[Resolved] [Kind Of] SLi Mode Corrupt / Distorted Screen

[Last Starfighter]

Originally posted by: Digex
#1 Make sure your cards are both SLI compatible.

#2 Use the profiles for the game in the nvidia settings. From what Im reading you need to set the profile for the game to work properly every time, there are like 50 supposed profiles. It has settings for SLR and ALR. I heard you can force it also but sometimes it doesnt work for all games. Just my opinion since I dont have a Asus here to test. But most reviewers are pointing out this issue with games not supporting this feature as of yet.

Both cards are these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...sp?WebProductID=154668

which claim to be SLi compatible.


I tried those profiles (never seen them before) - but made no diference. I've tested the card mostly with Far Cry and Half Life 2, which seems to be what people are using to test stuff - so I assume they both work.

 

[Last Starfighter]

Originally posted by: JMag
I heard elsewhere that the problem stems form the BIOS 1002, use ASUS's update tool on the CD (so you can do it in windows ) and try updating the BIOS.

I am still currently having problems with my A8N-SLI. I finally was able to get windows installed with a single 512mb DIMM ( when I was running in dual channel with two 512Mb DIMMS, it would crash within 1-10mins everytime I tried to install windows )
Once I got it up on 512mb I flashed the BIOS to 1003-004, shut down, then put in the other DIMM and things worked fine.

However, then I tried overclocking and set my FSB to 215 manual, then went into the MAX OC selection and swithced it to 250 ( it turns out when you select MAX OC it will actually raise your FSB to that level)
Long story short, my SATA drive is no longer detected and I cant freakin boot ( i wonder if I killed my drive )

I've tried the 1003.4 BIOS, but it hasnt made any difference.

 

[Digex]

Are those cards stock? You didnt flash them to Ultra or unlock any pipes did you?

 

[Last Starfighter]

aye completely unmeddled with, as is the whole system at the moment.

 

[Painman]

Link to a review where they observed some graphics corruption with 2x 6800s in SLI mode (and they were Asus cards)

Not that this helps fix the problem, but it shows that it isn't necessarily an isolated incident.

 

[ngray]

In reading your posts below:
Last Starfighter: 12/24/2004 10:19 PM Far Cry, 1600*1200
Last Starfighter: 12/27/2004 02:06 PM Just tried it now, only other monitor I've got is a TFT (so cant go above 1024*1280).

It made me wonder a few things:
Are you runnning over Analog RGB, or Digital DVI? Have you tried the other connector, if your panel has both?
What refresh rate are you running the display at?
Did you know that DVI at 1600x1200 is at the border of it's signalling bandwidth, and that that resolution at higher color depths and refreshes will work poorly?
Did you know that at anything above your panel's native resolution is interpolated anyway, and may not display correctly?
Try running your desktop at 1600x1200 at high refreshes and bit depths, to see if the device can support it, even if it is downsapled/interpolated by the panel.
Try disconnecting DVD/CD drives, and separating the power supply as far from the mobo as the cables allow?

AFAIK, it's either an interference issue between the cards/mobo/psu/other devices, or it's a signalling issue between the cards and the panel.

Good luck. I'm going to plug in my BFG 6800GT OC's into my A8N-SLI tonight, so I hope this experience is not a shared one.

 

[Last Starfighter]

Originally posted by: Painman
Link to a review where they observed some graphics corruption with 2x 6800s in SLI mode (and they were Asus cards)

Not that this helps fix the problem, but it shows that it isn't necessarily an isolated incident.

Interesting - looks exactly like what I see in HL2 (that distortion travels down the screen in bands).

I'll drop them an email and see if they managed to resolve it!

 

[Last Starfighter]

Are you runnning over Analog RGB, or Digital DVI? Have you tried the other connector, if your panel has both?

running analogue RGB with a DVI -> RGB VGA adapter thing. Both cards have 2 x DVI interface on the back & ship with the DVI convertors.

What refresh rate are you running the display at?

