Z87 XPower - Understanding PLX Usage

Good afternoon!
I recently added another MSI Geforce GTX 780TI to my machine so now I am running SLI.
As per the MSI instructions, I've placed one of my cards in PCI_E1 and the other in PCI_E5. I have also connected them with an SLI bridge.
GPUZ/GPUID reports that both cards are running in PCIE 3.0 X16 mode. Is this being accomplished via the PLX 8747 chip, or is it still being bypassed and heading straight to the CPU?
I know the PLX is used in 4 way SLI for sure - but based on some reading, I'm thinking the PLX is used in all situations where you're using more than one graphics card.
Does anyone know? I'm just wondering for the sake of curiosity - the system is running beautifully - see specs below!
Thanks again!
CPU: i7 4770K cooled by Corsair H100i
MOBO: MSI Z87 XPower
RAM: 16GB Kingston HyperX Black
GPU: 2x MSI Geforce GTX 780 Ti GAMING 3G SLI
HDD1: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
HDD2: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
HDD3: Western Digital Black 1TB
PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000W
Monitor: BenQ XL2420Z
KB/MO: Corsair K70 and SS Sensei
Case: Corsair 750D
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro

Quote from: RemusM on 24-September-14, 03:11:41
PLX in case of 2-way SLI is a bad idea.
Any kind of multiplexing will increase the time required for the R/W operations on the PCI lanes.
x8-x8 without PLX is faster than x16-x16 with PLX.
For this reason, on certain motherboards the PLX chip is disabled in case of 2-way SLI.
If you really want x16-x16 for SLI (less than 5% faster than x8-x8), buy a CPU with 40 PCI-E lanes.
The bottom line: stay away from any multiplexing workaround.
I'm not too inclined to believe I'm losing much performance with my current setup - but thank you for the input. At this point, the hardware is all fairly new (in terms of how long ago I purchased it) and I'm quite happy with the results. Even if there should be performance gains by dropping my board and avoiding PLX, I'm not sure the gains would tickle my fancy. But it's worth knowing for the next build for sure!
Thanks guys!

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Z87 XPower PCI_E2, Single Graphics Card plus Other Expansion Cards

A bit confused on the PCI-E expansion slots...
I seem to have read somewhere that it is preferential to place a single graphics card in PCI_E2 slot. Found a reference on a review:
"However for those using a single graphics card MSI recommends installing it in the second PCIe slot as this slot is connected directly to the CPU, meaning there is no latency lag as it bypasses the PEX 8747 chip"
However, the PCIe x16 Slots Bandwidth Table clearly shows only one "video card" (any other pci-e expansion card, too?) is possible when taking advantage of PCI_E2:
E1 E2 E3 E5 E7
Single: 0 x16 0 0 0
2-Way: x16 0 0 x16 0
3-Way: x8 0 x8 x16 0
4-Way: x8 0 x8 x8 x8
I picked up a pci-e OCZ RevoDrive 3 x2 SSD 240GB and looking to use a N770 graphics card in PCI_E2... is this even possible? Ideally, I would choose to run the RevoDrive from PCI_E1.
From reading the table, I get "no".
I called MSI support, and 2 agents seemed to believe the PCIe x16 Slots Bandwidth Table only related to graphics cards ("The table below shows the correlation between the PCIe slots bandwidth and multiple
graphics cards."). Still waiting an official response to ticket(s). I spoke with the first before I began my graphic card installation, and the second after I installed and couldn't get the RevoDrive to show in any slot when the graphic card was installed in PCI_E2.
My experience is telling me I have a problem, and I have some decisions to make moving forward. Generally speaking:
1. Is it possible to install a single graphics card in PCI_E2 to bypass the PEX 8747 chip and achieve x16 bandwidth, and still have another pci-e in another x8/x16 slot?
2. What is more important for the video card: x16 bandwidth, or "latency lag as it bypasses the PEX 8747 chip"?
3. The performance of the RevoDrive is outstanding (knock on wood... hoping I can keep this card running a long time considering the volume of drive failures experience with OCZ drives). I am considering my overall day-to-day usage and wondering if I might be better off ditching the RevoDrive or the graphic card... or (oh my, GOD!) another board....
It is easy for me to criticize engineering for overlooking this potential design consideration, yet it is an outstanding board. I should have been more aware when I read the 0-16-0-0-0 config details on the PCIe x16 Slots Bandwidth Table and the detail on the PEX 8747 chip. Once of the major items that attracted me to the XPower was the heap of features and pci-e expandability. Yet, all the PCI-E bandwidth and slots don't do me any justice if I can't config my install to optimize my system's components.
I would have a hard time trying to pick another to even try to replace the Z87 XPower (it would have to be Asus Z87-DELUXE).
What would I lose or gain in keeping the RevoDrive vs the graphic card? I initially began building this system around the RevoDrive, and I can't imagine wanting to keep the system without it.
4. What am I sacrificing/gaining in having the graphic card in PCI_E1 and the RevoDrive in PCI_E5?
5. With two different x16 pci-e components installed, and only one of them a graphic card, does the PEX 8747 chip latency become a non-issue? Is it still preferential to keep the graphic card in PCI_E2 position?
PSU: Corsair AX1200i
CPU: i7-4770k
MOBO: Z87 XPower
VGA: MSI GTX N770 Lightning 2GB
SSD: RevoDrive 3 x2 240GB
RAM: Generic 1333 (special ordered Corsair Dominator 2400MHz)
Thanks for any additional insight and clarity!

