A8N-SLI - is it really this bad?

[steamnputer]

OK I should have stated AIbooster is called overclk....sorry

I need to reboot to double check my jumper free config, did you use any reccomended settings when you set up the BIOS, there were several out there on different sites.

You are only running one drive, is this IDE or SATA if SATA which controller. If NV which port is it on.

are you running all these games local or are some players coming through your NAT, and if so who is hosting/running server? what kind of ping are you now/ were you getting.

I would be willing to go over BIOS settings,.....


steamnputer

 

[Big Bunny]

Originally posted by: Speedo
Is there anyone out there who can play UT2k4 or WoW successfully with the following common setup?:

1. A8N-SLI (DLX or plain)
2. TeamSpeak or Ventrilo
3. Logitech mouse
4. nVidia video card

I have the same setup less using the TeamSpeak. You could try to eliminate that software as the problem by running UT a while without using it and disabling all services associated with it.

I meant the 6.39 nForce drivers and the graphics drivers. It sounds like you have already removed or not installed the nVidia NAM, firewall, AI Booster and nTune utility.

Do you have the FSB multiplier manually set? It sounds like you are not OCing so probably not in any danger of getting over 1000 on the result.

Not sure what else I could recommend from my experience except a fresh install of everything. Once I settled my system in on which drivers, BIOS, and utility combinations worked well for me, I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled everything clean. I think it helped noticeably, my system runs more stably and I am able to OC much higher.

 

[steamnputer]

Just thought of something else did you plug in a molex to the "ez-connetor" on the mobo....even though that its stated you don't need to with the a8n and a single card, you really should.

 

[Speedo]

steamnputer: On my system I have only one WD Raptor 74GB on the first nVidia SATA port. My friend has a WD 120GB PATA drive.

I am hosting the server, which is on the same LAN as my computer. Other players (one of which is my friend with the same problem) also connect to that server which has just the ports for UT2k4 opened.

Do you have a link to a bios-guide for this mobo? Someone asked about the PEG, which is left at default (on, I think). Actually I haven't figured out exactly what it does...

Big Bunny: Yes, actually I did a test-install of windows first to try everything out. By then, everything seemed fine since I never played UT2k4 for a long time until I got the freeze. So when I reinstalled I just put in all the latest drivers. During the first test-installed, I looked at the nTune utility, asus probe and firewall, but did not install them in the final install.

SLI connector is definitely set to "single mode" on both problematic systems. About the EZ-Connector; I was under the impression that it was not needed for a single card, especially not the lower power midrange cards. Does it even do anything in single card mode?

 

[sxr7171]

Get rid of the Nvidia IDE driver if you have it. Go into Control Panel -> hardware and rool back the driver to the MS one. Then use Driver Cleaner Pro to get rid of it.

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: Speedo
I just looked thru the bios again.

Is it correct to have "PCI Express Clock = 100" and "PCI Syncronisation Mode = 33.33" at both default and overclocked speeds?

For oc, you want to raise each setting one variable, which will lock the clock at that setting. If left on the default settings, they will raise with the fsb when oc'ed.

And I looked at your specs, though I'm not overly fond of your psu, it should have enough power to handle your system without overclocking. 22a isn't alot of power when overclocking--I usually recommend a baseline of 26a for NF3/NF4 and 28a for NF4-Sli, which allows plenty of leaway for oc'ing.

Another item to look closely at is the temp on your GPU. I gave up on Leadtek because of issues with flakey cooling. I've had to change out way too many Leadtek cooling fans after only weeks of use. You may want to remove the hs/fan assembly and apply some decent thermal paste to the GPU.

 

[Speedo]

sxr7171: Are there still problems with the latest nVidia IDE driver release?

FastEddie: The Seasonic should be one of the best 400w PSU's out there, AFAIK.
OT: So I should set PCI Express clock to 101Mhz? For the PCI however, there are only three choices: Auto, 33.33, follow CPU. Which should I choose?

I have the VF700 and AC5 on the GPU.

