A8N-SLi Overheat?

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Hello,
I am new to the forums and ive searched but cant find anything on it so here I go if there is something that I missed I am truely sorry:

I just built 2 days ago a pc with
Asus A8N-SLi Bios 1008
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ SD Core(Not OC'ed)
Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU Fan
1GB of Corasair Value RAM
2x 256 BFG 6800 GT
2x 80GB HDD in RAID0 on PCI Raid Controller(SIL 0680a)
SB Live! 5.1 sound card
Antec Truepower 550W
Windows XP Pro 32 bit SP2

Wew! Now Ive exasted all of my A+ knowlege and still come up with a few possibilietes on what is wrong with my system. I can run 3dMark05 for about the first demo then mid second one before if locks up. Sometimes the screen freezes on the last frame sometimes it goes to blue and green virtical lines and sometimes the screen goes black then a STOP error comes up for just about a second all I can make out before it goes off is : NF4_DISP. Ive tried on stick of RAM and then swaped it out with antother with no avail. It feels like the little silver fan in between the 2 Graphics cards is really REALLY hot. I called BFG they said to Change IRQs on the Cards to ones that are physical (0-15) they are currently on 18 and 19. Called ASUS and they said its a VGA card problem talk to BFG. I cant figure out what is wrong with it my system. Another thing that really leads me to believe that it is the MOBO is that when trying to install XP on the NVRAID controller it never would get past the splash screen. So I installed my old IDE RAID controller and it gets past the splash screen then tried to install the nforce drivers... Rebooted did it again wouldnt get past the XP splash screen. Did last known good config(I love that setting) and it work installed the LAN and SMBus Controller drivers rebooted and it was fine. Can someone tell me what to do or something that I can do to see if it is my CPU, MOBO, VGA Cards or RAM please?

If it is the MOBO could someone tell me which is the best out of the 3 that I have a choice from if I return this one to the local pc store that I got it from:
DFI LANPARTY Ultra-D
MSI K8N Neo4 SLI Platinum or
get another ASUS A8N-SLi

Thanks
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Anyone have any ideas I need to know because I want to get it work soon so if I have to return something then the only time I can do it is after work and they close early like an hr after I get off. So I need to take what ever is wrong out and have it in my car and go by after work. Please someone help.
 

Rustler

Golden Member
Jan 14, 2004
1,253
1
81
make sure you dont have load balancing checked in the SLI mode. Check your ram timings make sure that they are not to tight.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Update I called Asus. I went through 3 tiers of tech support guys. After an hour one of the techs asked me if I had a 24 or 20 PSU. Told him 20 and he said that I need to get a 24 pin adaptor or 24 pin PSU. Ive read that sticky that talks about the 24 psu but doesnt answer the question that does the 2 GFX cards need/use the extra 4 pins on the mobo if the cards are already using the 6 pin power leads? I would like to know before I go out and but a 24 pin adaptor and that not work. Already have returned one of the GFX cards as told by BFG with no luck...
 

Promethply

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,741
0
76
Bought 2 X BFG 6600GT a while back and noticed that they run quite hot (83 C idle), which increased my system temps as well, so I returned the cards, and replaced them with Leadtek 6600GTs, and so far my system temps are good.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
The problem that lead the techs at ASUS believe that it was the power was that didnt matter what slot the cards were in one of them would power down.(The red LED would go out but the fan would still work. I wanna know if the 24 pin PSU adaptor or getting a new PSU would fix the problem. Temps on my cards were top 74 C bottom 71 C(idle). My Mainboard is 41C and CPU is 46 Idle. Under load it is mobo 46/7C CPU 51/2C(At least for the 3/4 min I can run the system). Is there a way to see if the cards are overheating while running a 3d prog like mark05? With a fan blowing the air straight outta the case it still does it.:( Also the system runs perfectly with only one GPU but when running SLi....it dies.
 

