New SLI Configuration Frequently Dies - Please Help

[jrbush82]

I recently purchased an EVGA 640-P2-N829-AR GeForce 8800GTS SSC 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card. The goal was to pair this card with my EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card, which are very similar cards, but not exactly the same. After adding the card into my system (Foxconn C51XEM2AA- 8EKRS2H Motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ Windsor 2.8GHz, CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) TWIN2X2048-6400C4, & CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply) I frequently get lockups, driver failures, or my graphics go all nuts while in a game. Please see the screenshot to get an idea of what I'm seeing:

After I exit a game when it does this, I get the following error:

Windows - Display Driver Stopped Responding
The nv4_disp display driver has stopped working normally. Save your work and reboot the system to restore full display functionality. The next time you reboot the machine, a dialog will be displayed giving you a chance to upload data about this failure to Microsoft.

The OS is a fresh build with the latest drivers for both the chipset and graphics.

Any ideas where to start troubleshooting? How do I rule out a graphics card problem, vs motherboard problem, vs the SLI link card? Any direction would be appreciated!

 

[vertigo_2000]

Not sure from your post if you're using the most up-to-date drivers or not.

Blow away your current driver and download the lastest one from nVidia.

See if that helps. Let us know.

 

[IH8U]

What wattage, and/or brand of PSU do you have?

 

[jrbush82]

Not sure from your post if you're using the most up-to-date drivers or not.

Blow away your current driver and download the lastest one from nVidia.

See if that helps. Let us know.

Sorry that I didn't post that, thought I covered everything. I'm actually using the latest version of both the Graphics and Chipset drivers for my system. Just after I installed the second card, I reloaded my OS (Windows XP Professional). I currently have a very lean OS load with the latest drivers & firmware that are available.

 

[jrbush82]

What wattage, and/or brand of PSU do you have?

I have a 620W PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

[vertigo_2000]

Do you have a butt load of other hardware not listed that run off that power supply? It should be fine if it's "SLI Certified".

Unless you got a bad one.

I'm no expert either (see disclaimer).

 

[gamerk316]

ummm...does that motherboard support SLI??? (my workplace got smart and blocked newegg and tigerdirect...so i can't check).

Also, are bother versions of the GTS the same core (g80 or g92)? I doubt you could SLI them if they are diffrent.

 

[emp]

They are both G80 cards. Try testing them independent from each other for an hour or so each on highly stressful situation where you commonly get these errors. If you get errors while using one of them, then you know that one of the cards is faulty.

You *shouldn't* have issues using SLI with those cards, since I read from an EVGA rep that the extra SPs on the SSC version remain unused if SLI'd with a 96-SP card.

 

[Dekasav]

I don't know if the g80 GTS blows heat out of the case, but if it leaves heat in the case, the extra heat from the second card could cause both to be overheating.

 

[jrbush82]

Do you have a butt load of other hardware not listed that run off that power supply? It should be fine if it's "SLI Certified".

Unless you got a bad one.

I'm no expert either (see disclaimer).

All I have other than what I have stated, are two hard drives, two DVD drives, and a floppy drive. Using on-board sound.

 

[emp]

The G80 cards are all double-slot cards. I don't think heat shouldn't be the problem, unless he has poor ventilation.

 

[jrbush82]

ummm...does that motherboard support SLI??? (my workplace got smart and blocked newegg and tigerdirect...so i can't check).

Also, are bother versions of the GTS the same core (g80 or g92)? I doubt you could SLI them if they are diffrent.

The cards are both G80s, and yes the board does support SLI, you can view the specs here: http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_spec.aspx?ID=en-us0000172. The SLI piece used to link the cards came with my mboard.

 

[jrbush82]

They are both G80 cards. Try testing them independent from each other for an hour or so each on highly stressful situation where you commonly get these errors. If you get errors while using one of them, then you know that one of the cards is faulty.

You *shouldn't* have issues using SLI with those cards, since I read from an EVGA rep that the extra SPs on the SSC version remain unused if SLI'd with a 96-SP card.

Thanks for the information, since my old card worked without any issues I'll give the new one a go first. Should I uninstall/reinstall the drivers before removing my old card? Also, is there a good stress test software that I can use rather than loading up a game and just waiting for it to happen?

 

[emp]

Honestly, I'm not sure if you'll have to reinstall the drivers (I've never done SLI myself), however, unless someone else confirms it, I suggest you just remove the older card and give it a try, if you have any issues then reinstall the drivers.

You can try the Atitool stress test and rthdribl (Real-Time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting), however I would much rather try a demanding game (Crysis does come to mind...) that puts a more realistic workload on the card, that's just me though...

 

[jrbush82]

Honestly, I'm not sure if you'll have to reinstall the drivers (I've never done SLI myself), however, unless someone else confirms it, I suggest you just remove the older card and give it a try, if you have any issues then reinstall the drivers.

You can try the Atitool stress test and rthdribl (Real-Time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting), however I would much rather try a demanding game (Crysis does come to mind...) that puts a more realistic workload on the card, that's just me though...

I went ahead and re-installed the drivers since it only took but a few seconds, and played Star Wars Galaxies all night in a 1280x960 resolution, which ran much better than my other card does. When I removed my old card, I also moved the new one into the 1st PCI-E slot. I'll let it go today and see if I can't get it to mess up again, if not, I'll try moving it into the second slot. If all is well, I'll start working with my old card again and see if I can't get it to go belly up.