at least start faster by detecting the video card quicker that way.

Hope this help.

If you want, I can enable the settings for you at Advanced >> RD890 PCI Express Configuration then you can set x16 for whatever slot you want instead of auto, to help confirm the above findings.
I assume it's probably the adapter too, surprised this isn't in the spec, luckily you didn't get one that's limited to x1 or x4 at least

@Wickedt - While I'm here, in case you want to check it out to be sure, here is that further unlocked BIOS.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil...199941996637825

Maybe you got a faulty sample from bad batch, and need to RMA with them! I see this on the Amazon page from the person selling the adapter
Question " Does it fully support pcie 3.0? will it fully run on x16 mode or just on x4 mode?"
Answer: " yes, it fully support pcie 3.0 and run on x16 mode." >> Reply from >> By QNINE = Seller

I think what they mean by that is that in a pcie3 slot, it allows connection for 4 nvme ssd drives at 4 times each, giving you 16x pcie. I believe im just being limited to half of the normal performance because of pcie 2 bus on my motherboard.

4 direct lanes to the cpu is still a lot faster then sharing lanes with sata, usb etc.

2.0 can handle 1–5 billion transfers per second. Each lane can send 500 MB/second. A 16 lane board can transfer 8 GB/second. So a NVME theoretically can run 4 lanes at 2 GB/second
3.0 can handle up to 8 billion transfers per second. Each lane can send 984.6 MB/second. A 16 lane board transfers 15.7 GB/second. So a NVME theoretically can run 4 lanes at 3.9 GB/second

Samsung PCIE NVME EVO 970 Stats: Max Sequential Read: 3,400 MB/sec
Max Sequential Write: 2,300 MB/sec
4K Random Read: 370,000 IOPS
4K Random Write: 450,000 IOPS



The difference in speeds is still amazing using a pcie2.0 4x card and an evo 970 nvme, boot times a lot snappier also, this bios upgrade to V7.0 by Pheonix was worth all the time and headaches,
i also learned a lot about PCIE and NVME devices.

The difference with a video card that is pcie 3 in a pcie 2 slot is minimal at 16x, losing maybe 1-2 frames per second in testing.
Still, after all is said and done, its still ~3 times the speed of a normal Samsung SSD, so still much faster, and when i switch over to Ryzen when prices stabilize a bit on motherboards and ram, this will be one more thing i wont have to buy.
I will probably also keep my pcie nvme adaper, as it doesn't share with any other devices for cpu time like usb, sata and M.2 do as it connects directly.

Thanks Phoenix48 and Lost_N_BIOS

Now if only i could find a good bios for my Zotac GTX980 amp with maybe crappy memory.