Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

**sackynut** · 03-18-2006, 07:23 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

well, as for the x8 PCie thingy, that is normal, and basically no games take advantage of x8 yet, so dont worry. I talk to u on xfire so I can help there. and as for asnwers and things to see what is wrong (if there IS something wrong) Ill think about it and edit my post or talk to ya on xfire.

**UNDIESRULES** · 03-19-2006, 02:28 AM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Try using Alternate Frame Rendering 2 in the gfx properties, i have been using 2 x 6600gt for 6 months and that was the best way i found to use them. Also a useful tool is to enable the load splitbar on the screen and play a few games as you can see if both are working right or if one is not etc.

**sackynut** · 03-19-2006, 02:48 AM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

he already did all that, (though I would suggest closing bf2, doing alternate frame rendering 2, and restarting bf2...not doing it WITH bf2 open)

**Sir. bzb** · 03-19-2006, 04:42 AM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Im not sure sli gives you a magic leap in performance at lower resolutions.
It deffinately comes into its own the higher res you go, if you can turn the res up try it with one card and then two and you should see a difference.
This may also be helpful, it doesnt tell you the res but it does show that two is not always best. http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/...ii/page20.html

**Jofaba** · 03-19-2006, 09:58 AM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

I might have found the problem, or at least "A" problem. Both videocards do not share the same BIOS. I called eVGA but it's considered afterhours, as in the guy I talked to wasn't actually in the office. He was home lol. I appologized for bothering him but hell, I'm sure they pay him well for that. Anyway, he didn't have the bios on his computer so I'm supposed to call back tomorrow during regular buisness hours. Then they'll email me the BIOS and I have to hook my floppy drive back up and flash on startup.

BTW

3DMark05 score with processor overclocked to 2.5ghz @1.45v, and videocards OC'd to 499/1200 was 11532. CPU ran Prime95 through three torture tests without a failure, but these combined settings crash 3DMark06 when it reaches the cpu tests.

Two interesting things I've noticed:

1) Every once in a while (twice today), when I boot into Windows, my resolution has been kicked down to the lowest settings.

2) When I try to switch the cards, I can't get the monitor to display.

Hopefully the BIOS flash sorts things out. The tech guy seemed to think so. He said conflicting BIOS versions sometimes make SLi act buggy.

For all of you who have sli, I suggest looking at your BIOS's even if you think you're getting great peformance. It might give you a boost. But you'll see whether or not it does by tomorrow. You can find your bios number directly on the card on a white sticker.

**LoD** · 03-19-2006, 11:59 AM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

eVGA bios are on their site, you need to login under support if you have registered your cards. But its irrelevent because the latest nvidia drivers DO NOT require the same bios. :)

Hopefully it fixes your issue, but I have a feeling this isnt the problem

**sackynut** · 03-19-2006, 12:02 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

yes, the latest nvidia drivers (8x.xx) series took care of the BIOS problem. Though it is SOMEHWAT possible this may be a SMALL issue, I doubt it because the BIOS on cards dont change that much for a card that has been around a while.

Try bringing your RAM and CPU back down to stock settings. and bring the video cards back down to stock. make sure no background processes are running, and run 3dmark05 again. and post the score, then check it with this score :

Tom's Hardware: For The Hardcore PC Enthusiast

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page18.html

Tom's Hardware helps you buy the best hardware and build the best PC to play, create and work..

(i didnt see 7800gt on there for SLi, but figure it out, or look for other benchmarks. there are plent of people on totalbf2 with close to the same rig.)

**Jofaba** · 03-19-2006, 01:08 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Wierd. I wonder why he didn't mention it then. Oh well. Can't hurt, right? But I have been spending some time on the eVGA and nVidia forums and seems like sli is an issue for some people. I haven't played around with it too much today. I'll run 3dmark05 at all stock later on and post my score here. Thanks to everyone offering tips and suggestions.

