SLI issues with 560TI

[IcyRhythms]

After some issues with an ebay purchase that went sour I was finally able to get my hands on another one of these cards for my rig.

they are the exact same card from the exact same chipset before anyone asks. The very same company etc etc etc

Before I continue my specs are as follows

i72600K

2x560TI

2x1.5TB

1xIntel 320 Series SSD

8GB Vengeance

ASUS Sabertooth P67 MOBO

Hyper212 CPU Fan

Corsair Professional Series HX750W PSU

Now, after installing both cards all seemed well. I booted up Crysis and didn't change any settings because I just wanted to see if my cards were running fine. The first couple minutes of playtime were fine and then boom, steady 60FPS went all the way down to 12. Immediately following that, my screen went blank and my computer shut itself down. I proceeded to unplug everything and removed the panel from the side, and couldn't find anything wrong.

I booted back up, and the NVIDIA control panel suddenly didn't display SLI/physx option. Just the Physx option by itself as if two cards were no longer hooked up. After this, it's been nothing but a disaster for me and I can't find anything wrong.

Here are some steps I have taken to troubleshoot

Uninstalled and reinstalled the driver more than ten times

Using driving sweeper, I wiped out all things NVIDIA and reinstalled all things NVIDIA with no success MANY times

I am using the latest beta drivers that were released for BF3 performance, and I've also tried rolling back with the same damn results

Yes, before anyone asks, I have swapped both cards in both slots and they both appear to be running fine.

I ran one at a time and they both ran games fine

EXCEPT NOW, some of my games(key word some)won't boot at all and crash upon trying to open them up. This now happens with just one card installed Not even trying to SLI obviously

As I'm more of a noob than what is likely to be the majority of those that will reply to this, I also tried just running both cards in slot 2 by themselves and didn't even get a picture onscreen for that. I assumed this was normal because both cards appear to be working in slot 2 because the fans are spinning etc

every possible solution I can think of I have already tried(and many times over at that)


edit



I should have also mentioned before anyone asks, YES I put the bridge on the two cards that came with the MOBO to connect them

 

[phishy714]

I would try each card seperately. Plug one card in by itself and see if it works nicely, run it through benchmarks and stress it out. If its fine, do the same with the other one. Hopefully one of them will be faulty and you will know what the problem is. That is honestly about the only thing I can think of that might be causing problems.

 

[IcyRhythms]

I would try each card seperately. Plug one card in by itself and see if it works nicely, run it through benchmarks and stress it out. If its fine, do the same with the other one. Hopefully one of them will be faulty and you will know what the problem is. That is honestly about the only thing I can think of that might be causing problems.

As I've stated, both cards DO work independently. I'm guessing it has to be something driver related. The only reasons I say that is because now some of my games won't boot and just crash upon trying to open. I've also tried uninstalling and reinstalling those through Steam. still no luck...but again, only some games do this.

 

[phishy714]

Oh my bad, I didn't register that in my head that you had tried both. Ok only other thing I can think of is that the pci-e express slots on your mobo aren't working.. the second one at least. Try maybe plugging in a single card to that second slot and see if it works? I am really just digging at the bottom of the barrel here.. I have no idea what else could be wrong. Aside from that, it probably just is software related, in which case I would say.. reinstall windows? lol

 

[inzone]

Can you do a system restore to a point where you know both cards were working. It almsot seems to be psu related , do you have a way of testing your psu or trying another one. If your cards are fine running 2d (windows, web surfing ,etc.) and they are crashing when you run games , 3d . then they could be crashing for lack of additional power. Like the other poster before me just grasping at straws to try and help.
I know you repetedly reinstalled the drivers and I also did have a similar problem with cards disappearing and then reappearing and in the end I figured out it was the drivers. I guess some drivers can be very problimatic and if not installed perfectly can cause a lot of headaches. If you have already tried this then please ignore , have you uninstalled both cards from device manager and then the drivers from control pannel in that order. Then using the install disk that came with the cards reinstall the cards without updating the drivers to see how that works and then if successful install the 285.38 drivers. That is the sequence I used when I eventually solved my issue. If none of that works then look to the psu for a solution. Then the motherboard for a bad slot or two bad slots that will now not accomodate 3d bandwidth.

 

[IcyRhythms]

the update on this is that i reformatted everything. installed latest windows and nvidia updates/drivers, swapped out both cards and they both still work independently, as well as playing games on both cards and stressing them a bit with games like crysis and metro. both work fine alone, but will no longer SLI.



I suppose the only thing left I can try is to get another bridge and try that. If that doesn't work, something is wrong with SLOT 2 on the mobo.



edit, also, games no longer crash even when using just one card. That issue likely related to doing drive sweeps on the NVIDIA stuff. At one point I did a sweep on the NVIDIA chipset like a moron. With a clean install of windows and drivers, all seems to be working well. Just need a new bridge or the SLOT on the MOBO is messed up despite giving power to the fan of whatever card I put in the slot.

 

[videogamerign]

Im pretty sure your problem is with the power supply. 560 Tis take a lot of power, a 750 PSU is probably the problem you are having with this. I have had a similar problem with a friend of mine with some 460s he had to get a larger power supply and it would then run without a problem.

