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7900GTX SLI issues

[ui]ICEMAN

[ui]ICEMAN

[ui]ICEMAN

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,612
Location
Florida/UK
System :

DFI SLI-DR Expert / SLI-DR
FX60 / 4000+
2x BFG 7900GTX SLI
Sparkle 700W / Enermax 620W
2x 1gb Corsair 3200c2
X-fi platinum

Ok, prior to changing to the 2 7900's, I ran 2x 7800GTX's for 6 months in this system without problem. My system initially had the 4000+ and the SLI-DR not the expert. When running the 2 7900's in SLI I get random crashes, can be 5 mins or 5 hours, its really difficult to recreate but it happens an awful lot, occasionally in windows too, not just in 3D.

As a hardware reviewer I have access to a lot of hardware, so first off I swapped the mobo to the expert in case it was a heat issue due to the close proximity of the cards together with the SLI-DR. No change, however each card on its own works fine, no crashes in 3d or windows for days. This prompted me to try the Sparkle 700W instead of my Enermax, again no change with 2 cards in. Finally I changed my aging 4000+ for an FX60 that I had around, no joy still. I've tried pretty much every driver revision around and cannot seem to fix this. Everything I have here points to one of the cards not working correctly but I'm loathed to spend another £500 and find the problem still exists. Anyone have any clues?
 
Have you patched the games you want to play? i had some problems in SLI mode but the patches sorted it. Some of the patches fix dual core cpu problems as well.

PS, I was in the shop when you got those cards :D Didnt you get a keyboard or something as well

EDIT : Do you have access to a different pair of cards? Like 2x7800GTX or something? If it happened with different carss then it would rule the cards out as a problem
 
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You could do with trying the 7900s in a different system really. But if you changed the cpu and mobo then effectivly thats what youve done. If youre local you can try them in my system if you like
 
Yep only thing I can really think of doing is buying another 7900GTX and swapping one out at a time, just dont want to waste my money, it *should* fix it but if it doesn't its a total waste.
 
Well at least if you do get another you can send one back under the 7 day thingy. Do you have a different make of motherboard to hand?

Also, i know this sounds daft, but i had a few problems in games and 3dm06 if i installed coolbits, theyd just lock up solid. It mustve been the problem coz everytime i installed it the problem appeared. All was fine before :confused:
 
Are you overclocking your cards? Sometimes this can be a reason for random shutdowns/restarts.

I remember when I used to have the same problem with my old graphics card, the problem was solved when I reinstalled my OS.
 
is there enough space between them for enough airflow?
underclock them, see if that makes a difference.
check the psu rails on the cards, swap them or make sure theyre getting enough power.
uninstall the drivers with driver cleaner, then reinstall an earlier build.
use just one card by itself, or swap the position of the cards -same problem?
check motherboard settings are correct.
try different software, is just one game making it crash?
run memtest to rule out any memory problems.
run prime95 to rule out cpu problems.
try a fresh windows install.
run windows in safe mode, then run some benches to see if its a driver incompatibility.

if all else fails send them back (rma).
 
Everything you have listed I have tried, remember I did work as a hardware reviewer and problem diagnosis is nothing new to me.

is there enough space between them for enough airflow? -This is why i bought the Expert

underclock them, see if that makes a difference. -No difference - each card works fine on its own

check the psu rails on the cards, swap them or make sure theyre getting enough power. -Tried multiple PSU's, multiple cables and swapped the cards in the slots

uninstall the drivers with driver cleaner, then reinstall an earlier build. -Done many a time

use just one card by itself, or swap the position of the cards -same problem? -As said, each card works fine on its own, in either slot at 8x or 16x

check motherboard settings are correct. - They are + this system ran 2x 7800 GTX's for 6 months prior.

try different software, is just one game making it crash? -It's all 3d apps and occasionally in Windows too or even on bootup
run memtest to rule out any memory problems. - Done, I have about 80 sticks of RAM here too.

run prime95 to rule out cpu problems. - Fails when both cards are in occasionally, doesn't fail with either card is on its own or when the 2 7800GTX's are in, also note that I have a 4000+ that has worked for a very long time and new FX60 which I prime tested for a week.

try a fresh windows install. - Naturally, the first thing I did

run windows in safe mode, then run some benches to see if its a driver incompatibility. - All driver revisions cause this, it crashes on bootup sometimes.
 
Well since I've already changed the board, albeit to another DFI one, it probably won't make any difference. There must be others with the same board/graphics combo out there else I wouldn't be the only one experiencing this issue. RMA'ing the cards I guarantee will get me nowhere, the crashes are so difficult to reproduce, sometimes 10x a day others not at all.

Oh and I have the latest X-Fi drivers, have done since I got the card a few months back.

I know it sounds like I'm being awkward but this post wasn't really for tips on how to fix it, believe me there's nothing I haven't tried ; it was more to try and identify if *anyone* had had a problem like this before which would point to a rather odd incompatability.
 
I'm thinking of going SLI with my 7900 GTX and I too have a DFI expert mobo.If you work out the problem tell me. :)

I would hate to buy another GTX and find I have the same issues :eek:
 
I think I may know what it is.

You X-Fi is the one that hasnt got the X-RAM and there are known compatibility issues with them and nfroce4 chipsets.

Id be tempted to remove it and try using the onboard audio.

If its fine then get creative to RMA the board for one with the newer firmware, if it dosent solve it then im stumped.
 
MeatLoaf said:
I think I may know what it is.

You X-Fi is the one that hasnt got the X-RAM and there are known compatibility issues with them and nfroce4 chipsets.

Id be tempted to remove it and try using the onboard audio.

If its fine then get creative to RMA the board for one with the newer firmware, if it dosent solve it then im stumped.
Click to expand...

Ok, something worth noting, however why does it only occur with the 2 7900s? Yet on their own and with the 2 7800's I never had an issue :( I can see you're as puzzled by this as I am lol :)
 
ICEMAN, iv heard of problems running SLI 7900's on DFI boards over at dfi street forums, its beleived to be a driver issue, only thing I can think of is wait for new drivers for chipset and the cards themselves, the hardware isnt faulty, just some driver glitches, head over to dfi street to find some stuff on it there
 
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