Man of Honour
Glad you got it sorted
-
Competitor rules
Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.
Skyrim black screen in SLI
- Thread starter Durzel
- Start date
Glad you got it sorted
Received a replacement GTX 690 from EVGA today on advance RMA (love this scheme), popped it in and played some Skyrim for a few hours and didn't crash once
Glad we finally got to the bottom of it
Excellent! Now you can have some fun instead of having to spend all your time troubleshooting!
That's good news about EVGA. I've just registered my 2 x 670 4GB cards with them and decided to buy the extended warranty as well.
Associate
Beer on the cards for tonight?
The saga continues!
I thought I'd drawn a line under this particular chapter in my life, but as it turns out - I haven't.
I'm losing the will to live with this PC so I'll be brief...
New card was installed and was working fine, no crashes in Skyrim. The faulty card definitely was faulty as it was failing in the top slot when the other card wasn't.
But... in the last day or so I noticed very peculiar behaviour - I would load Skyrim, or Mass Effect 3 (for example) and I would see bright red flashing textures. It seemed to happen randomly but was quite dramatic when it did. Wasn't a heat thing because it would do it the moment I started the game, and sometimes not at all. Then I started getting freezes, driver resets and TDR bluescreens on the desktop.
Long story short - if I move the new card into the slot above, it seems to be fine. In the red slot where the manual says I'm supposed to put it - it's unstable. I note that the card seems to be touching the SATA cables at the edge of the motherboard.
I've tested both cards individually in the top slot (no obstructions) and they both seem to work fine.
So, how can I get to the bottom of this? Seems to be it can either be:
1) Faulty PCI-E slot
2) SATA cable or other obstruction forcing card slightly out of socket/alignment
3) Metal contact on SATA connector shorting out on card?
Really lost for an explanation on this and I'm rapidly losing my patience with it all.
As a side note here's a couple of pics showing the clearance on the top cardo) and that there is no obstruction on the right.
edit: Just removed the card from the black slot, put it in the red slot below (where it is supposed to go) - booted up and was freezing on the desktop. Removed the card again, didn't even disconnect either the power cables or the SLI bridge when moving it up a slot, put it back in black slot and booted up - and I'm typing this. So, faulty motherboard?
I thought I'd drawn a line under this particular chapter in my life, but as it turns out - I haven't.
I'm losing the will to live with this PC so I'll be brief...
New card was installed and was working fine, no crashes in Skyrim. The faulty card definitely was faulty as it was failing in the top slot when the other card wasn't.
But... in the last day or so I noticed very peculiar behaviour - I would load Skyrim, or Mass Effect 3 (for example) and I would see bright red flashing textures. It seemed to happen randomly but was quite dramatic when it did. Wasn't a heat thing because it would do it the moment I started the game, and sometimes not at all. Then I started getting freezes, driver resets and TDR bluescreens on the desktop.
Long story short - if I move the new card into the slot above, it seems to be fine. In the red slot where the manual says I'm supposed to put it - it's unstable. I note that the card seems to be touching the SATA cables at the edge of the motherboard.
I've tested both cards individually in the top slot (no obstructions) and they both seem to work fine.
So, how can I get to the bottom of this? Seems to be it can either be:
1) Faulty PCI-E slot
2) SATA cable or other obstruction forcing card slightly out of socket/alignment
3) Metal contact on SATA connector shorting out on card?
Really lost for an explanation on this and I'm rapidly losing my patience with it all.
As a side note here's a couple of pics showing the clearance on the top card
o) and that there is no obstruction on the right.
edit: Just removed the card from the black slot, put it in the red slot below (where it is supposed to go) - booted up and was freezing on the desktop. Removed the card again, didn't even disconnect either the power cables or the SLI bridge when moving it up a slot, put it back in black slot and booted up - and I'm typing this. So, faulty motherboard?
Last edited:
Associate
Have you done all the normal checks for ram and stability etc
P.S What did you do in a past life? Having it a bit harsh with this build
P.S What did you do in a past life? Having it a bit harsh with this build
Haven't done the normal checks yet, pretty much lost patience with the whole thing. It seems a pretty obvious problem though - if I stick card in red PCI-E slot, I can barely do anything on the desktop - it just keeps freezing for 30-60 seconds before eventually locking up or TDR'ing completely. If I stick it in the black PCI-E slot above, it seems to be fine.
Just played a bit of Skyrim with no issues (in black slot). Really feel like smashing it all to bits at the moment
Just played a bit of Skyrim with no issues (in black slot). Really feel like smashing it all to bits at the moment
Associate
What board is it dude
Man of Honour
Have you tried swaping the cards around to see if you get the same problem. Also have you tried running each card individually in the problem slot to rule out some of the things you mentioned above.
ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
Haven't tried swapping the cards around yet, or individually in the "broken" slot... too stressed about it to bother at the moment. Will try later tonight.
Frustrating thing is that this has all just happened out of the blue. The card was absolutely fine when I first put it in the PC, played like 6 hours of Skyrim with no issues. Then even though I haven't changed anything configuration wise it just started flashing red textures intermittently, and from then on I've had these issues where the mouse cursor will just freeze on the desktop for 30+ seconds and/or driver resets and TDR BSOD. Massively frustrated with it all.