I tend to use 85HZ @ 1600 * 1200 on my CRT, lowering the refresh rate does improve the picture slightly, but only slightly. (In the same way that reducing the resolution helps too)

Did you know that DVI at 1600x1200 is at the border of it's signalling bandwidth, and that that resolution at higher color depths and refreshes will work poorly?

I didn't - would this affect me when using the DVI->VGA convertor - hence a card with ONLY DVI outputs would be a bit useless for SLI - as SLI setups only really come into their own at high res?

Did you know that at anything above your panel's native resolution is interpolated anyway, and may not display correctly?

I dont normally use the TFT panel, my normal monitor is a LG 22" CRT N2200P- the panel is used on my other PCs.

Try running your desktop at 1600x1200 at high refreshes and bit depths, to see if the device can support it, even if it is downsapled/interpolated by the panel.

These run resolutions run fine on the CRT 1600*1200 32-Bit Colour, 85Hz refresh.

Try disconnecting DVD/CD drives, and separating the power supply as far from the mobo as the cables allow?

Yeah - I gave that one a go, stripped it right down to the HDD / VGA cards / Mobo - no difference.
Same on a completely fresh install of WinXP with all the latest drivers (forceware 71.20)

AFAIK, it's either an interference issue between the cards/mobo/psu/other devices, or it's a signalling issue between the cards and the panel.

My gut instinct, is on the signalling between the two 6800s - you can switch them round, power them in different ways, but using the 'Show GPU load balancing' option it seem to show that it is the second card that that gains the interference.

Good luck. I'm going to plug in my BFG 6800GT OC's into my A8N-SLI tonight, so I hope this experience is not a shared one.

aye - good luck!

 

[canislupy]

Originally posted by: Painman
Link to a review where they observed some graphics corruption with 2x 6800s in SLI mode (and they were Asus cards)

Not that this helps fix the problem, but it shows that it isn't necessarily an isolated incident.

Same problems here on 2x BFG 6800GT OC's. Don't seem to have the color problems, but I get weird horizontal line shimmering and whole screen jitter (kind'a like interlacing).

Have tried just about everything, like the article mentions, fine in non-SLI and when just on the desktop.

 

[Last Starfighter]

Originally posted by: canislupy

Originally posted by: Painman
Link to a review where they observed some graphics corruption with 2x 6800s in SLI mode (and they were Asus cards)

Not that this helps fix the problem, but it shows that it isn't necessarily an isolated incident.

Same problems here on 2x BFG 6800GT OC's. Don't seem to have the color problems, but I get weird horizontal line shimmering and whole screen jitter (kind'a like interlacing).

Have tried just about everything, like the article mentions, fine in non-SLI and when just on the desktop.

If you up the res to 1600*1200 32bit, do you get the colour effect?

(at lower resolutions I get the shimmer type thing)

 

[canislupy]

Actually, if I run 1600x1200 it doesn't happen as often... maybe 1920x1200 is the problem for me (this is what I have been trying to run... and my whole reason for wanting to go SLI... *sigh*).

 

[ngray]

Well, set up SLI last night, and the only shimmering was the gleam in my eyes

But seriously.

I'm running (stock, no OC):
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe NForce4 Rev 03, Bios 1002
Athlon64 3500+ .13nm
BFG 6800GT OC x2 (the brand new ones from Chumbo)
Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 120GB drive
Ancient HP CDR drive
ThermalTake PurePower 480

Because my bench CRT monitor only runs up to 1280x1024, that's the highest I tested it, but no video artifacts/shimmering/etc there, Even with mutliple runs of Half-Life 2, CS:Source VST, 3DMark03, 3DMark05, and Aquamark. I'm well aware this setup doesn't eve stretch it's legs until higher rez, but seeing FPS in the thousands in 3DMark03 is pretty funny.

Good luck with the issue. Keep us posted.

 

[bap4201]

did not read through everything here, but ? for ya....

1) Is it only happening in farcry?