1: connecting a single card in PCI_E2 will bypass the PLX8747 but if you use one of the other slots for something it will start to use the PLX chips again to duplicate lanes!
2: PCI-E lanes are of very little importance as you will only see a .1 to 2FPS reduction in frame rate between x16 and x8. and less lag is similar in that regard too and will have very little noticeable difference!
3: it should make very little difference to either component and changing board makes in the z87 family lines would make very little difference too as to get higher expandability you need that PLX chip to sub divide the lanes and create a extra 16 fake lanes to allow more then 2 way SLI or 3 way Crossfire on the Z87 boards as the CPU's only have 16 lanes total!
4: not much! about a hundred nanoseconds of lag, maybe 1MBP/s less on the revo drive and .1 to 2 FPS less on the Graphics card...
5: no you would need them in the E1 and E5 positions and using the PLX chips as you will have problems and both may go into x8 using only the CPU's 16 lanes total if the Graphics card is in E2 or the revo drive may not function at all as the graphics card may hog all the PCI-E lanes....

Z87 XPower mPCI-E Wifi Change

It was beyond ridiculous that a $400+ motherboard would come with a 802.11n Wifi solution, so I am going to change it. Has anyone exchanged the Intel 2230 Wifi/Bluetooth 4.0 card for something else(say an Intel 7260(802.11ac)), or something better(the 7260 just comes to mind as I have one in two other laptops)? Yes, I could go with a USB 3.0 solution, or with a full-sized PCI-E card, but I want to keep all of my USB 3.0 ports available(and avoid the clutter of a USB Wifi adapter), and I'm not going to drop one of my GTX 780 Ti cards(yes, I have four of them running, currently) to correct a problem MSI created.
Understand, I like this board and I knew about the pitiful Wifi solution during my purchase. I just figured that MSI would actually offer a replacement(for free, given the price, or even for a fee) at some point in the near future. That, or XPower refresh would come rather quickly, but it hasn't. So, I'm going to find a solution.
Has anyone replaced the Wifi/BT card on their Z87 XPower? If so, what did you select and what, if any, trouble was experienced? What has the performance been like?

Quote from: Sea Dog on 02-February-14, 13:50:48
Run a couple dual GPU GTX 690's in SLI, that will open up some slots for use.
I would love to, but the money has already been invested in the GTX 780 Ti cards. After a while, I might decide to change the setup(if the 800 or 900 series proves to be a great upgrade, which it probably won't be). For now, I will attempt to make my incoming Intel 7260 (802.11ac) work in the mPCI-E card that the 2230N originally was in. I am just interested if anyone else attempted this alteration, and what the outcome was for anyone that did so.

Z87 XPower Warranty!

Hello friends!!
I am new MSI forum here!! Just to ask for help so I have bought Z87 Xpower so want to register my serial number for Warranty but I can't get through or can't find!
I hope if somebody who can help me!
Many Thanks

>>How to contact MSI.<<
>>Serial Number Illustration<<

Z87 Xpower slooow boot

System hangs on 9A for 2 minutes. It then hangs on A2 for about 2 minutes as well.
I have tried it with only 1 RAM, power and CPU/heatsink and still get same result. System works fine when it finally gets past POST and all devices operate correctly. I can't find any other issues, CPU and RAM and Video all test great it's just the bootup takes forever. Various "Fast boot" options in BIOS also seem to have no effect. It seems that is the discovering devices phase, but it does eventually get through it and shows no errors.
I just figured I would check for any suggestions before getting an RMA from NewEgg. Also odd... this is a Rev1 board and shipped with the 1.0 BIOS that I upgraded to 1.6. (It just seems strange that Newegg still had it around?)
z87 Xpower
Intel i7-4770K
4x 8GB Gskil Ripsaw
EVGA Geforce GTX 780Ti
EVGA SuperNova Power Sup.
Samsung 500GB SSD.

