PCI Express Troubleshooting help

Spiffyguy

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I have just finished building a new system. The system itself seems to be working but I am having issues with the vid card. Parts are as follows:

Corsair 750tx PSU
Core I7 920 (not OC)
6 GB OCZ DDR3 memory
Asus P6T se Mobo
Cooler Master V8 CPU cooler
Cooler Master Sniper Black case

The video card is an Nvidia 6800. It is from my old system until I can get my hands on a 5870. I have ordered up a visiontech 5870 and should have it in a few days. The issues I am having are flickers, and video totally dropping out. I am not sure if it is the card, the mobo or the PSU. I ran GPU-Z and it shows the voltage as -3.3v, but there was a spike right before the video went out of 300+. I don't know if that is an accurate reading or not. Also the temps all show 96c. I swapped PCIe slots and as well as PCIe 6 pin power cables. Still the same. I am not too sure what to try next. The vid card was just working fine on my old system. But if it is shot than no big loss. My concern is there is an issue with the parts I just bought, if so I need to verify which one so I can RMA. The mobo shows the voltages fine with no odd spikes.

Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thank you
 

Spiffyguy

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Oh I should mention that I had no issues setting up the box using a PCI vid card, ATI rage XL. It ran prime95 with no issues, system temp was stable at 53c or lower. the system runs really cool. Very nice case, I am impressed. Don't know if that helps or not.
 

doormatderek

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96c is a little high for me. That was for the Video card i'm assuming? Is that the IDLE temp? If so you might just need to up the fan speed a little...
If the problem disappears with a different video card that pretty tells you what the problem is right there. My guess would be a temp problem though. Have you tried it with the side panel off the case?
 

Spiffyguy

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i have tried it with the side of the case off and on, there is a 230mm fan on the side blowing in. Those temps were showing idle. My concern is if there is issues with some part of the build, psu or mobo, then I may fry the $400 card I just bought. I feel that would be bad. I am just not sure how to go about testing it. I am looking for a spare PCIe card a friend might have lying around. All my old cards are either AGP or that PCI test card.
 

Spiffyguy

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yeah worked fine in the old build, dell dimension 8400. The FPS was starting to blow and it was time for an upgrade. I have not had a chance to stick it back in the hold system and fire it up. I don't expect there is anything wrong with it, which makes me suspect the mobo or PSU. Mainly the PSU since with a PCI card it was running fine with no issues at all. Or maybe the PCIe slots are bad on the mobo? I got now clue. Just a sad face.
 

doormatderek

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you have the 4pin power for the cpu plugged in?
Does the mobo manual give you a 'primary' PCIe slot? Mine is actually the second, not the first, slot...

I would still say probably a heat issue.. that temp is gonna rise once you do anything intensive concerning the VidCard. Have you tried adjusting/increasing the fan speed on it?
 

Spiffyguy

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there is 3 PCIe slots. 2 at x16 and one at x4. It does not show a primary but I tried both slot 1 and slot 2. Same results. There is a 6 pin PCIe power connection onthe back of the card that is plugged in. I tried a different cable of the PSU as well just in case one was bad. I slotted the card in the old system. Works fine. Shows GPU core and memory speed on the sensor tab in GPU-Z, which in the new system it did not. Also shows GPU temp and PCB temp, 76 and 55c repectivly. Shows fan speed at 45% too. On the new system is shows a bunch of different entries on the sensor tab. Both are version 0.3.6 of GPU-Z. I will try to get the new system booted up and get a screen shot if possible. But I don't feel there is an issue with the card, unless it is a compatibility issue with the new Asus P6T se board.
 

Spiffyguy

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Is it possible that the board is delivering bad voltage to the PCIe slots? I have not even had a chance to install the nvidia drivers, running stock windows drivers. Not sure if it makes a difference but the OS is Win 7 Pro 64 bit. Going to try to boot it up and get a screen shot of the GPU-Z. There is quite a few details on the sensor tab that do not show up in the old system.
 

Spiffyguy

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Well I fired up GPU-Z one last time on the old machine to take some screenshots and I am seeing the same type of readings now, but no side effects.
Main page
Old_1.gif


Sensor tab in two shots.
Old_2.gif

Old_3.gif


When I look at the VDDC current I see -3.3A, is that right? When I switch it to max I see about 157. All the VDDC phase Temps are at 96 or 97c, GPU shows 80 though. On the new system it all show the same except the VDDC curretn will spike up to 300 some times. Old system is Win7 RC1 32 bit, new system is Win7 Pro 64bit. Going to try to get new system to boot and install nvidia drivers, perhaps that will help.

 

Spiffyguy

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just a quick update. I did manage to get the latest nvidia drivers installed via remote desktop session, the video kept dropping on. After a reboot it seems to have stabilized a bit. The video is still not 100% in my opinion but I am attributing that to the lack of RAM on the card. I turned off all the aero stuff and that helped. I am hoping there is less issues with the new ATI card when it gets here. Thanks for the help.