 

[FastEddie]

Set pci-e to 101, and pci should be set to 33.33. And I'm not saying the Seasonic 400W isn't a decent psu---I'm saying that 22a for an Sli box that is overclocked won't give you 100% stability.

 

[steamnputer]

Ok

#1 here is the bios settings I used out of the gate, they have been modified to my taste, but these got me working stable with OC, mind you some of the reccomends are a little old. They do update the settings but they have been alittle biased against this board.
http://ht.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38623/

#2 plug in that molex, yes it is supposed to be for multiple cards, but if your power supply is not stable or having problems then this may correct the problem. This plug supplies power to the PCI-e bus. It seems that you are having your problem at extreme condiotons, I would say that one 6600gt still may not be able to handle ut2004 I have seen several reviews that back that up, if you want I can pst links but basically they are google searches. Have you changed res on the game at all? One other feature I just remebered is if the threshold of the cpu or gpu gets to hot it will clock back, as you have stated you ran p95, but p95 only tasks the cpu, 3dmark03 does not tax my system as hard as running BFV, farcry really stresses it to max(settings all the way up) and I am running SLI. Check your threshold settings in asus probe make sure they are high enough.

ESP if you are running loads other then normal(ie fans lights coolers)

#3 follow the suggestions for the pci-buss, 33.33 and 101

#4 peg link is the video OC feature as it says in the bios guide disable it. then auto auto on other two settings.

#6 reserved for future use.....

#7 PSU unit should be sufficent, allthough it is recomended to run higher then 450. If you and your friend are running exactly the same setup this could be the problem.

#8 as suggested by sxr7171 check your ide driver, and check the troble shooting section under hardware(this is sorta a last guess).

at this point I would read the the manual cover to cover, this has been my adivce to everone anyway. A full system spec would be advisable maybe we are missing something, I mean everything. temps would also be helpful including the gpu, current timings etc.

here is one thing I picked up in hardware anaylis I know have switched cards but it might be worth checking into......
[/quote]
Just wanted to say that I fixed my problem. (Graphics Glitching - System Crashing on 3D intense Stuff) The problem was a faulty card!!! Took back to supplier this morning and got a replacment, tested it there! All works fine now!!

Thanks to everyone who has posted on this forum.

Just a quick question though. On startup screen (at boot-time) where lists devices, why is the nvidia ethernet not displayed? The marvell yukon shows up when it is turned on but not the Nvidia, even though it shows up and works fine from windows!!!
Anyone with an explanation for this?

My Spec:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (1006BIOS)
AMD 64 3200+
Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme Version 128mg (1 only, and works fine now its replaced!!!)
2x 512 Kingston Ram 400Mhz
120 Gig WD IDE
PIONEER DVR-109 D/L Burner
400 Watt MGE LC-B400ATX PSU - 17amp +12 Volt Rail (No Probs with this config)
Logitec Cordless Keyboard + Mouse
Windows XP Pro SP2 + Windows 64Bit

[/quote]

 

[Speedo]

Thanks a lot for your help so far guys, I really appreciate it. Sooner or later the problem has to be solved.

Here's my system spec:
A8N-SLI Deluxe, 1004 final bios
3200+ Winchester
Geil Ultra 2-3-6-3 2x512MB
Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme (Exchanged once)
Seasonic Tornardo 400W PSU
WD Raptor 74GB (System/boot + games)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB (swapfile + storage)
NEC 3520A DVD Writer
Logitech Mouseman Dual Sensor (USB) (Mouseware 9791)
Logitec Internet Pro Keyboard (PS2)
Nokia 446Xpro

Using the built in soundcard and nVidia LAN. Marvel and all other unused ports disabled in bios to free resources. Visual "effects" turned off in windows. Swapfile locked to 1536MB on other physical drive (Seagate). All drives/partitions defraged.

