Problem with Oblivion and SLI (2x7600gts) with vsync off

[mylok]

Please help,

I am having a really weird problem. Oblivion will lock-up (sometime it will reset the PC) if I turn vsync off when running SLI. If I turn vsync on via the Oblivion options screen it works just fine but when I uncheck vsync it always locks-up (Screen will freeze or sometimes it will just restart the PC).

I have tried the latest official and beta drivers from nvidia and nzone both have the same problem. This is running on a fresh install of XP Pro SP2.

Specs.

Asus A8N-SLI (non deluxe version) bios 1014
AMD X2 4400
2 x 1GB Patriot DDR400 (2,3,2,5)
SB X-FI Extreme Music
Thermatalke W0057RUC PurePower TWV500W (this worked fine with my x1900xtx)
2 x EVGA 7600GTS

CPU and video cards are running stock clocks (no overclock).
Oblivion is running the latest patch (ver 1.1 i believe).
Stock settings used for the nvidia control panel.

I can simply uncheck vsync and run Oblivion and it will lock-up everytime (within 5 minutes) but if I check vsync and load Oblivion it will run for hours.


any ideas?

 

[bobsmith1492]

Use vsync? I dunno, but that's usually the way to go anyway, so why worry? Maybe it was assumed it will always be on so why make the game work without?

Sorry, I'm being unhelpful...

 

[mylok]

thanks, the problem is the frame rate drops from 40-60FPS without vsync down to 20-40FPS (which the the same fps i get with one card) with vsync.

Also if I enable vsync then I am unable to see the SLI indicator, I wonder is it possible that enabling vsync is disabling SLI? (now that I think about it maybe SLI is not working at all with vsync maybe it is running on just one card).

any SLI gurus out there that can add anything?

 

[Matt2]

V-Sync will not work with D3D + SLI.

Just leave it on if that gives you stability because it wont matter anyway.

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: mylok
thanks, the problem is the frame rate drops from 40-60FPS without vsync down to 20-40FPS (which the the same fps i get with one card) with vsync.

Also if I enable vsync then I am unable to see the SLI indicator, I wonder is it possible that enabling vsync is disabling SLI? (now that I think about it maybe SLI is not working at all with vsync maybe it is running on just one card).

any SLI gurus out there that can add anything?

Ok, turn vsync to always off in the NV CP and leave the V-sync option alone in oblivion and see if that helps.

 

[mylok]

it does matter though because the framerate is way low when running with vsync (kinda defeats the purpose of SLI).

 

[mylok]

Originally posted by: Matt2

Originally posted by: mylok
thanks, the problem is the frame rate drops from 40-60FPS without vsync down to 20-40FPS (which the the same fps i get with one card) with vsync.

Also if I enable vsync then I am unable to see the SLI indicator, I wonder is it possible that enabling vsync is disabling SLI? (now that I think about it maybe SLI is not working at all with vsync maybe it is running on just one card).

any SLI gurus out there that can add anything?

Ok, turn vsync to always off in the NV CP and leave the V-sync option alone in oblivion and see if that helps.

I will try that right now. Bad thing is something is not right with this setup as I am sure this would be well documented if this was a known issue with Oblivion. It is odd that this worked just fine with one 7600GTS card and I add the second card and this starts happening.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: mylok
it does matter though because the framerate is way low when running with vsync (kinda defeats the purpose of SLI).

Wait, doesn't Oblivion on slied 7600GTSs defeat the purpose of vsync. (I'm saying you'd be lucky if your frames went above 60 often)

 

[mylok]

well i tried forcing vsync off in the nvidia control panel and leaving the vsync option checked in oblivion. it does not freeze anymore it just exits to the desktop after 3-5 minutes with a error message about a problem with oblivion.exe.

i then tried to uncheck the vsync option in oblivion and running it again (i still kept the force vsync off in the NV CP) this time i get a blue screen stating something about IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL.

maybe the second gts card i added is bad. what is strange is 3dmark06 runs without any problems.

 

[mylok]

Originally posted by: Nightmare225

Originally posted by: mylok
it does matter though because the framerate is way low when running with vsync (kinda defeats the purpose of SLI).

Wait, doesn't Oblivion on slied 7600GTSs defeat the purpose of vsync. (I'm saying you'd be lucky if your frames went above 60 often)

yes it does that is why i would like to be able to disable vsync (without it locking-up) so my fps will increase over what i was getting with just one video card.

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: mylok
well i tried forcing vsync off in the nvidia control panel and leaving the vsync option checked in oblivion. it does not freeze anymore it just exits to the desktop after 3-5 minutes with a error message about a problem with oblivion.exe.

i then tried to uncheck the vsync option in oblivion and running it again (i still kept the force vsync off in the NV CP) this time i get a blue screen stating something about IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL.

maybe the second gts card i added is bad. what is strange is 3dmark06 runs without any problems.

IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL

This BSOD usually indicates the system memory has failed somewhere.

I find it odd you get this BSOD when you mess with the vsync settings.

Is your rig Prime95 stable for 12+ hours?

Try with one stick of RAM. Better yet, run memtest on each stick individually. This is sounding more and more like your RAM is unstable rather than an SLI issue.

