SLI probs

2006-10-14 16:21:25

#1

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

Hi all
I have a few problems with my sli setup. I just got my second xfx 7900gt and found when I try to play bf2142 the screen goes grey after about 20 seconds. If I alt tab out and then return its ok for another 20 seconds then it does the same thing. I can hear the audio but just get no picture. I tried changing from single gpu to split in the advanced features and after the 20 seconds the top half of the screen goes grey but the botom is fine.
Also my 3d mark o5 score went from about 8500 to 9500. I wasn't expecting miracles but a 9500 in 05 just does not seem right, so I tried my new card on its own and again got around 8500. It looks like both cards are working fine on their own just not together.
I made sure I got the exsact same same second card as the first, but the second card must be from a much newer batch as it is black and my original one is silver. They both have the same model number.

I have had 6600gt's working fine in sli in this rig before so I know what has to be changed on installation and in the driver menu. Below are my related rig specs.

Gigabyte K8n pro-sli
AMD Athelon 64 3500
2x 7900 gt extreme
Antec Trupower 2.0 550w
2 gig of ram (4 x 512 sticks)

Any help would be appreciated.

2006-10-14 16:31:21

#2

SFCCDailey: Banned; +106|6724|USA

Have you checked to verify that you ar not having an overheating problem? I'm not familiar with the required specs for 2142 but I would think it would support the 7900 series cards.

2006-10-14 16:52:01

#3

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

SFCCDailey wrote:
Have you checked to verify that you ar not having an overheating problem? I'm not familiar with the required specs for 2142 but I would think it would support the 7900 series cards.

That was the first thing I thought of so as soon at it happened i checked the temps and both cards were at 52 deg. I have a Thermalthake Armor case and no overclocking so I would think there is enough cooling there.

2006-10-14 16:57:17

#4

MECtallica: Member; +73|6513|jalalabad

overheating, trust me 52C is way too hot for an SLI setup. You need better cooling.

2006-10-14 17:08:14

#5

doc. josh: Member; +48|6554

just go buy a few more fans and have them blowing twards the cars should solve yer problem. IT solved my friends similar problem but he has cross fire

2006-10-14 17:09:42

#6

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

MECtallica wrote:
overheating, trust me 52C is way too hot for an SLI setup. You need better cooling.

Thanks for that. Is a computer more heat effected in SLI? With a single card my gpu temp was also in the low 50's under load and I have never had any problems.
I got the Armor case because of its cooling. The only other option is to go water cooled but I thought that was more for overclocking and would be overkill in my situation.

2006-10-14 17:13:16

#7

younggun: Member; +28|6653

That is not overheating. 52C fine, especially for SLI. Most graphics cards are made to run up to around 80C without artifacting.

If I were you I would try a true tech forum to help you with your problem.

2006-10-14 17:13:36

#8

MECtallica: Member; +73|6513|jalalabad

52C is a hot temp for any card, my piece of crap card runs at flipping 65C idle, It lives, it's never failed, shut off any 3d apps or anything. But with two cards, 52C is hot, water cooling is not overkill, SLI requires a lot of power, fans and air can only do so much. I'm not 100% sure, but it would help to get better cooling. Also, is the truepower 2.0 SLI certified? I'm too lazy to look it up..

And said up yea, I;m not really a tech person at all, i just have some what common knowledge of this , but the problem you describe seems like overheating. Could be a powersupply problem. And any eliteists out there feel free to correct my posts with MINDPOWERz

Last edited by MECtallica (2006-10-14 17:15:26)

2006-10-14 17:15:57

#9

Ditsch: Need another Monster; +3|6602|Chandler, Arizona

Even though this is off subject; it doesn't matter if they are two different cards, just as long as they are from the 7 series they will SLi together.

2006-10-14 17:17:21

#10

ssonrats: Member; +221|6654

52 sounds ok to me, my 6600gt runs between 40-50 degrees.

Benchmark it, see what the temp rises to when you play bf2, 52 sounds fine to me as i said, i think the threshold on my 6600 is 145 degrees.

Try other drivers too, see if that helps you.

Last edited by ssonrats (2006-10-14 17:26:00)

2006-10-14 17:25:44

#11

stryyker: bad touch; +1,682|6729|California

make sure you have the latest SLi Drivers, as well

2006-10-14 17:32:29

#12

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

MECtallica wrote:
52C is a hot temp for any card, my piece of crap card runs at flipping 65C idle, It lives, it's never failed, shut off any 3d apps or anything. But with two cards, 52C is hot, water cooling is not overkill, SLI requires a lot of power, fans and air can only do so much. I'm not 100% sure, but it would help to get better cooling. Also, is the truepower 2.0 SLI certified? I'm too lazy to look it up..

