Problems with A8N-SLI and two Gigabyte 6600GTs

[RowBob]

well I did that. And then when I tried to switch back to Dual mode after I had installed the drivers in Single mode I get into windows and then after a few seconds my monitor all of a sudden loses signal. And continues to do so each time I reboot. And then when I boot in Safe Mode it automatically finishes installing some hardware and asks to reboot my computer. And then once I've rebooted I get a blue screen when I try to load windows.... :-/

 

[RowBob]

FastEddie I have tried installing all three of those drivers in Dual mode, and still none of them got past the Installing driver components section of the Driver installer.

 

[FastEddie]

This could be your powersupply. Seems that each card will run in single mode, but when you try to initialize both cards, you are getting the BSOD. Give me the line ratings off your powersupply. There will be a list of voltages and the amps supplied at those voltages on a tag that's on your powersupply.

 

[RowBob]

Okay. There's a lot of info on my power supply, but here it is.

V~ Input
Voltage: 115V~ Current: 10A Frequency: 60Hz
Voltage: 230V~ Current: 6A Frequency: 50Hz

V Output
+3.3V: 28A +5V: 40A +12V: 17A -5V: 0.3A -12V: 0.8A +5VSB: 2A

PS-ON POK COM
Remote P.G. RETURN

PEAK LOAD 430W

 

[FastEddie]

I think we may have found your problem. Pretty damn sure. Your 12v rail is only running 17amps. Though the Asus manual states that's the bare minimum for dual 6600GT with next to no other perifs installed. That would be 17a on a very good powersupply, which yours isn't (peak load = 430W).

I would run in single card mode for the time being and pick up a decent powersupply. Newegg has A-GPB Model AP-P4ATX50F12 which is rated for servers, and won't break the bank.

 

[RowBob]

Oh, thank god, I hope you're right. I'll run off to pick up a PSU tomorrow, and let you all know what's happening.

 

[FastEddie]

If you are buying one locally, get a decent one. Stay away from the X-Connect, or the Dual 12v style that claims two seperate +12v ratings. And a decent one locally is going to cost you twice the price of the one I listed.

 

[RowBob]

Alright so I bought an Antec TrueBlue 480. It fixed one of my problems. But not all. I still can't install the drivers when I'm in SLI mode with both cards in. But now when I install them in Single Mode, and then shutdown switch to dual and put in the other card, I can boot fine. Now when I get into windows my monitor doesn't lose signal. So the power supply has fixed that. But there are a couple other issues. First of all... when I go into my card properties and go to the "SLI multi-gpu" tab there is no checkbox to enable SLI mode. And another thing, when I go into the device manager I only see one video card. Any ideas?

*EDIT*
Gonna try and reseat the cards. I'll let you know how that turns out.

 

[FastEddie]

Try uninstalling all the drivers for the cards. You are running WinXP. Do you have SP2 installed? Do you have DirectX9+ installed (9.0c is the current release)? You need to have DX9 installed to get these cards to work.

 

[RowBob]

yep, have SP2 installed and DirectX 9.0c, and before I install drivers each time I boot into safe mode and uninstall the old ones. But still can't get it to work. :-/

 

[FastEddie]

With only one card installed, boot into win and uninstall the drivers. Then reboot. From a clean boot, now install the drivers (use the nvidia release, not the betas)---still with only one card installed. After drivers are installed, reboot. Do not install the second card yet. Let the os load on a boot after a fresh install of the drivers. Once you are there, then shut down, install the second card, boot into the os and see if the second card is picked up.

You could have a CF (cluster flock) going on from all the drivers installed yesturday.

 

[RowBob]

okay. So I did all that you said. And when I put the second card in and rebooted in Single Mode, it got into Windows, then after a few seconds I lost my monitor's signal. :-/

 

[RowBob]

Just switched it to Dual. Same thing happened.

 

[FastEddie]

All that I said and no booting into safe mode?

No. After you have the drivers installed, and have done a successful reboot. Then shut down, install the second card, and switch to dual card mode! Then reboot.

 

[FastEddie]

Originally posted by: RowBob
okay. So I did all that you said. And when I put the second card in and rebooted in Single Mode, it got into Windows, then after a few seconds I lost my monitor's signal. :-/

You may lose the signal for a few seconds as the second card is picked up and initialized. I'd wait a minute or two, then go for a reboot. If the safe mode prompt comes up, sellect normal startup.

 

[tretneo]

RowBob,

Have you tried both cards in single mode? I had a similar issue as you, 2x 6800gt cards installed and only one was showing in the device manager and no sli option in nvidia control panel. turned out that the card I had in the second PCI express slot was dead. Alone it showed no video at all. Had to RMA it.

tret

 

[pudds]

Shot in the dark but when you lose signal have you tired plugging into the other card?

 

[RowBob]

yeah, unfortunately both cards work in single mode (I hate the fact that I said unfortunately there) and I have tried plugging into the other card when I lose signal. :-/

 

[FastEddie]

Why don't you try going back to square one RowBob, and with only one card installed, with sellector set to single, do a fresh install of XP. Can't hurt, and may very well get you working. And this time, use only the drivers off the Asus install CD.

I'm going to head over to the Asus site and see if they have a later nv graphics driver available.

 

[RowBob]

:-/ ... Nothing's working. I think I'm gonna RMA these cards and get myself a 6800GT and then buy another one in like a year or so. Any recommendations on which 6800GT to get so I'm not complaining on these boards again a year from now again? ;-)

And thank you everyone for your help. I'm sorry it ended up without a vicotry. :-/

 

[FastEddie]

Better luch with the 6800GT's.

 

[bob661]

It makes troubleshooting soooo much easier when you have a Ghost image of your boot drive. I recommend that those on the bleeding edge use a stable system to build the image and burn it onto a DVD with boot files and the ghost.exe. I also Microsoft's sysprep utility. This actually does a mini-install and sets up all the correct drivers and Windows customizations (like using the Standard PC HAL).

 

[bob661]

One more thing. I wish I could share the sysprep files with you guys but I didn't create them and the guy that did probably wouldn't want me to. I still recommenc Ghosting your computers.

 

[regtur]

I also bought a8n-sli deluxe + 2x Gigabyte 6600 GT.

I suggest everyone who bought one to return it. Because i've tried everything. beta/non beta, all kinds of driver combinations. It just doesnt work. Reinstalled windows 12x orso....

And that dude who said that it does work either forgot what type he has bought or he's working for gigabyte. Because I've called gigabyte and they didnt know what they were talking about. So his statement about gigabyte having good support arent v trustworthy either.

 

[regtur]

^^ read the frustration between the lines there


I'm thinking to buy asus 2x 6600GT.

would that be a good choice?