Promethply

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,741
0
76
It does sound like it might be the PSU, but not because it's a 20-pin, but because maybe it's faulty. If you install the nVidia nTune utility, you can keep track of your GPU, as well as the CPU and system temps, displayed in both graphic and numeric format by enabling the nV monitor. So after you run 3DMark 2005, you can check what your temps were.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Ummm ya.....GPU 1: 75c idle/.......100C load GPU2: 72C idle/94C load :disgust: Unless theres any other reason that they should be that hot like a check box to turn on/off boil water mode :laugh: then time to call BFG to either RMA them or return them to BB :frown: What do you think I should do return them to the store and get money back and buy different GFX cards or RMA them back to BFG? If you think I should just return the what do you think I should get instead?
 

Promethply

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,741
0
76
Yeah, those BFG runs pretty hot...I suppose you can try returning them to the store where you bought them, or if not, then RMA them. And then get Leadtek 6800GTs instead.
 

Promethply

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,741
0
76
I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that Leadtek's doesn't give a "lifetime" warranty, because their video cards have proven themselves over the years. My Leadtek A250 (4200Ti) is still performing like brand new since 2002.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Someone else like to tell me what to do with the cards because all the "What cards should I buy?" threads all have buy a LeadTek or BFG.... If I send the cards back to BFG how long does it take to get them back? If it will take a like 3-4 days then im just gonna return them to BB and get leadteks there a PC store right down the street from BB and they sell the 6800GT Leadteks for $379.
 
Jun 11, 2005
70
0
0
ASUS arnt bad, what id do tho is change the VGA coolers. im building a simular system and was worring about heat issues too, but i decided to go with water cooling. try artic cooling's NV silencer (if it will fit) there suposed to be good. whatever brand of card you go with, id change the coolers anyway...cos they suck compared to some other solutions you can get, and there loud as hell
 

mooncancook

Platinum Member
May 28, 2003
2,874
50
91
Originally posted by: SLIorCROSSFIRE
also id go and get the 24 pin adapter its not that expensive and it might help

The mobo manufacturers are actually against 24 pin adapters. Get a true 24 pin PSU instead. Replace the stock cooler with a NV Silencer is a great idea also. Do your best to improve system airflow. Don't blame it on the mobo, the A8N-SLi is a good choice for SLi because of the extra space between the 2 PCI-e slots. It'll probably run even hotter on other SLi mobos with tighter space betweent the cards.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Call BFG back and they said to reinstall xp then install the drivers in a very specfic order USB driver, nforce 5.10 driver, then the 71.89, then 3dmark05. I hope this works.
 

Rustler

Golden Member
Jan 14, 2004
1,253
1
81
I agree get a true 24 pin PSU and if you can get some fresh intake air on those video cards. I have a Lian Li PC 70 and I put a 120mm intake fan on my side panel made a big diffrence on my tempatures overall. I havent checked my GPU temps on my video cards lately.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Did what they said the GFX cards arnt rebooting anymore :thumbsup: but... now Im getting STOP errors like theres not tomorrow:thumbsdown:. Ive had xp almost since its been out and Im getting STOP errors that I have never seen before like BAD_POOL_CALLER..... Thats all I get is STOP and BSOD errors get anything else. Still sound like a PSU or heat problem? I took the ram out and put some old known working Kingston inthere because my experience is that STOP errors for me have been caused by bad PCI card or RAM. Still no luck.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
I ran Prime95 over night last night came back and it was still running fine. So its been running for the like 8+ hrs. So still think it is a heat problem or PSU problem? (isnt that better than just bump):p
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
Has anyone tried any of these PCI Cooleron PCI-e cards? I think im gonna buy 2 of them the're about 4.99 each at the PC store down the street. Prime95 still running fine though. But now the VGA cards are turning off agian. Not getting many BSOD though.
 

PsychoMadMan

Member
Jun 13, 2005
52
0
0
I bought a Enermax Noisetaker 600W. STILL doesnt work. Called BFG the one guy said that he asked around the office with other techs. He came back about 5-6 min later saying that 3 out of the 4 guys who have SLi rigs had to replace their ASUS and they got different brands and then it worked. I dont know what to believe.....Neone else got ne ideas?