2) Did you install the farcry patch?

Sorry if this has already been discussed.

 

[hoojer]

Originally posted by: canislupy

Originally posted by: Painman
Link to a review where they observed some graphics corruption with 2x 6800s in SLI mode (and they were Asus cards)

Not that this helps fix the problem, but it shows that it isn't necessarily an isolated incident.

Same problems here on 2x BFG 6800GT OC's. Don't seem to have the color problems, but I get weird horizontal line shimmering and whole screen jitter (kind'a like interlacing).

Have tried just about everything, like the article mentions, fine in non-SLI and when just on the desktop.

I'm getting that same thing too.
I haven't had a chance to test it on the new beta bios's,

The only app that I had the problem was with Half-Life 2. When set to widescreen mode 16:10 and 1680x1050 the whole screen appeared to shimmer up and down.

That was with the latest forceware drivers.

 

[Last Starfighter]

word from Asus Technical Support:

Dear Alex,
This is more likely to be related to the graphics cards themselves. Try the latest Nvidia drivers or check with MSI.
<name removed>
UK Technical Support
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE PREVIOUS MAILS
WHEN REPLYING AS WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU
WILL ALWAYS GET THE SAME PERSON RESPONDING


---------- Original Message ----------
<personal info removed>
[Product Information]
*Product Type : Motherboard
*Product Model : A8N-SLI Deluxe
*Product S/N : 4CZG016794
Place of Purchase : Scan International
*Date of Purchase : 2004/12/21

[Motherboard Specification]
*Motherboard Revision : n/a
*Motherboard BIOS Revision : 1002

[VGA Card Specification]
*VGA Card Vendor : MSI
*VGA Card Model : 256Mb MSI PCI-E GF6800GT DDR3 Dual DVI
*VGA Card Chipset : Nvidia GF6800GT
*VGA Card Driver : 66.93 / 71.20 etc

[CPU Specification]
*CPU Vendor : AMD
*CPU Type : 939
*CPU Speed : 2600

*Operating System : WinXP SP2


[Problem Description]
In SLi mode there is distortion on the the screen:

e.g. http://www.alexv.dial.pipex.com/farcry.jpg

this occurs in all games I have tried - FarCry, Half Life 2, Eve Online. In Far Cry / Eve it is always the
lower half of the screen, in HL2 it is a scrolling banding effect of a similar nature (presumably different
operational modes of SLi at work).

PSU is 550W :
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products...sp?WebProductID=156690

(have tried unplugging optical drives etc, to reduce power load, to no effect)

Voltages Under Heavy Load (SLi mode):
http://www.alexv.dial.pipex.com/hvyloadsli.jpg

Voltages under heavy load (single card mode):
http://www.alexv.dial.pipex.com/hvyloadsingle.JPG

Have tried:

swapping cards round, !
cards individually (fine)
dicking around with memory (dual cha nnel on and off etc)
unplugging all optical drives / fans to free up power
nvidia drivers 69 - 71.20 (no change)

**N.B.**

E-Z Plug is in place, E-Z Selector configured for dual cards, SLi connector is on!

Note:

at lower resolutions, the distortion effect is not quite as bad and appears as simply a somewhat
horizontal distortion on the lower half of the screen when the cursor is moved over / there is
movement on screen. (no colour distortion).

ALSO: This distortion is only seen in Fullscreen mode - if a game is played in window mode with SLi
the distortion is not present at all! (This really confused me!). (I've tried running the games in full
screen mode @ different refresh rates and it maks no difference)

Disabling "show gpu load balancing", doesnt help by hte way.

Both PCI Express cards are powered using relevant adaptors and monitor is plugged into the card in
the blue slot

 

[Last Starfighter]

After another email detailing the plethora of different drivers I had tried and hours of testing I had been through, I got the following reply:


Perhaps the cards need newer drivers, or maybe there's a PSU problem, other customers have set the SLI up without these problems and there isn't a list of approved SLI cards.
<name removed>
UK Technical Support
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE PREVIOUS MAILS
WHEN REPLYING AS WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU
WILL ALWAYS GET THE SAME PERSON RESPONDING


helpful huh?