I see you have the 2x1GB Patriot LL kit. I tried this kit on my DFI NF4 SLI mobo before getting OCZ Platinums. Let me tell you, the DFI board did not like PAtriots at all and I had overall system instability even at stock settings. As soon as I got the OCZ kit, everything was peachy.

I dont know if it's the NF4 chipset that doesnt like the Patriot kit, but I am 90% sure this is the problem.

I just dont know why it happens to you when you mess with Vsync.

 

[mylok]

unless my ram went bad in the last 2 days (which i know is possible but not likely) then a ram problem really does not make sense. why would enabling vsync cause a memory error with my system memory.

and yes when i ran prime95 last (2-3 months ago it ran for 12+ hours just fine). I think i am going to try running just the second card (the one i just added) by itself to see if it works ok. When vsync is enabled it appears that SLI is disabled so maybe i have a bad second 7600gts card.

thanks for the help.

 

[Matt2]

Well let us know.

Just speaking from experience, IRQL_LESS_OR_NOT_EQUAL blue screen of death has ALWAYS been related to the RAM. Either a bad overclock, or bad stick.

 

[mylok]

I just tested with both cards in single card mode (with only one card installed at a time) and oblivion works just fine with vsync disabled. I would think that if i had bad RAM the problem would happen with either 1 or 2 cards installed.
Gonna try SLI again but this time with the 2 cards switched around (card that was in slot 1 is in slot 2 now). I also noticed that the FPS with one card indicated that SLI is working even when vsync is enabled. I use to like problems like this. It was fun to track down the solution but now it is just a PITA

this really makes no sense why would changing the vsync option cause these kind of problems? and why would 3dmark06 run just fine also (I thought 3dmark06 was a very stressful benchmark)

and thanks for all the replies, keep them coming.

 

[mylok]

well i still have no idea what is going on with this. I re-installed both cards this time changing the cards around (card in slot 1 to slot 2) and have the same problem. I installed Call of Duty 2 and tested it with sli and vsync on and off and it works fine. 3dmark06 works also so I am not sure what the problem is. As i stated above sli is working even with vsync on (i just get a lower FPS) so for now I guess I will just leave it as is.

I sure do miss my x1900xtx now

 

[Matt2]

Did you try different drivers?

Also, why did u give up your X1900XTX for 7600GT SLi?

 

[Gstanfor]

As others have suggested this is likely to be a problem elsewhere in your system.

Oblivion has no trouble running in SLI mode. Quite the contrary, and it absolutely loves SLI 16x AA mode (performance almost doubles over regular SLI for me).

I've posted my settings below so you can try them if you like. FW92.91.

1
2
3
4
5
6
nHancer V2 Beta 16 download link

If you want to use SLI AA, note the warning in the images that you either need to set it in the global profile or manually activate the profile (you do this with nhancer, see image 1). Of course nHancer is totally superior to either the new or old nvidia CP so using it is no grat hardship.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Matt2
Did you try different drivers?

Also, why did u give up your X1900XTX for 7600GT SLi?

:thumbsup: The BSOD may be a device driver error. OP should see Gstanfor's settings above for successful Oblivion SLi.

Also curious why OP made the X1900XTX to 7600GT SLi switch.

 

[mylok]

I have tried drivers 93.71 and 93.81.

i sold my xtx because i did not have time to game anymore. I replaced it with a single 7600gts then just bought a second card last week just so i could try out sli.

my system has no problems with Call of Duty or 3DMark06 and it works fine with Oblivion as long as vsync is enabled.
i will try the above suggestions later today.

thanks

 

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor

nHancer V2 Beta 16 download link

Marked for later dl.

 

[mylok]

ok, i did some more testing. if i load a saved game from within oblivion with vsync disabled and just let my character stand there it will run for at least 10 minutes (that is as long as i tested this for, i did not freeze up). If I move my char to a new area where you get the loading area message on screen it will give me a blue screen with the following info

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

the file it lists is nvatabus.sys (is this a driver for the video card or for the nforce4 chipset?) this PC is setup with RAID 0 (2 x 200GB WD HDD) and the game is installed on the raid array.

any more ideas?

 

[Gstanfor]

I'd reinstall your chipset drivers (it's a chipset file).

Try using this driver.

When it's downloaded, use 7zip or similar to extract the files from the executable, then delete the IDE folder and run the setup (the file you are having trouble with is nvidia's SATA IDE driver). Use the default microsoft driver instead. Not sure if this means you will lose your raid configuration or not (don't use raid myself).

 

[mylok]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor
I'd reinstall your chipset drivers (it's a chipset file).

Try using this driver.

When it's downloaded, use 7zip or similar to extract the files from the executable, then delete the IDE folder and run the setup (the file you are having trouble with is nvidia's SATA IDE driver). Use the default microsoft driver instead. Not sure if this means you will lose your raid configuration or not (don't use raid myself).

ya after searching the web I came to the same conclusion that it is the sata/raid drivers.

i will try to update the drivers but I can not use the default microsoft drivers as i will loose my raid array. I uninstalled the drivers once before and was unable to load windows. I have v6.86 installed and the drivers you link to are v7.13. thanks for the help.