Thanks for your response. It's getting all too crazy now: currently (since to change PCIx16 to Gen3) my PC is running very smoothly, benchmarks like Futuremark / Passmark / Furmark have never run smoother, but now my PC won't boot into the BIOS anymore, even when I explicitly try that through 'Settings => System => Recovery => Advanced recovery options' from Windows. What I notice during startup is that I now see the Numlock light come on 3 times instead of 2 times like before. And the first screen I see now is my desktop; previously, I used to see the last part of the login screen (as well as a very brief display of the boot screen with the ASUS logo before that, now it's just blank until Windows desktop). Pressing Del during startup no longer works; I keep booting into Windows again. Sounds like a motherboard issue?
Furthermore, I really don't understand it: when I open HwInfo, I see PCIe 4.0 x8 (as it should ideally be), but I am 100% sure that I set PCIe x16 to Gen 3. Once again, the PC has never run smoother. I currently have no reason to change the BIOS, but isn't this just too crazy?
EDIT: now I see that the x8 (8.0GT/s) on the right does correspond with PCIe 3.0 speed. Very strange behavior of the MoBo @Startup though. I'm going to flash the motherboard to the latest BIOS update (2 newer versions currently), let's hope it boots again..
Guys, there is definitely something wrong with the interaction between PCIe and the GPU.
I flashed the motherboard again last night to the latest available version: 1812 (2023/10/20). All settings were back to 'default.' So, PCIe x16 was set to 'Auto' (likely Gen 5?), but that immediately brought back the previously mentioned issues. In Futuremark 3DMark 11, my system scored P1841 (see screenshot, the HwInfo shot was taken around the same time). A terrible number!!
So then in the BIOS, I manually set it back to Gen 4. In Gen 4, it was still not running perfectly though the stuttering was much less frequent. Benchmarks are now significantly smoother (for example, compared to 'Auto,' 10fps suddenly turned into 150fps), but I still occasionally saw the screen 'locking up,' which is also noticeable in the GPU's buzzing sound during the benchmark— it occasionally stutters in line with the screen glitches. The same is evident when scrolling on YouTube or playing videos: Better, but there are still frequent stutters, and it's noticeably disruptive.
Additionally, in Gen 4, I can't access the BIOS anymore, no matter what I try. Hitting 'Del' or 'F2' frantically does nothing, and attempting it from Windows (Settings => System => Recovery => Advanced Recovery) also fails—I just boot back to the Windows desktop.
Therefore, I flashed back to the same 1812 version just to reset the settings to default and set PCIe x16 immediately to 'Gen 3'. Since PCIe x16 is set to 'Gen 3,' the computer runs smoothly, and I no longer experience interruptions. 3DMark 11 now scores P29000, a number I can live with.
Furmark runs at 250 FPS at the standard 1280x720 resolution without interruptions, something that was not the case with 'Gen 4'; there were noticeable interruptions every few seconds.
What could be going on here? Again, no other setting has been changed since the initial flash to 1812; everything is at default. All drivers are the latest official standard drivers available.
There must be an issue with the combination of the R9 7900 + B650E + RTX 4060, undoubtedly. I'm not exactly sure on a low-level what changing PCIe x16 from 'Auto' to Gen 4 or Gen 3 precisely does. Yes, it adjusts the PCIe version and lane speeds, but how can this have such an impact on the freezing / stuttering of the GPU?!?
I can recreate this problem so I'm 100% sure this is the issue/'culprite' but no idea how to solve this.
