HP Compaq 6300 Pro SFF PCIe x16 is 2.0 and not 3.0 as stated in specs

[DobalinaB]

Using HWINFO in a HP Compaq Pro 6300 SFF discovered the the PCIE x16 slot reports as a version 2.0 slot but the official HP specs and reviews from the time state the slot is version 3.0

Why would the slot report as version 2.0?  I connected in a HBA 1000 8i SAS/sata adapter there (pcie x8 version 3.0) and it seems to only connect at 5GBPS instead of 8GBPS

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You'd have to show me an official HP document which states what the PCIe version is because doing a 'Find on Page' search of this document at the link below there is no mention at all regarding the PCIe version of any of the slots.

HP Compaq Pro 6300 Business PC

All you need to do is to look up the official Intel chipset specs on the intel site for the PC's Intel® Q75 Express chipset and you will see that it is PCIe 2.0.

Intel® Q75 Express Chipset

Your PC's PCIe x 16 slot is performing at its rated specification.

[6300Enthusiast]

Here is a data sheet "HP Compaq Pro 6300 Business PC" dated June 2012

1st page it states 

" Customize and expand
You’ll find expansion options on both the Small Form
Factor and Microtower, including a PCIe x16 (v3.0)
graphics slot for high-caliber graphics applications and
a PCI accessory slot to support your legacy PCI cards.
Double your storage space with a second storage drive
Increase your system memory up to 32GB2 using the
four available DDR3-1600 memory slots. "

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Apparently, HP made an error on that specification.

Even the chipset specs for the next generation PC that came out after the 6300 Pro--the HP Prodesk 600 G1's chipset is only PCIe 2.0.

Microsoft Word - HP_ProDesk_600_G1_Business_PC_Series_QuickSpecs_12.03.13.docx

Intel® Q85 Chipset

In any event, the PCIe slots in the HP 6300 Pro are PCIe 2.0.

[6300Enthusiast]

Also from Page 12 of the QuickSpecs HP Compaq Pro 6300 Business PC dated DA - 14269 North America — Version 40 — December 13, 2013

for the SFF - PCI Express x16 (3.0 – Primary) 1 each
2.5" low profile
6.6" length
25W max. power

[Paul_Tikkanen]

HP's specs are incorrect.

Intel's specs are correct.

[6300Enthusiast]

Yes, apparently so and appears to have been carried on for years as there are many threads here in this forum that reference the alleged 3.0 version of the X16 PCIe slot on the 6300 SFF

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Upgrading-HP-Compaq-Pro-6300-SF...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Low-Profile-GPU-for-HP-6300SSF/...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Add-a-SSD-m2-nvme-in-the-pcie-x...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-6300-COMPAQ-PRO-MICROTOWER-G...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Will-M-2-NVMe-Gen-3-1x4-work-wi...

And other references to it on the web - just google 6300 sff x16 3.0

So just trying to understand how this error went on for so long or are we missing something that these other people found out??

[6300Enthusiast]

In this Intel Product brief it states that the Q75 supports Your Business Just Became More Manageable and Secure

1X16 lanes - PCI Express 3.0 Graphics yet later in the document it says 

PCI Express* 2.0 Interface • Offers up to 5 GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to 8 PCI Express 2.0
x1 ports, configurable as x2 and x4 depending on motherboard designs

And in the intel link you shared it talks about the PCIe ports up to X8 but not X16 so maybe the X16 slot on Q75 should support 3.0 as HP said in their specs?