Sorrento Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Ok, now I am facing a new problem... ever since I tried to install the video drivers the computer shut downs randomly, and it began exactly when I was installing these drivers (before completing installation). Now when booting the computer shut downs before the welcome screen, sometimes before that. I thought at first it was the power supply, so I removed unwanted cathode lights and fans... because aparently doing so did the trick; fans at higher speed would make system shut down, or so I thought. But after removing the non necesary hardware the problem persist. Now I believe it is not the power supply as every voltage is way above the 5v and 12v ratings, if the PSU was short the voltages would go down as well. Besides if the PSU was the problem the system would randomly reboot, not shut down. This happens when overclocked or running stock. What I think could be the problem is temperature in the nforce4 chipset. One time I reached Windows the IT Guard software reported 54º C chipset temperature... could it be the problem? The two 6800 GT's do not help at all, the temperature around the chipset reach 45º C according to temperature probe, while the rest of the case is between 28º and 32º C... or less. I did everything I know to verify where the problem came from, and all I could do was having doubts at the end of what was causing this. Any help would be apreciated. Just to be clear about the hardware (signature is confusing ) DFI LP nF4 SLI-DR A64 3200+ 2 x 6800GT eVGA 2 x 512 Corsair XMS4400 C25 2 x 80 gb Hitachi SATA II (at 3.0gb/s) Audigy 2 ZS LiteON DVD-+RW DL LiteON CD-RW/DVD combo Thermalright XP-90 w/TT Smart Blue Fan Thermaltake 680w PSU Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharp Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Hello, What happens if you try only 1 6800GT? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorrento Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Doing that as I write... hmm, not exactly. But do you think it is heat related or the PSU? 54º C before system shuts down is very hot. I am applying AS5 and fixing the mofset heatsink on each 6800GT... there is a flaw, the heatsink doesn't make full contact with the mofsets, not even with a thermal pad in between. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharp Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Yes Maybe it is heat related. My chipset temp is 41Dc max, I have seen some people with 51Dc so maybe 54 is within limits. If 1 GFX card works ok, could it be the SLi jumpers? Do you move them so that both 16x PCIe slots become 8x? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken Joe Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Mine did fine running in the 70's even overclocked not running that now but it did not cause any problem. Can you boot in safe mode with f8? You might just need better divers. Dont forget you should delete the old ones first and clean the registry with drivercleaner if you have real problems. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorrento Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Yes Maybe it is heat related. My chipset temp is 41Dc max, I have seen some people with 51Dc so maybe 54 is within limits. If 1 GFX card works ok, could it be the SLi jumpers? Do you move them so that both 16x PCIe slots become 8x? Jumpers are at SLI position, or in other words all jumper banks in position 2-3. The two cards on SLI worked fine, when system was over a cardboard (non conductive) doing tests... it was when I put it inside the case when things started to go weird: as soon as I tried to install drivers the system shut down before finishing. I was able to install them, but the problems continued. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken Joe Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Jumpers are at SLI position, or in other words all jumper banks in position 2-3. The two cards on SLI worked fine, when system was over a cardboard (non conductive) doing tests... it was when I put it inside the case when things started to go weird: as soon as I tried to install drivers the system shut down before finishing. I was able to install them, but the problems continued. Could be simple heat tried it with a fan bloing on the case and checked for shorts? Have you tried diffrent memory? The DFI and Corsair dont play well with each other many never get the corsair to work then boot fine with stuff it likes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorrento Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Could be simple heat tried it with a fan bloing on the case and checked for shorts? Have you tried diffrent memory? The DFI and Corsair dont play well with each other many never get the corsair to work then boot fine with stuff it likes. There is no need to try diferent memory, although I have a pair of OCZ Plat Rev2 and a pair of Kingmax DDR400. The truth is the system worked perfectly with SLI, I even got 21k pts in 3dMark2003... but this with the system assembled over a cardboard in the open. As soon as I assembled it inside the Xaser III case the problems started. Btw, I ran 305 x 8 mhz with out problems... with XMS4400 doing CL2.5 4 4 7, again when system was out in the open. Memtest86 ran flawlessly at this frequency. Between the two 6800GT's the amount of heat was huge, even outside the case. This is why I installed a thermal sensor right next to the chipset and it was measuring 45º C... this has a lot of posibilities to be the reason behind everything. I am going to put those 80 mm fans on top of the video cards... if that doesn't help I don't know what will. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewski Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 that chipset temp sounds a bit high, but not completely out of line. if it was AOK out of the case and now has problems, it could be a short, like smokin' joe mentioned. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorrento Posted April 21, 2005 Posted April 21, 2005 Yes it could, but I checked everything... I am certain it is not a short, unless it is on the Audigy sound card or in one of the USB connectors. Actually if it was a short, and the system would shut down because of it, it would be the PSU protection kicking in... am I right? Then how would it start again by just pressing the ATX power button? If I am not wrong you need to reset the PSU by disconnecting the power cord in order to by pass the protection. Doesn't seem to be a short because all the voltages look ok... I know there are more voltages to check, and sometimes with PSU's as big as this one a short would be unoticed. I will keep checking just to be sure. One more thing, I just checked the chipset heatsink and it was quite loose. Opon further inspection I got to the conclusion it was not "glued" to the chipset, and to have any of oem thermal interphase like that mean it isn't working. I removed motherboard and removed heatsink and cleaned it with acetone, and applied AS5 and put back on chipset again. Lets see if there is a diference now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorrento Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 Well I disconnected everything except the CPU fan, and the problem remains... only when the SLI kicks in. Could it be a power supply issue? If I leave only one card the system works fine, its only with SLI enabled and working when the problem appears to happen. Any other suggestion is gladly apreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken Joe Posted April 22, 2005 Posted April 22, 2005 Yes it coul easaly be the PSU. Most of the cards dont throttle well at all. Try some diffrent drivers for the card if you havent done so already. Then start replacing things with known good components. I would save yourself some headaches and put the Rev2 in the computer the corsair just seems to cause headaches though you can get some of it to work just fine you know you can trust rev2. I know you might not want to waste good memory on a bord if you arnt going to overclock but........... Dont forget to check the 4 power conncetions to the board and the ones to the video card. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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