I can appreciate that maybe the motherboard isnt at fault, but this level of disinterest is frustrating.

 

[Last Starfighter]

omg, this is my favourite:


****
Dear Alex,
I can only reiterate that there are no known issues with any cards. perhaps the games themselves need patches or updates.

<name removed>
UK Technical Support
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE PREVIOUS MAILS
WHEN REPLYING AS WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU
WILL ALWAYS GET THE SAME PERSON RESPONDING
****


Way to bury your head in the sand :-/

 

[govern1]

New to this forum, but have been lurking for a few weeks while I waited on my SLI stuff to arrive. Well, it did and I saw that same problem. I was able to solve by completely unistalling my display drivers and installing the 67.03's. They work flawlessly in every game I've tested so far (Farcry, BF Vietnam, Tribes Vengeance, UT2004, Doom3, HL2, Joint Ops and expansion and Pacific Assault).

Shawn

 

[Last Starfighter]

I've just tried that (uninstall / driver cleaner 3 / reinstall) and I still get the same effect :-(

edit: reinstall 67.03s that is.

 

[Last Starfighter]

Right - remember I said that this only happened it Full Screen Mode?

Right Click Save As

Start off in Window Mode - 1600*1200 (@ 85Hz with all the video options at full full full, uber super etc.)

flick to full screen mode - notice the distortion straight away?
Zoom in on fraps FPS count
Flick back to Window mode - distortion gone
Check FPS

So, in window mode there is no distortion - wierd, FPS drops by 5-10, but it still appears that SLi mode is being utilised.

In addition:

I did some further testing with different refresh rates &amp; resolutions. At 1600*1200 @ 60Hz the distortion is much reduced though still fairly evident. Dropping down through 1280*1024 to 1024*768 @ 60Hz, the distortion is barely noticable &amp; really only glaringly evident on menu overlays.

I suppose I could just run everything at 1024*768 - but that just wasnt the point of this whole setup - If I wanted high frame rates from a single card at medium res, I would have bought a radeon.

 

[remmerst]

I've had all the same problems as you guys. I'll give the 67.03 driver a try, but I'm going to be pretty mad if I can't run this at high resolutions. I just got the sony 234 and a pair of ultras (yeah, I know, a waste of alot of money, but once in a while you need to indulge). Like you all said, what was the purpose of all of this anyway? ASUS told me to update bios to 1003-004.

Dear Friend :
Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is xxxx and I would be assisting you today

Sir, I suggest you update bios for a test under windows .

I'm not too optimistic since many of you have already tried this.

 

[Last Starfighter]

I didnt have any luck with the updated bios personally :-(.

On the plus side, the asus rep your speaking to is at least dispensing semi-reasonable advice. The chap I've given up on correspoding with, seems to be under the impression I'm imagining the whole thing.


****
Dear Alex,
I can only reiterate that there are no known issues with any cards. perhaps the games themselves need patches or updates.

<name removed>
UK Technical Support
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE PREVIOUS MAILS
WHEN REPLYING AS WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU
WILL ALWAYS GET THE SAME PERSON RESPONDING
****

there are no known issues with any cards

nope and windows has never had a bug, asus motherboards are perfect and these are not the droids you are looking for.

 

[Last Starfighter]

More folk having the same problem:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulleti...hp?p=507471#post507471
http://www.dcrez.co.uk/guest/sli/

same graphical corruption and same effects.

 

[googles]

you have great h/w across the board but your psu seems a little suspect to me.
how many amps does it provide on the +12v? id definitely try a reputable psu
like ocz, enermax, antec just to be sure...

 

[Last Starfighter]

PSU Specs

I dont think it's the PSU but I'm going to stick a new one in anyway just in case.

Possibility

though some people are recommending against dual rail for SLi setups