a8n-sli weird problems.

[ojoj]

i think i have run into something new, well i setup my system:
a8n-sli
2 x 6800gts
3200+
4 36g raptors
powerstream 600watt

my first setup involved just the 1 card as initially i only had 400wat psu before the powerstream came. and 2 raptors in raid on the sil3114. everything was working fine, ran all the 3dmarks a few times with good 1 card setup scores. ran prime 4 about 9 hrs with cpu at 3.3ghz.

but then my powerstream arrives, i slap that in put the extra card in, swaped over the ez thingy for sli. turned system on, it gets to windows, then blue screen thingy. i try a few times, but system so unstable, cant get into 3dmarks. so i thought it might need a format for sli, so i start formatting and now it just wont let me finish a windows install, sometimes it gets to the windows agreement thingy then just freezes, or sometimes near the end of windows install then freezes tryed all the different slots on both sata controllers, also tried a single sata install with no luck.
tried it again with the 1 card.

tried all the final bios, but nope cant finish windows install wat eva i do

also since i put the 2nd card in there's been artifacts, to me it seems like the
2 much ram oc kind of artifacts so i used some dif ram from other system but still same thing, tried both the vid cards in non sli, but still artifacts.

so could the artifacts be related to not being able to install windows

 

[FastEddie]

You may be right on the border line with that dual rail psu.

 

[ojoj]

Originally posted by: FastEddie
You may be right on the border line with that dual rail psu.

i remember reading how the dual rail is not sufficient, but then their were others that disagreed and said it was combined. and i definately know that OCZ swear by the fact that their dual rail powerstream 600watt is more than enough to power a sli system.

and note that i mentioned above that i tried a single card(non sli) and still the same thing.

just a thought could it be my cpu causing the artifacts and windows install stuff ups?

 

[FastEddie]

Well I guess it's absolutely fine then, if OCZ says so!

What you are describing is a power problem. One card works fine, but when you put the additional burden on the 12v rail, you start to experience instability, artifacts. and bsods. You can spend days chasing ghosts, where power problems will make you think you got problems elsewhere (ram, video cards, motherboard).

Just my two cents. Take it or disregard it. Whatever.

 

[mikepro]

Originally posted by: ojoj

and note that i mentioned above that i tried a single card(non sli) and still the same thing.

Doesn't sound like a power supply to me if his original setup is not working - unless the whole power supply is defective.

I think people claiming that dual rail power systems are a problem with this system are a myth. Dual rail power supplies should be fine. You have one rail supplying the mobo, with current X, and another available for peripherals with current Y. The load on current Y should not affect the current on X, (which could happen on a single rail.)

I would try:
- reseating all video cards and the SLI selector
- Clearing cmos, and re set BIOS parameters (make sure SLI is set to auto)
- Try your original power supply if all else fails.

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: mikepro

Originally posted by: ojoj

and note that i mentioned above that i tried a single card(non sli) and still the same thing.

- Try your original power supply if all else fails.

I'd do this first.

 

[ojoj]

Originally posted by: mikepro

Originally posted by: ojoj

and note that i mentioned above that i tried a single card(non sli) and still the same thing.

Doesn't sound like a power supply to me if his original setup is not working - unless the whole power supply is defective.

I think people claiming that dual rail power systems are a problem with this system are a myth. Dual rail power supplies should be fine. You have one rail supplying the mobo, with current X, and another available for peripherals with current Y. The load on current Y should not affect the current on X, (which could happen on a single rail.)

I would try:
- reseating all video cards and the SLI selector
- Clearing cmos, and re set BIOS parameters (make sure SLI is set to auto)
- Try your original power supply if all else fails.

yeah i tried my original psu but still the same. and also tried the others u mentioned already.
wats baffling me the most is wats with the artifacts, i know its not my ram as i tried other ram, unless its the ram slots. and surely i dont have 2 screwed vid cards. as i tried both seperately and still artifacts come up. aahhahrggrgrgrggrgr

 

[century child]

You are back to default BIOS settings and not overclocked during the Windows install right? And when you tried the single card install after having installed the second card and the system didn't work, did you change the selector back to single card? With both of the cards in SLI, did you remember to plug in a molex connector to the power plug on the board located above the card slots? I would also suggest running memtest86+ to make sure your problems are not related to CPU/RAM instability.

 

[mikepro]

Man, that's weird. Maybe you fried something during install or OC, (did you use a static wrist strap?)