I have done that. I even tried it without the vid card just to see if would pass that more quickly. I did, however have trouble getting the connector in to JUSB3 on the board so I switched it to JUSB4. Hmmmm, maybe I bent a pin on the connector that is freaking it out or something? (I just removed it... nothing obvios going on in that connector)
I'm running out of "Gotchya's" LOL.

Z87 XPOWER USB3.0 DIDNT WORKING AFTER TWEAK CPU CLOCK

Hi..
to the point..
My rig:
-Z87 Xpower (latest bios v1.7)
-Pentium G3258
-2x4 Corsair Dominator Platinum (set to xmp)
-GTX660 OC Asus
-SSD Corsair Neutron GTX
-HDD Seagate 1TB
-Corsair H100i
-PSU Corsair AX760i
i having problem with my Z87 Xpower Front USB3.0 after i tweak Processor clock to 3.5 etc.vcore proc etc i leave behind and set to auto..
if i connect flashdisk drive to, it work normally, but if i connect a harddrive external, it not responding, no spining disk heard,led off..
USB Configuration Bios i set default (is Enable all to usb ehci, usb xhci)
any idea :( please help...i want to know the problem before i RMA it
thanks

Quote from: Nichrome on 21-September-14, 19:21:12
Hello,
Try >>Clear CMOS Guide<<
Also RAM: Set to XMP but what speed is it? :
Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type)   32 GB
Memory Types   DDR3-1333
# of Memory Channels   2
Max Memory Bandwidth   21.3 GB/s
ECC Memory Supported ‡    Yes
thanks for reply sir..
it no need to clear cmos to get working front USB3.0 with extrnal hdd, set it to default clock (which is 3.2hghz)then it work normally..
my ram xmp is 2133Mhz..
1 friend said it failure overclocking..other said it can be bug processor haswell refresh with Z87 Chipset need wait next update Driver..
or This pentium cant handle much feature of Z87?

Problem with : Z87-XPower with Intel Core I7-4790K

Hello lads,
First of all excuse me if this is a double post but i didn't have time to check all the threads on this forum.
So my problem is the following : Yesterday I thought of getting myself a new computer for video/audio processing and of course some games from time to time. Got home , started assembling and .... no boot , and i mean every power socket is plugged correctly and everything seems to run good , no beeps no nothing , except the fact that i don't see any bios or message on my display.
These are the things i bought :
MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB GDDR5 [OC, Twin Frozr IV]
Corsair RM1000, 1000W, 8x PCI-E 6+2, 12x SATA, 11x Molex [80 Plus Gold]
MSI Z87-XPower, Socket 1150, Chipset Z87, ATX (Z87-XPOWER)
Intel Core I7-4790K, LGA1150,
Corsair DDR3 16384MB (4 x 4096MB) 1600MHz CL9 Vengeance Rev. A
After searching the internet for some answers i've found out that i might need a bios update, so i did , to 1.9... until now still no resolution , any comments ?
Thanks !

Quote from: Nichrome on 11-September-14, 02:35:25
Thing is that OP already runs BIOS v1.9. Unless it didn't flash properly
What he might not have done if not using bios+ME or fpt method. So far I even have no clue how he possibly flashed either way if the pc never worked:
Quote from: mvki on 10-September-14, 22:50:15
Got home , started assembling and .... no boot , and i mean every power socket is plugged correctly and everything seems to run good , no beeps no nothing , except the fact that i don't see any bios or message on my display.
After searching the internet for some answers i've found out that i might need a bios update, so i did , to 1.9... until now still no resolution , any comments ?
So mvki how did you flash the bios???

