P6T V2 & GTX 295 don't get along

[albi42]

I've had a list of troubles since I decided to upgrade my system. Here are the current specs:

OS - Windows 7 ultimate 64bit

CPU - i7 920 dual quad core 2.67 GHz

Motherboard - Asus P6T V2 deluxe

Case - Antec 1200

Power Supply - Antec CP 1000 watt

RAM - OCZ 1333 DDR3 12 GB

GPU - Gigabyte GTX 295 rev. 2

HDD - Crucial C300 SSD 128 GB

I plan to use this rig for gaming and 3D artwork (MAYA etc) and I thought this would be adequate.

When I try to run Team Fortress 2 (A 7 year old game mind you) I get as far as playing and then everything freezes and is useless. If I put in my old NVIDIA 8800 GT, the game runs fine with a modest hit to graphics. However with either of these graphics cards installed Maya 2012 will not work. It will load but I cannot press any button or use anything in the software.

Thinking something was wrong with my GTX 295 I RMAed it to Gigabyte who replaced it with a brand new identical 295. Still I have the same issues. I even gave this card to a friend and he was able to run both Team Fortress 2 and Maya 2012 with absolutely no trouble. He even got this software to work with the 8800 GT.

This leaves me with the motherboard. Everything else on the computer runs fine. It is very fast and as long as I don't use 3D software it's perfect. I bought the P6T V2 Deluxe because Newegg said it can handle NVIDIA SLI (which the 295 requires being 2 GPUs in one). I've got the most recent drivers for the 295 and I have tried updating the drivers on the motherboard from Asus's website but that lead to the BIOS crashing.

Is there any known reason why I would be having these issues? Is there something wrong with the P6T V2 Deluxe that I don't know about? I'd really like to avoid dismantling my whole system so if someone can tell me how to get my motherboard to play well with my GPU I would be very appreciative.

 

[Erredent]

I installed 560 ti's in sli this last weekend with that board and processor and had none of those problems. I also flashed to the latest BIOS without a problem. So far it's treated me very well.

You said you upgraded your system, just the video card, or anything else?

The fact that your BIOS flash failed is worrying, are you sure you downloaded the correct file? I would try updating the BIOS again.

If you haven't done so already I would also recommend uninstalling the video drivers and running driver sweeper or some other driver cleaning utility then re-installing the drivers. Maybe re-downloading them too.

Is it possible the system got zapped with static during the upgrade?

 

[albi42]

Let me flash back a bit. The only upgrade to my computer was the SSD. Before I had been running windows off of a 7200 RPM HDD. After installing the new SSD I realized that my GPU was broken and had it RMAed. It had been working for a while but broke sometime before the upgrade.

After everything was working post upgrade (minus my 3D software) I tried to update the BIOS through ASUS'S website. The latest version they had installed but when I rebooted it wouldn't post. I flashed it back to the original BIOS and it went back to normal. I will try some other versions of the BIOS from their website but I fear the same results. I'll post back after I try flashing it again.

 

[albi42]

So I flashed the BIOS to the most recent version and I'm still having the same issues. I'm going to see what other drivers there are on ASUS's site.

 

[albi42]

After several attempts at updating the mother board I have come to the conclusion that my p6t v2 deluxe needs replacing. I did manage to get games to work by telling the gtx 295 to dedicate one GPU to each of my two monitors. Maya still doesnt work though.

Unless someone knows of an incompatibility issue or a fix for this I will be RMAing the board and writing a cautionary review on Newegg

 

[albi42]

I installed 560 ti's in sli this last weekend with that board and processor and had none of those problems. I also flashed to the latest BIOS without a problem. So far it's treated me very well.

You said you upgraded your system, just the video card, or anything else?

The fact that your BIOS flash failed is worrying, are you sure you downloaded the correct file? I would try updating the BIOS again.

If you haven't done so already I would also recommend uninstalling the video drivers and running driver sweeper or some other driver cleaning utility then re-installing the drivers. Maybe re-downloading them too.