Software:
nForce 6.53 (Tried older aswell)
Foreware 71.84 (Tried older aswell)
Logitech Mouseware 9791
DEP turned off in boot.ini (Tried "on" as well)
UT2k4 patched to 3355 (Tried 3339)
WinXP SP2 + all available updates
Firewall, Autoupdate and Systemrestore = Disabled
NO antivirus/antiadware installed
NO firewall installed/enabled
Codecs installed: fddshow (sse), quicktime & real alternative
Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0

IRQ sharing:
http://www.chotai.se/frank/images/irq.gif

Temps (idle):
GPU: 46c
CPU: 36c

Please remember that the only hardware me and my friend with the same problem have in common here, is the motherboard and graphics card. I exchanged my graphics card once, and my friend actually got a 6600 non GT at first (by mistake) so he ran that one for a while with the same problem, until he got his GT, and the freezes persisted.

So as far as I can see, if there is any hardware to blame, it has to be the motherboard. However, I agree its more likely to be a bios setting or software/driver conflict. The question is what??

 

[steamnputer]

full systems specs

monitor keyboard mice pads

any other pci devices please be as specfic as possible there have been some very specific problems with hardware on this board.

also I noticed you have a barracuda now, I assume its on nv controller, have you had that since the original config or has that been added?

and I would try and plug the molex into the mobo if you did not see that above....

 

[steamnputer]

SPEEDO!

try looking into this, this makes more sense now that i see your specs,

check under your system info under sytem tools check the IRQ's for shared irq on the realtek sound and the adma maybe with your drive setup as is you are having a problem with the irq. Mine registers as 23 for both. I don't know if ut2004 uses the swap but maybe with TS and regular sound and a swap all at once, which would qualify as heavy load, bang....

just a thought.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Have you tried using the Marvel lan and disabling the NV?

 

[Speedo]

steamnputer: I've updated the system spec above. Also added screenshot of IRQ sharing. Seems to be only network and ADMA is sharing, but I don't think it could be avoided. Actually, I had more sharing before, but when I turned ON the printer port, IRQ sharing got better

No PCI card installed. Only card is the video card.

Btw, TS seem very light on load. I ran it in this combination in my old barton setup without any problems at all.

About the Seagate: Actually I ordered it some time ago, and just got it here. I was going to install it any day now. I will simply use the seccond built in SATA port, which is already enabled. Right now, the swapfile is locked to another partition on the Raptor.

GuitarDaddy: That's exactly what I will try next time it freezes. Since last freeze, I have disabled PEG in bios to see if that does anything. However, it takes quite a long time to see if the problem is solved, since I can sometimes play for two or three whole sessions without problems before it freezes on me.

I'll report here when I get another freeze.

 

[housecat]

PEG does auto overclocking of your video cards.

Dont use NV Lan.. stop that right now before anything.
If you want to use it, give NV a few months to straighten out that crappy software it uses.

Try the default settings in the bios as well.

If this stuff doesnt work:

run memtest86 all night
if errors, pull out one stick at a time and replace the bad one

then if its not that, replace PSU 99% of computer issues are PSU or mem related

and the NF4 seems pretty picky on PSU.. u gotta get a good one if the one you have doesnt work right.

look at my sig, all those parts worked together in UT04 and CSS all the time.. not one lockup since I ran it with the Asus.
hope i helped

 

[Speedo]

Anyone know how PEG works? How and what does it overclock? GPU? Mem? Or only the PCI-E bus?

 

[vinayb]

get bios 1006

 

[Speedo]

vinayb: I read most people still recommend 1004. Whats improved with 1006?

 

[sep]

Speedo,

Try this,
-update bios to 1006 (i'm using it, stable)
-manually reset bios from motherboard
-manually set your CPU, RAM, etc in the BIOS.
-Do not overclock anything (including the video card).
-Set the memory at a slower setting for testing. Instead of 2-3-4-7 try 2.5-3-4-7.
-Now run the UT2004 Benchmark (looping) for a couple hours.

Let us know how it goes. You can even leave TS on (I'd mute mike and speakers) for your other team members.

*I'm using the NV nic without the Firewall software. It's working just fine.

