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Graphics XFX 7800GT x2 with Asus A8N-SLI Premium

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Maz2211, 1 Oct 2005.

  1. Maz2211

    Maz2211 What's a Dremel?

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    Hi

    I'm pretty new to this forum, but you guys seem to really know your stuff, so hopefully someone can help.

    I for the first time in my life (Now 41!) built a pc and was even more surprised when it actually worked.

    I initially had is specc'd as follows:-

    AMD 3700+ San Diego, XFX 7800GT Extreme, 2gb ram, motherboard as per the subject above, 2gb Corsair matched ram.

    Everything fine, (3d Mark 05) 7500, CPU 3d Mark 4700.

    I then added/changed the following:-

    AMD 4800+ x2 dual core, another 2gb Corsair (4GB total) and a 2nd XFX 7800GT in Sli.

    Scores now, (3d Mark 05) 10700 and CPU 5480.

    From looking at various reviews, these do not seem particularly good, so I over clocked the CPU's slightly in the Asusu Ai Booster Utility to 110% so the core frequency is now 2641.

    The results were then 11100 (3d Mark 05) and a CPU score of 5968.

    However, the next morning whilst surfing the internet, the system Locked up, and then went blue screen with memory dump, subsequently refusing to re-boot into XP, even in safe made, it locked up each time.

    I removed the 2nd 7800GT and eventually coaxed it back to life. If I re-inserted the 2nd card, it would do the same thing.

    I then did a system restore to prior changing the spec from the previous night, then added the 2nd card again. This time everything ran perfectly until I did the tweak in Ai Booster. Within about 10 seconds the same thing happened again.

    I had to re-do all as above (This was 24 hours ago) and the system has ran fine since, albeit not boosted in Ai Booster.

    Any suggestions, am I missing something obvious?

    I'm using the 78.05 beta nVidia driver. I did try using the non beta version with the same results.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Thanks


    Mark
     
  2. tamffc

    tamffc What's a Dremel?

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  3. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    Welcome to bit-tech :thumb:

    what chipset drivers are you using?

    edit: also, what PSU have you got?
     
  4. *mat-ster*

    *mat-ster* What's a Dremel?

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    I have to agree with Big Z PSU important on a power system like that fine beast U have built, how are your temps?

    Don't get too concerned over those scores they are Good :)

    You may want to check You are running the latest Mobo drivers and Bios...

    http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

    As described on the Download page you can have problems when you do not have the correct combination of chipset drivers / mobo bios etc.

    Matty :)
     
    Last edited: 1 Oct 2005
  5. Hazza

    Hazza What's a Dremel?

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    when you overclock, are you locking the PCI-E bus? If not, maybe the cards aren't liking it ...
    And yea, a PSU is definetly worth a check, a crappy or low powered PSU can cause all sorts of stability probs.
     
  6. Firehed

    Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match.

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    Yeah, it could be the PSU, in fact I'd almost be surprised if it wasn't at least part of the problem unless you're using a real brand 500w+ unit (like, NOT "650w omgwowsorz!!11 look at all the lights for $25" unit)
     
  7. Shadowed_fury

    Shadowed_fury Minimodder

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    Haha yeah so true!
    (stealing quote) :D
     
  8. FaiNT`

    FaiNT` What's a Dremel?

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    Sounds to me like it's a PSU problem. When i upgraded my proc and added a second card in my current i had to go from a 480watt up to a 500+
     
  9. hitman012

    hitman012 Minimodder

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    As above - you NEED a quality PSU. If you have a generic one running that system, I can pretty much guarantee that it's the problem there. Would you trust over £1k worth of components with something that costs only £25?
     
  10. Maz2211

    Maz2211 What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks guys.... some answers...

    Thanks for the input.

    The PSU is a 480w Tagan. I bought it from www.overclock.co.uk and the link to the spec is here:-

    http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=18733

    The chipset on the motherboard is nVidia nForce 4 Sli.

    Interstingly, I downloaded the latest Beta drivers for the 7800GT's (81.26) and scored 11500 approx in 3d mark 05, however when it was running the CPU test, the graphics were corrupted. All games play fine, half life 2 etc. One thing with HL2 is that the screen is occasionally jerky and I wondered if this may be something to do with HD access??

    I ran nTune and two thngs came up from it:-

    1) It stated my memory was running at 333Mhz should this not be 400? The memory is CORSAIR TWINX2048-3200C2PRO TWINX (2 X 1GB) DUAL CHANNEL PACK (Total 4GB)

    2) CURRENT IDE Channel mode: Its says the following - Primary master channel UDMA Mode 6, Primary Slave channel PIO Mode.

    Secondary Master channel UDMA Mode 4, secondary slave channel. PIO Mode

    Then it recomends changing from PIO mode to UDMA - I only run one HD -

    MAXTOR DIAMONDMAX 10 250GB OEM ATA133 16MB CACHE - This is set up, I think, as an IDE drive - this i think is an installation error on my part and i'm going to look at re-installing this as an ata drive.

    Thanks for your patience and help - i'm pretty new to all this, so your help is really apppreciated.

    Thanks again.

    Mark

    PS AN UPDATE

    Just removed my hard drive and its not serial ATA, it has a normal IDE connector and can be set up as paralell ATA, however my mothreboard only supports SATA - can I fit an ATA card?
     
    Last edited: 2 Oct 2005
  11. chemo

    chemo True Jungle Brother

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    id be hesitant to say that it coudl still be the psu, as im under the impression that you need atleast 500w for sli rigs with high end stuff in there too.
    i might be wrong but it could be the problem.
    the ram should be at 400mhz, have a fiddle with the memory divider in the bios, i think it should be either 2/1 or 1/1 to get 400mhz but it should tell you next to it.

    edit/
    re: hard drive
    you can get it to fit but youll need an adapter, or maybe even a pci pata device
     
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