Z87 XPower motherboard will not POST, debug code stays 00

I've been trying to build this machine since mid May and I can't for the life of me get the stupid thing to POST. The board codes read 00 (definitely not D0) from the first second the board is powered on and do not change. I have a similar machine with an ASUS ROG Maximus board and the codes change very rapidly during the boot sequence.
Here's my configuration:
MSI Z87 XPOWER LGA 1150
Intel Core i7-4790 Processor - BX80646I74790
Corsair RM 650W, 80 Plus Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020054-NA)
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (4x8GB) DDR3 2133 MHz RAM
Corsair Hydro Series CW-9060009-WW H100i Extreme Liquid/Water CPU Cooler
EVGA 01G-P3-1302-LR GeForce 8400 GS Video Card (Yes I'm aware it's a crappy gfx card, the machine does chip simulations, it's not for gaming)
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB Serial ATA Hard Drive
Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Performance Full Tower Case CC-9011035-WW
Things I've done to try and troubleshoot this problem:
Run the board stripped down, 1 stick of ram, cpu, stock cooler, psu (both BIOS)
Run the board stripped down out of the case on a bench (both BIOS)
Run the board without ram (both BIOS)
Run the board without ram and without a cpu (both BIOS)
Run the board with 1 stick of good ram from another machine, the proc and the psu (both BIOS)
Run the board with everything plugged in (both BIOS)
I have RMA'd the board TWICE and the proc once. The board isn't initializing, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I've got another psu (corsair 750 CX) coming monday which I'm going to try. My last ditch effort after trying a second psu will be purchasing an earlier version of Haswell that takes an earlier BIOS, but honestly, the proc should be able to limp along to at least POST with the wrong BIOS.
If anyone has ANY ideas I would greatly appreciate it. TIA

I spoke with Jose Lopez on the phone who is listed as a technical support specialist according to his email signature. Supposedly on both RMAs updating the bios was listed on the work order. But I received back different boards, so I have no way of verifying what BIOS is on them. All MSI can manage to do is tell me that it is my other hardware which is impossible when it's running like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hunibvkhkco899/2014-08-11%2017.38.06.mp4
Apologies for the fuzzy video, camera phone lens must've been dirty. It's the same result if you run it without the stick of ram as well. Note that ram is from another working computer, so that's not the issue.
As far as going to a repair shop and having them update the bios with an older haswell, no shop around here is willing to do that or has older haswells to even use to do that.
There was no communication from MSI as to what was done to the board, all they did was ship it back to me in a poorly padded box. There was no paperwork inside.
Apologies as well for sounding rude, I am just completely at the end of my rope over this. I paid $375 USD on this and I REALLY expect the stupid thing to work and MSI is being nothing short of infuriating.

Z87 XPOWER Boot Sound Problem

Hi all,
i've bought a new MSi Mainboards z87 XPOWER. The board doesn't make any sound when i turn it on...is it normal? the pc starts correctly. Do u have the same problem?? Or it's a "characteristic" of the board?
Thank u!!

Hey Antonio,
Do you mean that it does not make a beeping noise when it posts, before anything appears on the screen? There is no onboard speaker on the MPower, so it will not beep for post/errors unless you plug a speaker into the JFP2 header on the motherboard. The speaker should look something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201032 . See page 1-27 in the manual to locate JFP2 header.*
If you have a speaker like that plugged into the mobo header and there is still no beep for POST, then the beep is probably disabled within the bios.
Hope that helps.

Z87 XPower -- What's the third 6-pin power connector for?

I'm a happy new owner of a Z87 XPower, currently getting it installed and I'm seeing a six-pin power connector between the CPU and PCI-E slots (this is in addition to the two 8-power traditional motherboard power connectors). I'm assuming it's a PCI-E power connector but can't find any documentation about whether it's required or optional or under what circumstances I would use it. Is there any documentation out there about this power connector? It's in a bit of a problematic area as far as cable routing goes, it's next to the rear end of the expansion slots which is as far away from cable management routes as you can get and requires routing a connection over at least third of the motherboard no matter how you run it.

that 6 pin is only needed if your running 2 or more graphics cards to supply extra power to the PCI-E lanes as its draw will exceed the limits that they have causing instability!
it is an optional connector and if you only have 1 graphics card its not needed at all (I usually connect it anyway if I plan on going SLI or crossfire in he future!)

Z87 XPower Error Code 00

I currently have a G3258 and an MSI XPower Z87 motherboard. Anyways, the board boots up, but there is no display, USB power out, etc. The Blu-Ray burner does open and the fans do spin (so do the GPU fans), but that is it. No display.
What is error code 00?
Does this mean that the board is carrying an earlier BIOS?
I've tested the following components on another board:
- CPU (works)
- MSI r9 290 Gaming (works - fans spin too)
- RAM (passed MemTest86+)
- Power supply is working
- Sound card is working
- SSD works
- Blu-ray burner opens up and the LED is flashing with both motherboards
- All fans attached spin
Also I've done the following
- Checked all cables to make sure that they were plugged in
- There are no loose screws or anything that could cause a short
That leaves me to suspect that the motherboard has an older BIOS? Everything else seems to work.
How do Z87 boards treat Haswell refresh with older BIOS. Do they give Error Code 00?
I made a thread earlier about it:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=184086.0
The only thing I think that may be worth mentioning is that the RAM is G.Skill.

