@Lost_N_BIOS sorry about the late response, but the desktop is my folks, and couldn’t get to this until now. The setting in BIOS for the PCIE slot was set to “Auto”. Switched it to Gen 3 and it’s still the same. Even with the IVY CPU, moving it between slots and checking the speeds, it’s still only a ~200 MB/s difference. Not sure why …
@lji - No worries, I’m always late too 
Put in third slot, and set Gen3, then show me image of CrystalDiskInfo with the NVME as the selected drive as you see below
What are you checking NVME speeds with?
@Lost_N_BIOS Looks like it’s operating at PCIE 2.0 x4 in the first slot that’s designed to operate at PCIE 3.0 with Ivy CPUs.
Here are the speeds for the first slot operating at PCIE 3.0 speeds (obviously only running at PCIE 2.0 per above screenshot).
Here are the speeds in the second slot that operates at PCIE 2.0 speeds
@lji - This is what I suspected, it’s running at 2.0, that’s why you see not much different between those slots
Clear CMOS, and then boot into BIOS, load optimized defaults, save/apply/reboot back into BIOS and set Gen3 in Misc section.
Then test again with NVME in last slot, does it still show 2.0 in CrystalDiskInfo?
I’ve never heard of your CPU, maybe since it’s rare, a CPU microcode update would help, if the above does not.
If above does not help let me know and I will make you BIOS with updated CPU microcode
** OHHH ** I see the issue, this is first Ivy bridge I’ve seen, that I remember anyway, that does NOT have PCIE 3.0
This CPU is PCIE 2.0 ONLY 
So this explains it all The above will not change anything, sorry I missed this until now! 
You need better IVY CPU, such as i5 or i7, or look at the table here, top/upper half is PCIE 3.0. I guess I never noticed back in this era that PCIE 3.0 was limited to i5 and above 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)
Ah… Got it … From the wikipedia page, looks like all Core i3 Ivy bridge CPUs of this 32xx series are limited to PCIE 2.0 … that’s a bummer … oh well.
It’s fine. Even in the second slot it runs pretty well (a serious upgrade from the mechanical HDD) and now with a video card added, the desktop can run modern apps with no issues … it’s use is mostly for video calls, internet browsing, YouTube videos, editing docs, etc, so not a bad deal overall.
@lji - Fixed link above 
Yeah, sorry I didn’t notice this sooner!
Certainly it will still be much faster than a HDD and 2-3x faster than SSD, even at 2.0
I guess this is best this setup can do, unless you get them an i5 on the cheap on ebay.
And on that note, you may find i5 or i7 much cheaper than you’d expect, and don’t forget about Xeon for 1155, E3 and E5 sometimes cheaper than desktop equivalent CPU, and both series have PCIE 3.0
Thank you for the recommendations @Lost_N_BIOS. Wouldn’t be at this point without your help.
Will reserve the CPU upgrade (the Xeons are definitely eye catching) for the next round of upgrades… For it, will need to get a better heatsink/fan for the CPU along with a higher wattage PSU and a case to round it all out. From a price to value perspective, some of these upgrades in of itself have been pushing it, and happy with the performance for now.
Hey, just upgraded my old build. Wanted to chime in since I went this route. I have a H77m-d3h. I’m running the F12 modified bios. Thanks for all your info. It helped me work through issues I was having getting it setup.
Xeon is the way to go. The e3-1280 v2 is a good option, imo. That’s what I went with. Only 69 watts. Rated at 3.6 ghz but mine is mostly running around 3.8 or 3.9 ghz. I found a used one on ebay for $90. Heat is a issue for me since I have a micro build case.
I have the Nvidia 1050ti low profile, no separate power connector, on slot 1. Reads at PCIe 3.0 16x.
WD Blue 1TB m.2 on the second PCIe 16x slot running at 4x.
I do have a question. My cpu only has 20 pci lanes. I’m assuming the graphics is using 16 and the h77 chipset uses 4. The m.2 is running on the 4 to the h77 chipset, but my understanding is the Atheros on-board LAN uses 1 PCI lane through the H77. I’m using a usb wifi adapter but its bridged to the Atheros for my Xbox. I havent noticed any issues but I havent tried to use the Atheros as a LAN connection yet. If I plug anything else into my PCI slots my computer doesnt boot. I’ve also read there can be functionality issues with ports. I have a RW blu-ray on a sata 3, which works, but would like to add a large ssd to the other sata 3 at some point. The block diagram doesnt show the sata or usb on the pci bus, but I’ve read comments from people saying I can lose sata ports or usb ports. Is this accurate?
Can anyone please re upload the bios for this motherboard, the provided link is dead, btw does this modded bios has microcode cpu id updated? , to support all Ivy CPU, I guess even stock bios works for Xeon E3 1240 V2
Thanks
Still didn’t managed to update GA-H77M-D3H bios.
@viggen66
Were u planning to flash this bios mod on ur GA-H77???
U didnt mention the board model…u just requested the mod link on a GA-Z77M-d3h-mvp thread?
Not in the mood for for learning and do the mod urself humm?
Wots ur difficulty in doing it?
Sorry for any incovenience, just looking for a modded GA-H77M-D3H , the link on first thread is dead, just that.
@viggen66
No inconvenience at all, if u want to break ur system flashing a wrong mod that ur problem…
Wot link is dead? There is no link for a GA-H77M-D3H bios mod in the first page of this THREAD (GA-Z77M-D3H).
I could be blind… so point the link ur stating.
Previous posts i only see a user that did the mod himself for his H77 but he didnt posted any linked file…
Use the guide already linked: [HowTo] Get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS
Use UBU and perform all modules updates, then use the MMtool method and insert the NVMe DXE, share ur file, we can check it before u flash it.
Thanks, you’re absolutely correct my mistake sorry 
Where can I find the BIOS? The file is down.
Try this, flash normal with q-flash: Z77MD3HVPMod.rar (3.6 MB)
Unhid hidden options in System > Below ATA Port there should be an accessible invisible menu
you could enable above 4g decoding with this bios, and use resizable bar if your gpu supports it.
Thank You I will try it.
Seems to be the wrong Bios, Q-Flash says “Bios ID check error”, solution?
I found this: [OFFER] Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H NVMe mod
Seems to work I have rev1.1 is this the best Bios Mod for my usage case?