8800GT SLI Woes :(

[choronzon]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me....I've done a lot of searching round the 'net and not found any solution.

Basically I have just bought a new PC that is running 32 bit Vista, and has 2 x 8800GT's in SLI.

Whenever I switch on SLI in 95% of games so far, after a few minutes I start to get corruption...the best way I can describe it is like this....

...it looks as if someone has taken an image from the game from a few seconds before, cut a checkerboard pattern out of it an overlaid it on top of the current image.

...this usually happens if I'm *not* doing something...for instance if I go and make a cup of tea and come back the image is like this, then when I move the mouse or move the image (by panning around or whatever) then that seems to fix the problem.

However, if I go on like this the corruption becomes more and more frequent, resulting in a complete system hang.

I've the latest Vista patches / hotfixes, also the latest drivers installed correctly using Driver Cleaner Pro.

The result is I have to switch SLI mode off.

Please please help - this is very frustrating

Thanks in advance

 

[Owls]

Do you have the SLI bridge installed firmly into place?

Can we get the rest of your system specs?

 

[choronzon]

Hi there,

What sort of specs do you need? Do you want some sort of a Direct3d Report or a Sysinfo report or something similar?

 

[Dream Operator]

CPU, RAM, motherboard, PSU, those types of specs.

 

[taltamir]

Are you using SP1 for vista?

 

[Hauk]

I recently ran into the same issue with my 9800 GTX SLI setup, but only with Crysis. Read about it here: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2179310&enterthread=y

A single GT with stock cooling runs pretty warm. SLI them and you have a space heater. Lots of variables, such as case ventillation, clock speeds, etc. Are you running cards stock? Are you overclocking using Rivatuner or ATI tools? Assuming you have good case ventillation for GT's in SLI, try underclocking the cards and see if the problem goes away. If that solves it, you need to find the right balance between cooling and clock speeds.

I say it's heat / stress on the card because I have excellent cooling in my rig yet Crysis still manages to cause the checkerboard corruption if I attempt to overclock, but only with Crysis. What's so special about Crysis? It's so freakin demanding! As soon as the game gets going, graphics cards are pushed to the limit. Fan(s) spin up faster and higher than with any game I've tested. With a G80 GTX, G92 GTS single/SLI, and now this setup, temps and fans spike almost immediately.

Most GT's have a pretty crappy single slot cooler. You'll find dozens of posts where people have installed these, with many adding these.. There are solutions from Zalman, Thermalright, and more. Finding one that works for your SLI setup is key.

I'm betting if you get your cards properly cooled and insure you have adequate case ventillation, you'll be okay. If you're overclocking, you gotta find the sweet spot. Get em cooled ASAP though.

 

[adlep]

I agree, Looks like a cooling issue.
The key info here is the sentence "few minutes after...."

Download Riva Tuner and force your cards to work at 100% of the fan speed when in "game" profile. That is what I did.

 

[Hauk]

Oh yea, I forgot the option of not spending more money.
As adlep said you could force fans to spin up higher on stock cooler.
Either way, more cooling and stock/underclocked settings for testing.

Take it from there if problem goes away. Let us know what happens please...

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: adlep
I agree, Looks like a cooling issue.
The key info here is the sentence "few minutes after...."

Download Riva Tuner and force your cards to work at 100% of the fan speed when in "game" profile. That is what I did.

Before you do that, you might just try taking the side off your case and pointing a household fan into it. Will lower your temps a lot and keep them low.

Otherwise, I'd try both cards singly in the primary slot. (mostly I want to see if the secondary card works as a standalone)

Re-seat cards and SLi bridge.

A lot of SLi failures are PSU failures. What PSU do you have and is it certified?