And said up yea, I;m not really a tech person at all, i just have some what common knowledge of this , but the problem you describe seems like overheating. Could be a powersupply problem. And any eliteists out there feel free to correct my posts with MINDPOWERz

PSU does not have sli rating but I checked with all of the computer shops in my area and all of them said the Antec 550 was more than enough for my requirements. It comes with duel 12 volt rails as well so each card is getting what it needs.
Any more fans in this thing and it will start moving across the floor. It comes with four standard but I bought the one with the side 25cm fan so thats 5 case fans all up.

2006-10-14 17:46:37

#13

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

I have all the latest drivers and just did a full fresh Windows install.
Does anyone else think 9500 in 3dmark05 is very low for two 7900 gt's?

2006-10-14 17:48:55

#14

leftoverkiller: Member; +9|6472

you say that they are the same cards but are they. do they both have the same BIOS? i built a sli machine with one card at first. i bought a second card later. it didn't work. they had different BIOS so it wouldn't work. so i bought 1 more card that was the same as the second card and sold the first on ebay. my machine uses 2 6800xt xfx 256 and my friend has the same machine with 2 7800 xfx 256 and his 3dmark is only about 1000-1700 point faster. your temp is fine. i just noticed that your machine is the same as mine but I'm using the amd 3700 and 4 gigs corsair xms. same board power supply but i just have the 2 6800xts. look in nvidias sli zone. lots of good info there. but try removing both cards and run one and then the other in a single card config. remember to flip the sli chip to single card mode. when you boot up the machine look in the upper left corner to see the bios info. make sure they are the same. hope this helps some.
your power supply is perfectly fine for your set up. and 52 is a good temp for the setup. mine runs about 48 idle and 52-54 after gaming. any temp up into the high 60s to mid 70s is alittle much but will work. when you get into the 80s you are doing some damage to the cards. you probally wont get the life expectancy out of those .

Last edited by leftoverkiller (2006-10-14 18:03:29)

2006-10-14 17:59:14

#15

RoosterCantrell: Goodbye :); +399|6489|Somewhere else

This is obvious, but to make sure...make sure you have an airflow in your computer, DO NOT have all fans blow INTO the computer. Just redirecting airflow through your box can affect alot. I have 7 case fans, after trying several different variations blowing in and out. I was able to lower my SLI-ed cards temps by 5 Celcius.

Like said already: check GPU drivers are up to date, make sure the cards ARE in SLI mode (software... and hardware mobo selector card {if applicable}) my mobo was being a bastard to truelly be in SLI rather than just detecting SLI capabilities.

ive also read that some power supplies that supply enough volts, lack the amperage power for some of the newer Nvidia Cards, look into that if you are unsure?

2006-10-14 18:03:53

#16

RThirtyFour: Member; +1|6662

leftoverkiller wrote:
you say that they are the same cards but are they. do they both have the same BIOS? i built a sli machine with one card at first. i bought a second card later. it didn't work. they had different BIOS so it wouldn't work. so i bought 1 more card that was the same as the second card and sold the first on ebay. my machine uses 2 6800xt xfx 256 and my friend has the same machine with 2 7800 xfx 256 and his 3dmark is only about 1000-1700 point faster. your temp is fine. i just noticed that your machine is the same as mine but I'm using the amd 3700 and 4 gigs corsair xms. same board power supply but i just have the 2 6800xts. look in nvidias sli zone. lots of good info there. but try removing both cards and run one and then the other in a single card config. remember to flip the sli chip to single card mode. when you boot up the machine look in the upper left corner to see the bios info. make sure they are the same. hope this helps some.

Just out of interest what score do you get and which 3d mark do you use? I only use 05 because it is what I started testing the first card on so I wanted to see the change. I tested both cards in single mode and they both work fine on their own. And yes I did flip the sli chip. Do you know if there is a way to flash the bios so they are the same?

2006-10-14 18:08:55

#17

DeCon_1: Member; +16|6529|Atlanta, Georga U.S.A.

Well one way to fix the problem might be to underclock the GPUs. From my own experience, I've seen that underclocking the GPUs fixes a lot of problems, especially in SLi. Another problem might be that the cards themselves might be overclocked by default. Most SLi problems are caused by factory overclocking GPUs which is not recommended by Nvidia especially running the cards in SLi. When I bought my two XFX 7950GX2s to build my quad system, I underclocked the cards to Nvidias standard settings and that for me fixed a lot of problems.

2006-10-14 18:20:08

#18

leftoverkiller: Member; +9|6472

no you cant flash the video bios. they are set by the manufacturer. i use 3dmark 03 and my score was 14,902 with no over clocking in sli
8763 no overclocking and sli disabled
Gigabyte K8n pro-sli
AMD Athelon 64 3700
2x 6800 xt extreme xfx 256
Rosewill rp600s-2mk
4 gig of ram (4 x 1gig sticks) corsair xms w/ leds for activity. ( they only look cool)

Last edited by leftoverkiller (2006-10-14 18:34:57)

BF2S Forums SLI probs

SFCCDailey wrote:

MECtallica wrote:

MECtallica wrote:

leftoverkiller wrote:

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