The current status is that if I stick the 2nd card in the red slot I get all these problems, if I stick it in the black slot above it - I don't.
Last edited:
Associate
Whats the latest
Really sorry to hear you're having more problems Durzel, especially when you've spent that kind of money.
It does sound like a motherboard problem. Do you think there's a chance that the red slot is having a problem regulating it's voltage?
Out of interest, when you had the problem with the card that you RMA'd, was it originally in that red slot?
I'm just wondering whether, if there is a problem with the motherboard, if it gave the card you sent back a small spike which caused the voltage problems you were experiencing. The new card might be showing the flashing red artifacts now because of getting similar issues when plugged into the red PCI-E slot.
It's difficult to test this one because the only way of knowing would be to start swapping the cards around or put another PCI-E card into the red slot, but if there is a problem with the motherboard, you don't want to take the (potential) risk in damaging any other cards.
I might be, (and probably am
) way off here, but it's just a suggestion after re-reading through everything again.
It does sound like a motherboard problem. Do you think there's a chance that the red slot is having a problem regulating it's voltage?
Out of interest, when you had the problem with the card that you RMA'd, was it originally in that red slot?
I'm just wondering whether, if there is a problem with the motherboard, if it gave the card you sent back a small spike which caused the voltage problems you were experiencing. The new card might be showing the flashing red artifacts now because of getting similar issues when plugged into the red PCI-E slot.
It's difficult to test this one because the only way of knowing would be to start swapping the cards around or put another PCI-E card into the red slot, but if there is a problem with the motherboard, you don't want to take the (potential) risk in damaging any other cards.
I might be, (and probably am
) way off here, but it's just a suggestion after re-reading through everything again.The original duff card was indeed originally in that slot.
It is conceivable I guess that it could be damaged by the slot, it's impossible to know for sure. The replacement card was also in that slot for a while, when I first received it from EVGA, and it worked for a couple of days before the problems started.
Since moving it to the black slot above it's been fine.
My confidence in this system is so low now that I don't know what to do. The issues seem to be so succinct and manifest differently. All I currently know is that with the original card in the top slot, and new card in the 2nd red slot - I can boot up to the desktop but the mouse starts becoming unresponsive or freezing completely and/or I will get driver resets and an eventual "Attempt to reset the display adapter failed" BSOD. All of this is on the desktop at idle. Have tried 301.42 and the two available beta drivers, completely uninstalling them in Safe Mode, etc.
When I move the card from the red slot to the black slot above, having not unplugged the SLI bridge or power cables in doing so (obviously computer and PSU switched off), it works. Or at least it appears to, I literally have no confidence because the new card DID work in the 2nd red slot when it was first installed.
It is conceivable I guess that it could be damaged by the slot, it's impossible to know for sure. The replacement card was also in that slot for a while, when I first received it from EVGA, and it worked for a couple of days before the problems started.
Since moving it to the black slot above it's been fine.
My confidence in this system is so low now that I don't know what to do. The issues seem to be so succinct and manifest differently. All I currently know is that with the original card in the top slot, and new card in the 2nd red slot - I can boot up to the desktop but the mouse starts becoming unresponsive or freezing completely and/or I will get driver resets and an eventual "Attempt to reset the display adapter failed" BSOD. All of this is on the desktop at idle. Have tried 301.42 and the two available beta drivers, completely uninstalling them in Safe Mode, etc.
When I move the card from the red slot to the black slot above, having not unplugged the SLI bridge or power cables in doing so (obviously computer and PSU switched off), it works. Or at least it appears to, I literally have no confidence because the new card DID work in the 2nd red slot when it was first installed.
Last edited:
That makes me think it's the motherboard even more. If the card now works in the black PCI-E slot, (as long as it still does after some extended testing), then you'd think that the card itself, CPU, memory etc. should be OK.
I notice that your board has another red PCI-E slot at the bottom, but I take it that your SLI bridge won't reach that far to test it?
I can't imagine it being a driver issue or something similar because you had a good few hours without any problems and without changing anything, you're now getting issues again and they're worse than before if it's unstable at the desktop.
It's also worth trying Kaapstad's suggestion to see if you have the same problems when the cards are tried individually. Do you know if your system will boot up if one card is installed in the (suspected) faulty red PCI-E slot or does the primary PCI-E slot need to be populated too?
Card won't go in the bottom red PCI-E slot because it would foul the cables plugged into the bottom.
Will try the cards individually in the suspected faulty slot, though as you say it might not even boot with nothing in the primary slot.
Your point about the slot possibly breaking the card(s) has concerned me as well, though the card that was duff behaved the same in the top slot and it was very specific behaviour that was ultimately reproduceable (~50% load would result in crashes in game).
In this instance the system is so unstable with both cards populated in the 2 red slots that it lasts less than a minute on the desktop before the mouse starts becoming unresponsive (e.g. it still moves, but you can't click on anything), or the mouse freezes completely, or black screen driver resets and eventual BSOD.