-JC

 

[FastEddie]

And if what sep suggests doesn't work, they swap out the psu for one with at least 26a on the 12v rail and see if your problems are solved. Unless you installed the os by beating it into submission, then your system is no different that the dozens here that frag for hours on end with no problems. It's not likely to be a driver issue otherwise everyone under the sun would be reporting the same problem.

22a on the 12v rail, regardless what Asus recommends, isn't enough for complete system stability.

 

[imported_BikeDude]

Are all three troubled setups using identical sound cards? Since there are no PCI Express sound cards yet (?), I guess a too low PCI latency setting still remains an issue with today's systems? (try increasing the PCI latency for the soundcard device just for a lark)

--
Rune

 

[steamnputer]

At this point I agree with fasteddie, sep, housecat.

Esp if this supply is not new.

I would try what guitar daddy & housecat says if you have not.

1006 and 1004 are pretty similiar if you plan to OC for any reason 1004 seems to fair a little better. I have heard no major complaints about 1006 other then for OC.

steamnputer

 

[Speedo]

Ok, I have some new info.

Actually I have built three similar machines. My own, my friend I have reffered to before in the thread, and also another friend which has not used his machine much at all, because I've had it here waiting for our Seagate disks to arrive.

Now, this third machine is identical to mine, except these things:
1. The only software he has installed is the drivers, UT2k4 and Teamspeak. Nothing else.
2. He has the Antec Truepower 380w which comes with the Antec Sonata case (12v 24A), while I exchanged mine for the Seasonic 400w.
3. He has Corsair Valueselect memory, while I have Geil Ultra.
4. We flashed his bios to 1006, while I stayed with 1004.

Yesterday and tonight, I played on his machine instead, to see if it would freeze. Yesterday was fine, but tonight I got the same freeze on his machine!

Actually I'm quite sure that its not the PSU's on all three machines causing the exact same freeze problem.

The only components in common with the three machines experiencing identical problems is the A8N-SLI and 6600GT video cards. Software wise, the only common thing is Teamspeak, actually.

When I got the freeze on this third machine, I went back to my own, where I have just disabled PEG in bios, and changed the TS driver from "directsound" to "wave". I just had a short session after that with no problem yet. So one of those two things could be it. If not, I will turn off the nVidia NIC and enable the Marvel NIC instead. Now, if that doesn't work, I'm REALLY out of ideas.

sep: I have run Memtest and Prime for 24h each, without any problems. What's a mystery is that I can even connect to the server in UT2k4, add a few bots, and track one of the bots (1st person) all night long without freeze! We even setup TS to be connected and sending the whole night as well. What the difference is between this, and when I'm playing for real, is beyond me... No user input? Network is only "listening"?

 

[Speedo]

Actually, when my computer made the night, connected to the server speccing the bot, I had already changed the TS driver to wave. I also had it running a whole night earlier, but then I did not setup TS to send continiously.

But this morning when I woke up, the "test machine" had hung, for the first time while not actually playing. This time TS was setup to use the directsound driver and to send continiously. I will start investigating this some more, but it seems as if this could be it. Although never a problem with my old setup, it could be that the integrated soundcard (drivers) on the A8N-SLI has such bad drivers, so it locks up when more than one application is accessing it simultaniously, using the directsound driver.

What I will do now is set up two machines running, one using directsound and one using wave to verify my results, since it could have been something else causing the freeze.

Btw, is the soundcard driver integrated into the forceware drivers? If not, where could I find updated ones? After the OS install, and after putting in the latest forceware drivers, I had one exclimation mark left, which dissapeard when I just entered the driver CD. Never knew which device needed additional drivers from the CD, but it could have been the soundcard.

I'm not ready to open the beercan just yet, but I will keep it cooled...

 

[imported_BikeDude]

Try this tool: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=951 Maybe increasing the PCI clock cycles for the sound card will keep it from stalling? (I have no doubts that the sound card device driver is of poor quality -- there are only a handful of good device driver developers out there, I'm surprised XP run as well as it usually does)

--
Rune