can anyone tell me how to verify that PCI-E bus is set to 16x and not 1x?

We need more info from you.

What problem(s) are you having?

We can't possibly examine what you see in your bios Setup until we know this:
What mboard make and model are you using?

Do you have a PCI-E video card in a slot, or more than one in slots?
If so, which card(s) make(s) and model(s) do you have, and what makes you think it's (they're) running too slowly?

Mboards with Crossfire support won't fully support two or more PCI-E cards in SLI mode the way that two Crossfire capable cards can be supported, and visa versa, so there's no point in trying to connect them together with an appropriate cable or connector, if that applies.

The PCI-E speed supported depends on which slot you plug the card into, what speed the card requires, what the capabilities of the main chipset are, whether you are talking of the first (primary) PCI-E X 16 slot or another one for video, etc.
Normally the bios automatically supports the highest speed the card in a PCI-E slot is capable of supporting according to those things, but you may be able to set something to less in Setup.
If you were messing with settings in the bios Setup and aren't sure if your settings are right, load bios defaults or optimized bios defaults in your bios Setup.

Cards should automatically set the speed dependent on the PCI-e device. If you insert a 1x speed device into a 4x slot it is going to run at 1x.

scenario:
have 2 BFG GeForce 9600 GT's in SLI
w/probs i'm not going to get into here.
someone suggested that i check if my pci-e is set to 16x and not 1x.
also i was just referred to GPU-Z and my readout says:
Bus Interface PCI-E x16 @ 8
questions:
1. what does "Bus Interface PCI-E x16 @ 8" mean?
2. is this the correct reading/setting?
3. if not, how do i correct it?

"1. what does "Bus Interface PCI-E x16 @ 8" mean?"

Means that the your PCIe x16 slots are running in x8 mode.

"2. is this the correct reading/setting?"

Probably. Older SLI chipsets could only provide each card with 8 PCIe lanes in SLI mode. Newer SLI boards can provide 16 lanes to each card.

The creme de la creme of Socket 939:
Opty 185 @ 3.2GHz
SLIed GTS-640s both flashed to 625/1458/1950
4GB PC3200
Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, X-Fi
A8N32-SLI Deluxe
DIY 1080p projector

thank you all for replies. looks like this part is ok.

"Mboards with Crossfire support won't fully support two or more PCI-E cards in SLI mode the way that two Crossfire capable cards can be supported, and visa versa, so there's no point in trying to connect them together with an appropriate cable or connector, if that applies."

You did not specify what your mboard make and model is. If your mboard has other than a NVidia main chipset, the above restriction applies.

If the video cards have two monitor ports, video may not work properly unless a single monitor, or one monitor if you have more than one, is connected to the primary port of the primary card. Make sure the Intialize video first or Primary display setting or simliar in your bios Setup is set to the first (primary) card - you will still get a display in Windows if that is set wrong, but the video cards cannot work properly once the video drivers for them have been loaded in Windows.

Hi, some help? ATI CCC reports PCI-e running at only 1x with a gigabyte S2 board, and 8x With An ASrock board. Both boards have the same chipsets. both board specs states that PCI-e 16x exists on the boards. I am running a Radeon X1650 card. I have done bios updates on both.... Thus, the card should be running at 16x shouldn't it?

Hi, I am also having a problem on the same scale at the moment.

I recently got my friends old motherboard,
(AM2NF6G-VSTA Bios P2.10) on the start up it says, running dual core AMD Athlon 64 x 2 4200+ 2.2Ghz.

The motherboard states on websites it is capable of running PCI-E at 16, which my graphics card is deffinately capable of (ATI Radeon HD 3450 DDR2).

However, in my settings in the ATI CCC software, it says it is only set at PCI-E @ 8.

I have looked everywhere for updates but have had no look. Anyone able to help me?

XragE and JoshMc

Both of you need to start your own threads in order to get proper help. Describe your problems in detail and list your computer specs in detail.