Is it possible the system got zapped with static during the upgrade?

The BIOS flashed but I still can't figure out whats wrong (see other responses).

Any ideas?

 

[Erredent]

Only a couple of ideas, there may even be more than one problem.

It's possible some required driver is missing, though iirc Windows 7 does a pretty good job of finding them all. It's also possible that your fresh install on the SSD didn't work, either Windows or Maya, but I haven't had many issues recently like this. Maybe a problem with the SSD?

I looked up your PSU and noticed it has 1x25A and 3x30A 12V rails available, while that beast of a video card requires 46A. It should be connected using the two hard wired PCI-E cables (blue and green stripes). Connecting too much to the two red 8-pin modular connectors on the PSU could be a problem as they share the same rails as the PCI-E cables.

Other than that I can't think of anything other than bad hardware.

 

[albi42]

Only a couple of ideas, there may even be more than one problem.

It's possible some required driver is missing, though iirc Windows 7 does a pretty good job of finding them all. It's also possible that your fresh install on the SSD didn't work, either Windows or Maya, but I haven't had many issues recently like this. Maybe a problem with the SSD?

I looked up your PSU and noticed it has 1x25A and 3x30A 12V rails available, while that beast of a video card requires 46A. It should be connected using the two hard wired PCI-E cables (blue and green stripes). Connecting too much to the two red 8-pin modular connectors on the PSU could be a problem as they share the same rails as the PCI-E cables.

Other than that I can't think of anything other than bad hardware.

I'm confused though. Assuming I buy a 46A PSU where do I plug it into the graphics card. The only inputs on the card are the part that attaches to the motherboard and the 2 8-pin connectors. Forgive my ignorance on this issue.

 

[albi42]

Thank you for your help Erredent. I have realized that the issue was that my power supply cannot support the graphics card. Also my motherboard is simply too old. It does not support an SSD or the GTX 295. I already bought a 760W power supply with a 12V 60A rail but I am lost as to what motherboard I should buy. Its come down to 3 Gigabyte models; either the X58A-UD3R, the Z68XP-UD4, or a X58A-OC. If anyone has any advice regarding this choice I would appreciate it.

 

[Erredent]

Thank you for your help Erredent. I have realized that the issue was that my power supply cannot support the graphics card. Also my motherboard is simply too old. It does not support an SSD or the GTX 295. I already bought a 760W power supply with a 12V 60A rail but I am lost as to what motherboard I should buy. Its come down to 3 Gigabyte models; either the X58A-UD3R, the Z68XP-UD4, or a X58A-OC. If anyone has any advice regarding this choice I would appreciate it.

I can assure you that your P6T v2 will support an SSD, I use a 60GB OCZ SSD as my system drive. It should also have no problem supporting your video card.

Even your original PSU should, according to the specs I could find, have enough juice to run a 295. My last post was asking you to verify that you were using the correct connectors for the card, not necessarily replace it. Although it is possible you did have a PSU problem.

There's still many possible problems, the key is to be methodical when checking. Some possibilities left I can think of are incorrectly installed components or connectors, bad ram (run memtest?), a bad mobo, bad drive, etc...

 

[albi42]

I can assure you that your P6T v2 will support an SSD, I use a 60GB OCZ SSD as my system drive. It should also have no problem supporting your video card.

Even your original PSU should, according to the specs I could find, have enough juice to run a 295. My last post was asking you to verify that you were using the correct connectors for the card, not necessarily replace it. Although it is possible you did have a PSU problem.

There's still many possible problems, the key is to be methodical when checking. Some possibilities left I can think of are incorrectly installed components or connectors, bad ram (run memtest?), a bad mobo, bad drive, etc...

Well after tonight I will know if the motherboard was at fault. I went and bought a GA-X58A-UD3R. based on what I read up on my old power supply did not supply enough amps along the 12 volt rail. The knew one does and the new motherboard should solve any troubles I am having. if not I can still return it.

*CROSSES FINGERS*