PC BIOS mod to support PCIe 3.0

BIOS/UEFI Modding BIOS Modding Guides and Problems
1

Hello fellows,

I have an older computer running 3.2Ghz AMD 64x dual core, 4gb DDR2 ram, and a 240GB SSD. The model of the PC is a Shuttle XPC SK22G2 with motherboard FX22 v1.3. I’ve upgraded everything to the maximum except the GPU. I picked up a couple small form factor PCIe 3.0 cards, one nVidia GeForce 745 and one AMD R7 260. Neither can be detected on my PC. Official bios updates are out of the question. It is my understanding that PCIe versions require different power ratings and mine is either PCIe 1.0 or 1.1. My power supply is 300W which should be enough to run these low profile cards however.

I guess my first question, is it theoretically possible for someone with the right skills to modify the BIOS to accept these newer cards? I know the optimal solution is just to buy a new system blah blah, I understand, but I’d rather not do that at this time.

I would be willing to commission someone privately to help me do this, I am quite knowledgeable and familiar about computers so I could follow instructions to help me do it myself as well. I just know how sensitive modding BIOS chips can be and the high risk of “bricking” my PC by doing so, therefore I seek guidance.

2

@ anw:

Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
I am sorry, but I personally cannot help you, because I don’t have any experience in doing BIOS modifications like your requested.
Maybe you are lucky and find someone, who is able and willing to help you.

Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

3

I am not sure that is even possible with a BIOS mod on its own because doesn’t your CPU and or motherboard need to support PCIe 3.0 to begin with for it to work?
Meaning I am sure for PCIe 3.0 to work your hardware, ether your motherboard or CPU or both need to support it as well in hardware.

4

There are BIOS updates to improve graphics card compatiblity, but not for this barebone.
Sadly, we cannot improve the compatibility ourselves (we can swap OROMs and correct DSDTs, but that’s it).

PCIe 2.0/3.0 graphics cards don’t need to be compatible to PCIe 1.0/1.1, because PCI2 1.0/1.1 is dead.
The best alternative is a PCIe 2.0 graphics card (like a Radeon HD 5450 low profile passive cooled).

BTW: Shuttle released this barebone in 2005. In 2005 PCIe 1.1 was published, so it’s very likely that the chipset only supports PCIe 1.0.

5


Thanks for all your help so far folks. After doing some more research, I’m realizing that it may sadly be impossible to run the cards I own on my current system…

Now onto a more realistic solution - PCIe 2.0 cards; gathering that my PCIe version is most likely 1.0 (thank you mr_nuub), would it be safe to assume that most cards with 2.0 interface should work? Is there a max bus power that a PCIe 1.0 slot can output that I should keep in mind? I was looking at some somewhat powerful cards like the Galaxy GT 630 for example. I also read somewhere that PCIe 2.1 was known to have broken backward comparability with PCIe 1.0 slots in most cases – meaning that the HD 5450 most likely wouldn’t work.

Basically I’m trying to find the best GPU out there that my system can actually handle now. I am also willing to use a card with an external connector that requires a separate power source, if necessary.

Thanks again for all the tips.