Will try the cards individually in the suspected faulty slot, though as you say it might not even boot with nothing in the primary slot.
Your point about the slot possibly breaking the card(s) has concerned me as well, though the card that was duff behaved the same in the top slot and it was very specific behaviour that was ultimately reproduceable (~50% load would result in crashes in game).
In this instance the system is so unstable with both cards populated in the 2 red slots that it lasts less than a minute on the desktop before the mouse starts becoming unresponsive (e.g. it still moves, but you can't click on anything), or the mouse freezes completely, or black screen driver resets and eventual BSOD.
Associate
Where did you buy the parts from? If it was me, I would send the whole rig back to the supplier and get them to fault find / fix things because spare boards isn't something the average user has randomly stored in their cupboard.
I upgraded several mods in mine last week and completely screwed up my save game. Continually getting BEX errors in the same place upon ctd and have had to go back 2 weeks worth of saves to get rid of the crash.
Now not sure if there are still problems with my save file. Pah.
I upgraded several mods in mine last week and completely screwed up my save game. Continually getting BEX errors in the same place upon ctd and have had to go back 2 weeks worth of saves to get rid of the crash.
Now not sure if there are still problems with my save file. Pah.
Many of these motherboards have extra power connectors around the GPU slots for QUAD SLI.
Although you are not using 4 slots you are putting a crazy amount of current draw on those PCIE slots.
Make sure you have installed ALL the power connectors on the motherboard even the optional extra ones.
Your board might just need some extra juice to the PCIE slots to stabilise things.
The power connector you need is the one 6pin beside the audio jacks. This is the extra supply to the PCIE slots.
That motherboard also uses an nf200 bridge I am guessing so some slots will bypass this. Could be an issue with the nf200 and 690 cards.
Although you are not using 4 slots you are putting a crazy amount of current draw on those PCIE slots.
Make sure you have installed ALL the power connectors on the motherboard even the optional extra ones.
Your board might just need some extra juice to the PCIE slots to stabilise things.
The power connector you need is the one 6pin beside the audio jacks. This is the extra supply to the PCIE slots.
That motherboard also uses an nf200 bridge I am guessing so some slots will bypass this. Could be an issue with the nf200 and 690 cards.
Last edited:
Already have the optional 6 pin PCI-E connector plugged into the motherboard.
Haven't got the optional floppy drive connector plugged in, but that's for the memory.
Lack of power wouldn't really explain why the card apparently seems to work fine in the slot above. Then again nothing really explains why it was working fine in the red slot for a couple of days of extended gaming, then out of the blue isn't working. Nothing about this build is making a whole deal of sense.
If it hadn't cost so much I would've smashed it to bits in frustration already
Haven't got the optional floppy drive connector plugged in, but that's for the memory.
Lack of power wouldn't really explain why the card apparently seems to work fine in the slot above. Then again nothing really explains why it was working fine in the red slot for a couple of days of extended gaming, then out of the blue isn't working. Nothing about this build is making a whole deal of sense.
If it hadn't cost so much I would've smashed it to bits in frustration already
Last edited:
Right, diagnosis time - let's do this properly 
RED1 = top slot
RED2 = 3rd red slot (of 4, where the cards should be installed for 16x), suspected faulty slot - symptoms are unresponsive/freezing mouse on the desktop, driver resets and eventual VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE BSOD.
BLACK1 = black slot above RED2
CARD1 - 1st 690, bought at retail
CARD2 - 2nd 690, sent by EVGA as replacement for 2nd faulty 690
Unless otherwise stated the only cards installed are the ones mentioned.
Will update thread with subsequent tests.
edit: Since I can't reproduce the problem again I'll just have to leave this for the moment, or smash the whole thing to bits on a whim. Haven't quite decided yet. Am typing on the PC now though with it in the configuration which was locking up consistently every time I booted, so really have no idea what to do now.
RED1 = top slot
RED2 = 3rd red slot (of 4, where the cards should be installed for 16x), suspected faulty slot - symptoms are unresponsive/freezing mouse on the desktop, driver resets and eventual VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE BSOD.
BLACK1 = black slot above RED2
CARD1 - 1st 690, bought at retail
CARD2 - 2nd 690, sent by EVGA as replacement for 2nd faulty 690
Unless otherwise stated the only cards installed are the ones mentioned.
- 1st test: CARD2 in RED2:
- PC booted fine, no apparent issues on the desktop. Was cautiously "hoping" this would exhibit problems as it would point to a faulty slot which was the original hypothesis. Going to try putting CARD1 back into RED1, the original configuration.
- 2nd test: CARD1 in RED1, CARD2 in RED2
- PC booted fine, no apparent issues on the desktop.
This is the configuration that wasn't working? Really confused now. Will reboot it a few times to confirm.
Will update thread with subsequent tests.
edit: Since I can't reproduce the problem again I'll just have to leave this for the moment, or smash the whole thing to bits on a whim. Haven't quite decided yet. Am typing on the PC now though with it in the configuration which was locking up consistently every time I booted, so really have no idea what to do now.
Last edited: