Why is my second gpu acting as primary gpu

[SpongiePeanut]

Hello all,

I seem to have some kind or problem with my GPU's in SLI mode.

Hardware:

GPU: x2 GTX 980Ti Classified 6GB (Stock)
CPU: i7 4790k 4.0Ghz Turbo 4.4Ghz
MOBO: ASUS Z97 Deluxe BIOS 2501
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengance Pro [XMP] 1866Mhz
PSU: Corsair RM Series 850w Modular
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Displays:

Primary: ASUS ROG Swift 144Hz G-Sync 1440P
Secondary: Samsung T27B551 60Hz 1080p

(I have reinstalled drivers plenty of times using DDU)

OK so, I upgraded a few weeks ago from x2 GTX 980 SC's to x2 GTX 980Ti Classified's (I know pretty stupid) but I have recently began to see unusual activity.

When I'm playing games, using MSI Afterburner to monitor the PC I notice that the second GPU is acting like it is the Primary card. What I mean by that is, the second card is reporting Higher Clock speeds, Voltages, Usage, Temps etc. I'm not sure why this is, whether its a problem with MSI or my system.

Also, in 3D Mark (Steam Version), in SLI mode, I am getting the performance that I would get with 1 card alone. My GPU usage in Firestrike on the first scene is nearing 50% for both cards there about. I've thrown some of my score links below and also from my old setup with the x2 980's...

NOTE: My performance in games 'seems' fine... but I do get weird things happen when I launch and tab in/out of games like flickering and weird colours etc. Also on occasions, 3D Mark will flicker, more of a breathing sense from the actual picture to a black screen and back very quickly (like a flicker).

Single 980Ti Score: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5954304
SLI x2 980Ti Score: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5938367
SLI x2 980 Score: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5024759

Also, here's a score of the x2 980Ti's when I first tested them when I received them...
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5712500

EDIT: Just ran each card alone in the system, ran the benchmark and both cards got 13,800ish Score in 3D Mark...

Any questions please ask!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[William Henrickson]

My brain says plug both monitors into the first card.

 

[SpongiePeanut]

My brain says plug both monitors into the first card.

I absolutely agree, and they both are already :/ Its really getting to me, I literally have no idea what else to do... Its not even like I can try the cards in another system because, I don't have one 🙁

 

[William Henrickson]

Perhaps you may want to DDU, and install only the first card with drivers, reboot. Then install the second one and go from there.

 

[SpongiePeanut]

Perhaps you may want to DDU, and install only the first card with drivers, reboot. Then install the second one and go from there.

Wait what? Install the second one... Hmmm.

The way I did it was, I used DDU to uninstall drivers, I then put both cards in with SLI bridge attached, installed the drivers. Is that wrong?

 

[William Henrickson]

Yeah, get one going first and acting well. Then add the 2nd card and SLI bridge.

 

[SpongiePeanut]

Yeah, get one going first and acting well. Then add the 2nd card and SLI bridge.

I'll go do that now, let you know how it goes shortly.

EDIT: Nope, still the same performance 🙁