Was busy yesterday, but upon closer inspection, there is a second issue and possibly a third.
One of the caps is dented. It is the cap right beside the 24pin power connector.
Edit: The cap is also loose.
I presume that this is not safe?
Third issue - note the copper exposed on the traces near the audio area.
That is copper is it not on the traces?
There are a few white dots around (the black lacquer has been damaged somewhat), but apart from the audio, nothing else was damaged.
The old owner of this board did not take good care of it, it would seem. I'm in shock to be honest - how does one spend so much on a board and treat it like that.

MSI Z87 XPower & Haswell 3.0 bug

Hi guys,
I want to ask you if any of you have bought a z87 series motherboard from MSI, expecially the XPower (which I want to buy) and can give me a tally of how often the usb 3.0 bug occurs. I asked MSI support if a C2 stepping will be there and they told me "maybe in the future". So I would prefer not to wait with hope that this step will be very soon and if you tell me that the bug occurs almost always I will opt for the Asus Maximus Extreme VI that has already reviewing, with my chagrin

I never have this problem. I also never let my computer sleep. I simply turn the computer off at night when I'm done with it.

Unable to understand the usage of OAFM and OACORE run in OC4J in Release 12

I have gather below details but still unable to understand that why two services are there in OC4J in Release 12. My questions are:
[1] If OACORE is there and most of the components are based on Framework in Release 12 then what is the requirement of OAFM?
[2] Is OAFM is only for mapviewer, ascontrol and "Oracle Transport Agent" if we use them?
[3] Why there is seperate process for HTTP_Server as given below if OACORE is already there.
I have gathered below details from various source but still unable to understand fully above three questions.
* Oacore: This runs the OA Framework -based applications (Core Application Modules).
* Forms: This runs the Forms-based applications (using Servlet Mode).
* OAFM (Oracle Apps Fusion Middleware): This is responsible for running the web services , mapviewer, ascontrol (Oracle Transport Agent).
[oratrain@ndaeasdb01 scripts]$ ./adopmnctl.sh status
You are running adopmnctl.sh version 120.4
Checking status of OPMN managed processes...
Processes in Instance: TRAIN_ndaeasdb01.ndaeasdb01.xone.xansa.com
------------------------------------------------+---------
ias-component | process-type | pid | status
------------------------------------------------+---------
OC4J | oafm | 19974 | Alive
OC4J | forms | 19888 | Alive
OC4J | oacore | 19768 | Alive
HTTP_Server | HTTP_Server | 19711 | Alive
Web Entry Point Services          HTTP Server
Web Application Services          OACORE OC4J
                    Forms OC4J
                    OAFM OC4J

Let me chk the complete details on a R12 server. but for the time being, all I can say is that there are different HTTP services for the R12 Apps and the SOA suite components.
Also your DBA might be a better person to answer and even some reading in the Oracle Process Manager Dev guide, Admin guide will help.
--Shiv

Z87-G45, 80%+ Memory Usage in Task Manager

hey guys ran into another problem
i'm using windows 8.1 it's a fresh install and i'm running into high memory usage problem. I was running at 99% while idling earlier (system was lagging hard) so i system restored to the previous day and everything was fine until now. I see it slowly creeping up. While typing this i'm running at 84% Memory usage which seems absurdly high.
I'm using 8gb of Gskill Ram so I tried to follow the sticky above, but my BIOS would not let me changed anything under the "Advanced DRAM settings" not sure what that is either?
Anyone got a quick fix to this problem?

Just updated my killer network drivers because i saw that sticky about people having problems with it.
This dropped my RAM down to 18% while typing this at this very moment. I'll let you know if it creeps up again.
My next question I guess is what is normal memory usage on windows 8.1?

Z87 XPower bios revisions

Anyone out there other than myself that is using/testing beta bios's for the Xpower?
Thought we might start sharing results in a single thread.
Or perhaps I'm positing in the wrong area?

Quote
Or perhaps I'm positing in the wrong area?
Obviously. Moved thread to beta & mod bios section.

Z87 XPower - Understanding PLX Usage

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