 

[videogamerign]

Thermal and Power Specs:
99 C Maximum GPU Temperature (in C)
170 W Maximum Graphics Card Power (W)
500 W Minimum System Power Requirement (W)
Two 6-pin Supplementary Power Connectors

One requires a minimum of a 500 watt power supply running everything else would push that system close to the 750 limit of the PSU without the second GPU.

 

[videogamerign]

What would happen if your PSU can't cope with the load? Here are some pointers:

bad 3D performance
crashing games
spontaneous reset or imminent shutdown of the PC
freezing during gameplay
PSU overload can cause it to break down


this is from
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-sli-review/14

 

[_Pez_]

OR Faulty Motherboard

 

[cps1974]

I dont think the psu is the problem - at least in terms of capacity, I have Cooler Master GX 750 and it runs my config without hitch:

Asrock Z68 Extreme4
I5-2500K @ 4.2GHz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
8GB DDR3
60GB SSD
2TB HDD
1TB HDD
Asus Xonar D2X
Gigabyte GTX 460 SOC
MSI N460 GTX HAWK (SLI upto 900Mhz)
3 x 200mm case intake fans
1 x 120mm case exhaust fan
LCD fan controller
Sony DVD-RW
case lighting (cold cathode)


I very recently SLI my rig (1st time SLI) and at first it wouldnt detect the SLI, only after removing the SLI bridge and replacing (ensuring it was gently but firmly pressed in place) did it appear - I cant say with any certainty whether I switched the bridge ends around but I felt more confident that both ends were attached properly to their respective gpu this time. also on web there appears to be some debate about whether the bridge is omni-directional or not.


chaz

 

[inzone]

The psu can be a problem if it is defective or starting to go bad , the same with the motherboard , things can be defective or go bad as they don' last forever and the manufacturing process is never perfect.

 

[inzone]

Keep us updated on your progress and if you do end up with a resolution.

 

[IcyRhythms]

there are so many different ways this could go. Videogamerign has me worried that I do not have enough power to support both cards because I'm almost at my limit with my current setup with just one card.

Which COULD be the case

then other guys said he SLI'd his 570's on a similar power unit with little to no issue

 

[videogamerign]

take some of the extra components out like the extra HDDs and anything else that uses power that you don't need, DVD Memory card readers and see if the SLi will work then. Also you want to make sure that the power that is going into each of the Video cards is on a separate cable from the PSU as they only push out so many amps from each of the cables.

 

[IcyRhythms]

^also did not work

 

[photonboy]

This PSU supplies 62Amps for the +12V rail (single).

That is 31Amps for each card.

I think a basic GTX560Ti requires about 30Amps.

*People keep forgetting about the AMP requirement. Just because you have enough WATTAGE overall does NOT mean that you have enough where you need it, such as the +12V's for the graphics cards.

You could contact Corsair and ask their opinion but I'm betting that the PSU couldn't quite supply enough Amps.

 

[monsta]

Have you re installed the motherboard drivers? Same thing happened to my friends rig, he forgot to install them when he reformatted and put his cards in SLI. I downloaded the latest drivers for his mobo and bang it was up and running.

 

[IcyRhythms]

Yes, one step ahead. As I said, I did a reformat on Windows so I had to reinstall EVERYTHING

 

[Kajun]

I think your not getting enough amps to your cards those cards take maximum amps
the guy that got his running on a 750 is lucky his PS must put out high amps
to be safe with SLI you should at least go with a high amp 1000 watt PS
think about it if your cards are pulling 300-500 under heavy load each with most CPU's pulling 150 unless you have a low wattage one then all your other stuff pulling watts its probably overloading your PS FYI

 

[ozzy702]

I think your not getting enough amps to your cards those cards take maximum amps
the guy that got his running on a 750 is lucky his PS must put out high amps
to be safe with SLI you should at least go with a high amp 1000 watt PS
think about it if your cards are pulling 300-500 under heavy load each with most CPU's pulling 150 unless you have a low wattage one then all your other stuff pulling watts its probably overloading your PS FYI

You're way off on this one. GTX 560 Ti's don't pull anywhere near 300 watts a piece. 170 watts is a much more reasonable figure per GPU. Total system draw with SLI'd 560 Ti's is tops 650-watt's unless of course you want to run a heavily overclocked bulldozer chip sucking down 400watts by itself.

A quality 750 watt, SLI certified PSU will run SLI 560 ti's fine. I run SLI 570's on a Corsair TX850 day in day out as do many others.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

To be safe you can look at SLI 470's in the link above. 470's take about 15-20 watts more per GPU than the GTX 560 ti's.





Edit: That being said it does seem like the PSU is the problem. A properly operating corsair 750 should be putting out plenty of juice. Can you borrow another PSU to try out? Also, make sure you've double checked all the power connections on both the mobo and the GPU's.

 

[ozzy702]

This PSU supplies 62Amps for the +12V rail (single).

That is 31Amps for each card.

I think a basic GTX560Ti requires about 30Amps.

*People keep forgetting about the AMP requirement. Just because you have enough WATTAGE overall does NOT mean that you have enough where you need it, such as the +12V's for the graphics cards.

You could contact Corsair and ask their opinion but I'm betting that the PSU couldn't quite supply enough Amps.

A single GTX560 Ti does NOT require 30 Amps. 30 Amps TOTAL system yes, but not the single card. Single card amps is probably in the 17-18amp range.