to upgrade the 2x9800gx2 or not to upgrade, that is the question also random crashes

[Diakatarnis]

Ok so i have 2x 9800gx2's running. ive just got my hands on the new nvidia drivers which allow me to use my dual screen with sli turned on "great" i think.

Then i start getting random crashes .... so i decided to downclock the cpu from 4ghz to 3.4 it was running resonably toasty.

so the crashing stops (or so it seemed) then i play 2 hours of css sucking as usual. alls well im running quad sli and no crashes woop. Then i open a pdf with a diagram on it BAM second screen goes crazy split images and pc freezes just freezes. ....

so hmm then i leave pc on load over night to test, come down the pretty fish screensaver is still going quite nicely. open up a couple of web pages all fine, run vent then BAM again pretty screen and another freeze :\

Now im not even sure if its the sli cos i do have random crashes now and again for no reason. but its the ones where it just freezes so i dont get any errors or anything, the mosttt annoying type of crash.

So im thinking of just swapping out the gfx cards for some new ones.

Any idea how much performance boost / fall ill get if i just get a single GTX 295?

or any suggestions on whats causing the crashes?

running QX6850 @1500fsb 3.38 Ghz
EVGA 790 Ultra SLi
corsair XMS 3 ram @ 1600 (factory default)
about 5 hdd's some 1tb's
Vista 64 Ultimate
OS is installed on a raptor
Asus Xonar X2D pcie model

 

[Rroff]

Have you run memtest recently? could be RAM going faulty or misconfigured?

Which nvidia drivers are you using? I tried the 185.xx beta and found they were very unstable with SLI, random BSOD, etc. dropped back to a slightly older set and everything was fine.

 

[Diakatarnis]

newest nvidia release of the drivers, also installed another 4gb of ram about 2 days ago, but not sure if thats had n e effect either....

I'll run memtest in a bit, which version ofmemtest works best? the memtest+ or normal? or is there a new fangled memtest that works even bettter.?

 

[IceWind]

9800GX2 HATES CUDA.

I dont know why but it does, i seen this with my own 9800gx2s before i got shot of them and ive seen them in some of my friends ones as well.

You need to get drivers that dont have it then you should not have much of a problem.

 

[ChrissyT88]

^^ ??

I had a 9800GX2 that ran Folding@Home (CUDA app) for months without a hitch, and the same card is still folding away with another user on these forums. This was with a few sets of drivers, all of which were CUDA drivers, and all were fine when running games. Unless this is a particular problem with SLI 9800GX2s which i would not have observed, i would not say CUDA is to blame (besides, i dont think you can get a driver without CUDA support anymore anyway, at least from nVidia's site). Not saying you did not experience problems, but the 9800GX2 is a CUDA beast!

Try an older driver maybe (178.xx and 180.60 were the drivers i used - CUDA drivers though, so may affect games) and as stated test the RAM. If the cards are overclocked, try downclocking them. From your post it sounds like you have troubles trying to use your cards in SLI on two monitors - if you didnt have the prolem before you started using these newer drivers, i would say this is the likely cause of the problems.

As for memtest, try the most recent version (the version i have used is memtest86+ version something-or other!).

 

[IceWind]

Some cards have the problem some dont.

one of mine did the other didnt and the same has gone out with other people with these cards. seems to the luck of the draw,

 

[Diakatarnis]

ok so memtest cane back clean ...

i uninstalled all nvidia driver then driver cleaned the beast thenn put the drivers back on again.

Played godfater 2 for about 2 hours then BAM another freeze :\

im going to try witout sli switched on see if i have any more luck

its problems like this that make me get so fedup i end up buying all new parts again :|