MSI GTX1080ti gaming X problem.

[mjssge]

System info:
i7 - 7700K
32gb Corsair RAM
2 x GTX1080ti gaming X in SLI
M2 SSD (OS Win 8.1 Pro) and 250GB 870 Evo SSD (data).
Gigabyte GA-H270-Gaming 3 mobo
3 * Philips BDM4350 Displays.

My friend is using this system solely to play iracing across 3 displays using nvidia surround for a panoramic view. He can no longer enable surround without it turning one screen black and basically screwing up the system, configs disappear, display driver gets corrupted etc etc.
I took the system away and ran both cards individually trying both pci slots (1 21" AOC display), I ran unigine heaven and both cards achieved similar scores. I did a clean install of the nvidia drivers and took it back, same problem and running unigine heaven it showed one card running at 1974/5505Mhz and the other seemingly idling at 607/405Mhz.

I took it back and reformatted the M2 swapped out the 2TB HDD and swapped for the 870 Evo SSD (he needs only limited storage as its just Windows, iracing and a couple of other bits and bobs). The PC now ran both cards on unigine heaven at 1974/5505mhz. I managed to borrow another AOC display and set it up with a DVI into each card (the owner uses 2 dp into 1 card, 1 into the other..I checked the leads, swapped them around, tried using 2 dp and one hdmi to the main card etc).
With the 2 displays hooked up it enabled surround perfectly, ran unengine heaven correctly and iracing worked across both screens as it should.
I took it back, hooked it up to the 3 displays and the desktop environment accepted surround and displayed as it should. As soon as I tried to run heaven or iracing in panoramic view (i.e. something more substantial) it threw a wobbly..either screen 2 or 3 blacking, one card seeming to idle, nvidia control panel disappearing and the 1080ti driver showing as faulty.

I think maybe one 1080ti has some type of fault where anything substantial and it isn't perfoming how it should. The 3 displays and leads are working okay with the desktop and nvidia surround enabled, the pc will work as it should with 2 smaller displays.

He is thinking of getting a single newer card, and maybe having one card looked at..I think by now they'll be out of warranty.

Any advice would be really appreciated.
Joel

 

[Borealis]

That motherboard isn't really designed for SLI - the second x16 slot only runs at x4 so the second card could be running into bandwidth issues regardless of whether it has a fault or not. It is entirely possible that one of the cards has a fault that only crops up under heavy loading. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with multi-screen panoramic setups - I have two screens but only ever use one for gaming.

Right now, getting a new card that is equal to/better than a 1080Ti is more than a bit of a nightmare!

 

[mjssge]

Yes I've been reading about these stock issues and didn't really want to tell him to fork out for a new card when I haven't got to the bottom of it. I'm not sure how to test the gpu any further. I would have thought a single 1080ti would be able to run iracing across 3 displays..its just the size of the things maybe. Thankyou for the mobo info Borealis, I'll have a look into that. Yes I'm a one screen gamer too..anything else and I turn into a hammerhead shark.

 

[pastymuncher]

That board doesn't do SLI so however he has the gpu's set up it's not in SLI. To enable SLI you need a board that supports it and that has a pair of pci-e slots that run at a minimum of 8x each. If he has a SLI bridge installed across the two cards he is probably better off removing it and powering one monitor from one card and the other two from the second card although I have no idea how Nvidia surround requires things to be set up. AMD's Crossfire will work on that board but the second slot only running at 4x is going to hold any card back.

What make and model psu is he using? It will need to be a high wattage one with a pair of 1080ti's being powered by it.

 

[mjssge]

Ah cgheers pasty, I tried it without the bridge, but that was prior to re-formatting everything so that's something I can try. I've also contacted gigabyte and nvidia to see if a 3080 will fit that mobo. Thankyou so much for your response, much appreciated.

 

[pastymuncher]

A 3080 will work in that motherboard but make sure it's on the latest bios first to rule out possible compatibility issues. It looks like it will be quite a while before they are available in decent numbers though and it wouldn't surprise me if it takes most of the year before you can actually buy one easily.

In the meantime he will have to make the best of what he has so what make and model psu is he using?

 

[mjssge]

A Corsair HX850i, looking at the RTX3080 I think it will be slightly too large for the case (Corsair Carbide 600c clear). It'll fit although longer than the mobo (according to Gigabyte)...maybe I can reposition the mobo within the case. The 3070 twin fan looks like it will be no problem.

 

[pastymuncher]

The 1080ti is quite a power hungry card and if I remember right a single card can easily draw 300w, more if overclocked, so that's 600w+ just for the gpu's. How are the cards powered, a single pci-e lead using the pair of daisy chained connectors or from four seperate pci-e leads using only a single plug on each? I see the HX850i only has three pci-e leads with a pair of daisy chained connectors on each so one of the cards would have to use the daisy chained connectors anyway. Maybe try powering the top card with a pair of seperate leads and the bottom card with the single lead to see if stability improves.

 

[mjssge]

Each card has 2 pci-e connecters (6+2 + 6+2) at the card end anyway..