Maybe you should pull the mobo out completely and see if that helps (maybe something shorting out on the case??). Also, have you tried a single card install in each of the PCIe slots? Maybe one of the slots is messed up. It could also be that something is wrong with the mobo that broke the video cards. Just a very weird problem... you are in a world of hurt there.

 

[remmdog]

Ok, i finally have read enough and decided to join up after i saw this. I don't feel alone anymore, same thing has happened to me:

I have windows pro spk2 running like a charm with one evga 6600GT card. I go online play SCell, rainbow, hl2, everything is great, temps perfect everything runs smoooth.

I install my second card, plug in the power in the ez slot, put on the bridge and start up. It makes it, granted very slowly through to windows and i click on the enable sli under properties. Says i need to restart to activate sli. So, i restart and then bam!! Hangs in the windows load or makes it through load to a black screen and just sits idle.

After about three or four attempts i go into the bios turn sli mode to NORMAL, then reboot, everything works perfect, boots without a problem. So i am completely stumped and if anyone can help me i would appreciate it very much.

Now, the one thing i think it might be is.... Do i need to install a driver for the second card? Or is the version for the slot one driver all i need to do? Or do i need to match the drivers before restarting?


Specs:

Antec Neopower 480w (24-pin)
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (90nm)
160 GB Hitachi HD SATA
NEC Optical dual layer
1GB Crucial Ballistix PC3200 400 RAM
2 eVGA 6600GTs (Driver for slot one 70.41 (I think)
Antec Superlanboy
Windows SPK 2 Professional

 

[dnavarro]

Well since I have had my SLI setup for a while and been throught the ins and outs I thought I would give you guys my 2 cents... I had very similar crashing and weirdness problems when I put one card in at once. I did everything you guys tried. I knew it wasn't power related as I have a PCP&C 510SLI. Anyways, I ended up CLEANING out the drivers with a full uninstall. Then I rebooted into safe mode and ran "driver heaven's driver cleaner" (www.drivercleaner.net). After that I got back into windows with both card in the sytem and loaded driver 71.24 (IMHO it is the best out). Voila! That fixed the problem. Note, if the drivercleaner doesn't clean the old driver out fully, it may be better to run a format and clean install of Windows XP with both cards installed. Then run the driver install. Again, this is important, both cards have to be installed at the same exact time. I have seen alot of posts with similar issues. I don't know if thsi is just an issue with SLI, but I have read too many posts with similar issues.

Now, I am not saying one or both of you could be having power issues, but give this a try. It worked for me (and others I have run into with similar SLI issues).

D

 

[Thorsson]

I don't believe the "dual rail" myth either (and neither do most other people away from Anandtech forums). I've found that doing a Clear RTC RAM (as they describe it in the manual) solves a lot of problems that occur when you change things around.

I have my own theory on this. I think that the board is very sensitive to changes in power draw. Which is why people are having problems when they add a second card or even a fan. So it is a power issue, just not a power supply issue.

 

[ojoj]

Originally posted by: century child
You are back to default BIOS settings and not overclocked during the Windows install right? And when you tried the single card install after having installed the second card and the system didn't work, did you change the selector back to single card? With both of the cards in SLI, did you remember to plug in a molex connector to the power plug on the board located above the card slots? I would also suggest running memtest86+ to make sure your problems are not related to CPU/RAM instability.

yeah i have tried all these, believe me trouble shooting for around 30hrs straight covers quite a bit of ground, although not so much luck and note that i cant actually finish an install so want be able to run tests like mem86.

i give up, i want my intel back nah not really. but anyway might take it to my local pc shop and see if i can work it out there.

 

[ojoj]

Originally posted by: mikepro
Man, that's weird. Maybe you fried something during install or OC, (did you use a static wrist strap?)

Maybe you should pull the mobo out completely and see if that helps (maybe something shorting out on the case??). Also, have you tried a single card install in each of the PCIe slots? Maybe one of the slots is messed up. It could also be that something is wrong with the mobo that broke the video cards. Just a very weird problem... you are in a world of hurt there.

no didnt use wrist strap, but it was working fine so dont think its that, and i also tried the bottom black vid slot with each card and still bloody artifacts. switched the ez thingy in all combinations but nope

 

[ojoj]

Originally posted by: Thorsson
I don't believe the "dual rail" myth either (and neither do most other people away from Anandtech forums). I've found that doing a Clear RTC RAM (as they describe it in the manual) solves a lot of problems that occur when you change things around.

I have my own theory on this. I think that the board is very sensitive to changes in power draw. Which is why people are having problems when they add a second card or even a fan. So it is a power issue, just not a power supply issue.

wats the clear rtc ram thingy, cant find it.