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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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 :)
 
Single slot models. The 7900's run cooler and use less power than the 7800's. I ran the system with the sides off and fans blowing into the case from quite an early stage as I had considered it a possibility. That's also the same reason I changed to the expert DFI board from the normal version, to provide more space between the 2 cards, turns out of course that it was a waste of money :P
 
Ok well I scoured that forum yesterday and today, I've found no mention bar one post of some guy that has problems with a pair of 7900 GT's, certainly with no mention of a conclusive reason as to why it's happening. Would you mind directing me to the right posts? I honestly can't seem to find them.
 
Yeh I'm running a RAID array as my storage setup, Windows is just on a single 36gb raptor.

It's letting me enable SLI, no problem at all and it gives me the relevant performance boost, its just the random crashes :confused: I really don't want to have to sell the whole lot and go ATI, would be an expensive switch.
 
BFG have been very helpful, but then most companies are when you tell them you're from a review site, however the people I've spoke to there don't really have any idea what's causing these problems. In reality I'd suggest the crashing problems that many have experienced are probably from the same issue that's causing the issues in that link.
 
Sounds like you just a badly seated card, I've had that happen a couple of times in the past.

I don't want to tempt fate but installing the modded 0406 bios *appears* to have cured my problem, haven't had any issues for a few days now. This should help for those of you showing concern about getting a second card. I'll keep you updated.
 
Thought I'd post again just to let you know that I'm now suffering from the problem in the link I posted a few posts above. As soon as my one card hits 70c - freeze, locks up for 10-60s sometimes never comes out and just reboots my machine. I know which card it is because when I shove the PhysX card in the PCI slot beneath the faulty card, it hangs as soon as it hits 70c, it appears the other card is slightly more tolerant but not by a lot.
 
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