----------
Update: I am 114 and 115 in que for my StepUp to two 7900GT CO Superclock's =)

**k1lla-4-h1re** · 03-19-2006, 02:45 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

this may be a stupid question, but do you have all the current drivers for your motherboard and AMD chip set????

If that is a stupid question, i will let you frag me on BF2...

**Jofaba** · 03-19-2006, 04:22 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Yes, I reflashed my BIOS, have latest chipset and graphic drivers. I have the latest version of the XFI sound drivers as well. I used Driver Cleaner in safemode to remove all the old drivers. Both videocards and my sound card have their own IRQ

-----------------------------
Update: My 3DMARK05 score on all stock settings is 9557. Pretty amazing that a little overclocking added nearly 2000 extra points. I'll do some gaming at these specs then go back to my sig clocks.

**Jofaba** · 03-21-2006, 06:14 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Well still having issues. I've since flashed the one card so it's in synch with the other (latest videocard bios) and also plugged a molex into the port above the 1xpci-e, something I've often wondered about and eVGA said I should do, but it didn't change anything. So, I'm cleaning up a 20gb laptop hard drive I have from an old mp3 player and I'm going to save all important stuff to that and do a fresh windows install. Gonna be a long night. I'll be lucky if I get a chance to install and try out a game before I have to go to bed. *shrug* Wish me luck I spoze =P

I just did a fairly extensive run of 3DMARK05 benchmarks and here are the scores. What I was looking for was consistancy of score, temperature, and what form the main power came as:

card 1 score ---------------- RUN 1 7031 on 6 PIN
-------------------------------- RUN 2 7045 ON 6 PIN

card 2 score ---------------- RUN 1 7045 ON 6 PIN
-------------------------------- RUN 2 7057 ON 6 PIN

card 1 score ---------------- RUN 1 7049 ON Y SPLIT
-------------------------------- RUN 2 7048 ON Y SPLIT

card 2 score ---------------- RUN 1 7054 ON Y SPLIT
-------------------------------- RUN 2 7062 ON Y SPLIT

As you can see, there was only a 31 point range from the lowest low and the highest high. However, I actually got higher scores on both cards when using the Y split. Since the single 6 pin is a dedicated line from the PSU, I highly doubt that it's "stealing" juice from the other lines. I really don't know much about PSU's but this test seems to confirm that both plugs are getting very similiar, if not exactly, the same "power". I can only assume that this means the issue, at least not the biggest issue, is my psu. And that's good! I love this psu heh.

However! In running these cards separately I have discovered something: my second card artifacts like mad! Ever seen a 35mm film that's been played a couple times too many? And it's got all those odd shaped blotches that show up for a second or two? Or whole lines even? Split second appearances and random throughout the screen, but fairly constant. That's what's happening with the second card.

Luckily the que for StepUp is moving pretty quickly. I've got my fingers crossed that the 7900GT CO Superclocks will help create my dream computer, but I've got my fears as well. What if I get better, but similar peformance? What if I buy a new psu, that I don't like as much, and is more expensive, and the problem doesn't change? Then I'm back to questioning every single piece of equipment in my computer again!

Because of this testing, my Windows reformat has been delayed until tomorrow. I've got my music moved from the 20gb laptop hard drive to the host/server computer of the house, and now I can back up my important files then start fresh.

The adventure continues to another day!

**LoD** · 03-22-2006, 11:01 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

if your second card is artifacting alone, then its faulty.

**Jofaba** · 04-01-2006, 02:56 PM

Re: Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Resurecting this thread simply because no one is online for me to gush to. Anyway, my 7900GT CO Superclocks are ready! I just got the email from eVGA saying that I can email my receipt proof and then I'll get a confirmation so I can pay. I should have my cards in about two weeks!!! Very surprising since I was 67& 68 less than two hours ago. =)

Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Meta: 7800GT, Nivida, SLi : Peformance issues. Please only SLi users respond!

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment