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PC crashes with PCI-E 3.0 enabled.

Gripen90

Gripen90

Gripen90

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20 Nov 2009
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Haarby, DENMARK
Per suggestion in the previous thread in the CPU section I raise my problem in the GPU section and hope you can help :cool:

I have had issues with my PC since last week when I "upgraded" from Core i7 3820 to Core i7 3930K.

I got the Core i7 3930K installed Saturday with no issues I thought. The PC booted fine and everything seemed great - until I ran 3Dmark11. Suddenly the screen went black and the PC rebooted out of nowhere and had never done that before.

After the reboot I tried to check all power cables and reposition the SLi bridge to be sure all was fine and secure.
I ran Unigine Heaven DX 11 benchmark with MSI Afterburner open to check temps. They were all ok, but suddenly the GPU usage would go down from 95% to 30% and everything went sluggish and stuttered a lot and then the PC crashed again !.

I took out the top GTX 670 and ran SLi with the remaining 2 cards and every benchmark ran fine (Heaven DX11 3Dmark11).

I then I ran an OCCT CPU stress test for 10min just to be sure it wasn't the CPU getting hot and it wasn't.. Tempertures were never exceeding 57 degrees celcius at 3.5GHz (core boost enabled).

Then I thought I could be a bad connection, so I put the former top card in the middle and ran 3-way SLi again.
Initially everything ran fine when benchmarking, but then suddenly GPU usage plummeted from 97% to 30% and crash again !.
I then took out the middle card again, and then tested SLi in 3Dmark11 and Heaven DX11. No issues…at least so it seemed for that time.

Then I took out that card thinking it would be the culpit for the crashes so I RMAed it.
I did this based previous experience where one of my 3x GTX 580 in 3way SLi behaved exactly in the same manner and I got that card RMA'ed and got a new card and 0 problems.

But ironically... after RMA'ing the card I went home wanted to exclude the CPU as an issue and ran OCCT stress test for 1hour again and 0 problems.
hen I ran Unigine Heaven DX11 benchmark and no issues. Then I wanted to run 3Dmark11...and chrash again – black screen and restart !

Now I got the new GTX 670 card after the RMA installed it and tried with Forceware 306.23, 306.97, 310.70 drivers - however the problem was the same !


However I've isolated the problem and found the "solution" !

The Core i7 3930K can't do PCI-E 3.0 !!!

If I just install the nVidia driver and DO NOTuse the nVidia X79 PCI-E 3.0 patch, then there are NO issues at all ! The GPU usage is top notch and FPS don't drop up and down, and I can actually hear the GPU cooler spin up because the GPU is working !

If I install the X79 PCI-E 3.0 patch then the FPS will drop up and down, and the GPU usage hops and dances between 90 to 20% usage untill 3Dmark11 or Unigine Heave DX11 crashes !

I then for testing took out the CPU and put in my old Core i7 3820 (haven't sold it yet).
And whatta you know rock solid with both PCI-E 3.0 and 2.0 !

I can only get PCI-E 3.0 to run solid and stable when I disable SLi and run with one card but the score is low in 3Dmark11 :(
I run the patch in "administrator" mode. However the "revert" command I can't get the work at all from the CMD, so I have to uninstall and reinstall the drivers to get PCI-E 2.0 again - it's a pain !


The problem is the CPU

I don't know if I should stay with the Core i7 3930K but then be stuck at PCI-E 2.0 or go back to 3820 and get PCI-E 3.0 ???

What should I or would you do ? stay with the 3930 or go back to 3820 ?

Nor in the F10 or F11 BIOS for the Gigabyte X79UD3 there's an option for enabling PCI-E modes :confused:

Any suggestions ?
 
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gregster said:
I run SLI 680's with a 3930K processor and pic-3.0 with no probs. not sure if it is your mobo bios?
Click to expand...

As I wrote I have update BIOS from F10 to F11 but it's the same. In the BIOS there's no option for PCIE 2.0 or 3.0

When using the 3820 I can do 3.0 but with 3930K it's only 2.0 that's stable :confused:
 
You could just leave it? I think this is one of the reasons why Nvidia doesn't enable 3.0 on default on the X79 platform, since it doesn't 100% fit to the 3.0 standards. I'm sure the performance between 2.0 and 3.0 will hardly be noticeable anyway.
 
Orcvader said:
You could just leave it? I think this is one of the reasons why Nvidia doesn't enable 3.0 on default on the X79 platform, since it doesn't 100% fit to the 3.0 standards. I'm sure the performance between 2.0 and 3.0 will hardly be noticeable anyway.
Click to expand...

I'd agree normally but I think it can hinder performance a little with a 3 card set up.
 
When I run 3DMark11 with 3.0 enabled, it nets me a few points extra (double figures) and wouldn't think 3 way SLI would be much of a difference.

Go back to 2.0 and see if that is any better.

Sorry btw for not noticing you updated the bios (on my phone at work).
 
gregster said:
When I run 3DMark11 with 3.0 enabled, it nets me a few points extra (double figures) and wouldn't think 3 way SLI would be much of a difference.

Go back to 2.0 and see if that is any better.

Sorry btw for not noticing you updated the bios (on my phone at work).
Click to expand...

I really would if I could, but the 3Dmark11 benchmark runs jerky and the cards aren't being fully utilzed at all. The FPS jump up and down and it's acting like SLi is enabled and disabled all the time untill the PC finally crashes... it's the same whether I use force ware 301.42,306.23,306.97 and the 310.70 I use now :(

I only can compare the "before/after" results with the Core i7 3820 running PCI-E 3.0 and the Core i7 3930K running PCI-E 2.0

In Unigine Heaven DX 11 1920x1200 8xAA/16xAF, Extreme tessellation.
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = 111,6 FPS
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = 110,4FPS

3Dmark11 Performance
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4991801
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5164700

3Dmark11 Extreme
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5030405
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5159222
 
gregster said:
Does event viewer give any info on the crash?
Click to expand...

Yea it directs it to nvlddmkm.sys responsible for crashing. I tried the different repair tricks and did do uninstall and windows fail safe boot and ran driver sweeper - but to no avail.

Its just so odd. With th 3820 and the X79 3.0 patch running I never ever had a single crash. Just swapping the CPU to a 3930K and bam I can not do PCIE 3.0 with out heavy stutter and crashes.
 
I have the same set up and a had a few problems till I did a fresh install and applied the 3.0 patch.

Maybe try that ?
 
did you do a full cmos clear 30mins battery removal/load optimised defaults and re enter bios/oc settings? switching cpu's could have borked something in dmi pool data or cmos?
 
As you know, it is pointing to the drivers as the issue. I am a bit baffled myself, as it runs fine for a while but then chugs down and crashes...I know the higher I push my CPU, the higher the GPU's are pushed (strange I know) but maybe this CPU is pushing the GPU's harder than they can cope?

Wild guess and probably miles off.
 
I've tried this sofar.

1) Clear CMOS. And set all to default - as everything actually was before, and set my ram timings manually to 8-8-8-24-1T as I've always have done.

2) Reinstalled windows 7 and just all the nessecary drivers.

3) Ran 3Dmark11 with Forceware 306.97 in PCIE 2.0 mode - all ran fine

4) Applied the X79 patch to run PCIE 3.0 - I see the FPS go up and down again and the benchmark stuttered and then crashed with a blank screen. The PC shutdown just to restart again like after an OC "failure".

5 Uninstalled the Forceware 306.97 driver to go back to PCIE 2.0 and reinstalled the driver again.

6) Ran 3Dmark11 again and all stable.

this is so tiresome...
 
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I asked my buddy who had the 3930K and he said he had run SLi with this CPU on a
ASUS Rampage IV Formula in PCI-E 3.0 mode - maybe my motherboard can't handle the 3930K with PCI-E 3.0 :(

Any good suggestions for a motherboard that CAN handle PCI-E 3.0 with a Core i7 3930K ?
 
I got the Asus P9X79Pro installed today and a new copy of Windows 7.

AND NOW I'M RUNNING PCIE 3.0 WITH THE X79 PATCH :D

A couple of results.

I Unigine Heaven DX 11 1920x1200 8xAA/16xAF, Extreme tessellation.
Core i7 3930K, Gigabyte X79UD3, PCIE 2.0 = 110.6FPS

Core i7 3930K, Asus P9X79Pro, PCIE 3.0 = 112.5FPS

3Dmark11 Performance
Core i7 3930K, Gigabyte X79UD3, PCIE 2.0 = P18021
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5164700

Core i7 3930K, Asus P9X79Pro, PCIE 3.0 = P18866
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5228290

3Dmark11 Extreme
Core i7 3930K, Gigabyte X79UD3, PCIE 2.0 = X8134
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5177801

Core i7 3930K, Asus P9X79Pro, PCIE 3.0 = X8202
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5228336
 
Kaapstad said:
Im really glad you got it running.

What will you be doing with your old mobo, will you RMA it.
Click to expand...

Yea I'm also thinking finally after nearly 3 weeks it's all running :D

I think I'll be using that motherboard with the Core i7 3820 and a GTX 660 in another PC since it works with PCIE 3.0 with that CPU :)
 
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