SLI Troubles after Driver Change

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jul 30, 2007, 08:07 AM

At the risk of sounding like a first year addict I will try to explain this confusing problem.

I got a second 320 so I could try SLI before I spend any real money. At 1280x1024 I am really happy with the results and being able to run every game with killer frame rates and nice IQ.

When I first installed the second card and enabled SLI it went well without a hitch and my system is above average against other compatible systems.

The problem is when I updated the drivers for the first time and every time since then SLI doesn't work right. The driver installs fine with no errors or control panel issues but the performance just isn't there. The SLI enabled popup appears after the driver install and again after I enable it in the CP and reboot. I can play all my games fine with no errors but the performance is just a little above what it should be with one card. Both cards work fine by themselves running from either of the SLI slots. The SLI strap is installed correctly. Neither card runs above 55c while gaming and I have the fan speed fixed at 100% on both cards so throttling is not the issue.

Up until the driver change I did last night, xtreme-g 163.14, I have been able to fix it with random methods. Sometimes just shutting down and restarting the system will fix it. Sometimes reinstalling the graphics driver will fix it. Sometimes reinstalling the chipset drivers will fix it. Sometimes disabling and enabling SLI a couple of times will fix it. I know it is not a specific driver release issue because it has happened with every driver since I started using SLI, 158.22 thru 163.14, official, official beta, modded, it happens with all. For the life of me I cannot get SLI to work now. I tried going back to 162.18 and still a no go. I tested both cards by themselves again this morning with do problems.

There are no other signs of problems. I have plenty of power. All system drivers, BIOS , firmware, and my OS are up to date. Everything is running cool and is seated properly and everything is plugged in and all my fans are working. I am getting no crashes or boot issues and my RAM and CPU overclocks are 100% stable. There is only one setting in my BIOS related to the GPU and that is SLI broadcast aperture and it happens with both auto and disabled which are the only two options.
The only difference between the two cards are the BIOS version number. All the values and clocks are the same as far as I can tell. I know for sure the vram timings and fan duty cycle settings and clocks are identical.
Card1- BIOS Version 60.80.0D.00.01
Card2- BIOS Version 60.80.18.00.01
Could this be the problem?
Thx

**kris23** · Jul 31, 2007, 12:33 PM

i dunno but the cards BIOS could be the entire issue.... can you flash it? sorry i dont know too much about SLi drivers but it could be it..... if the card is noticably older....

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jul 31, 2007, 04:31 PM

The cards are only a couple months apart in actual production age. This is not supposed to be an issue with the newer cards and drivers. Last night I gave up on the xtreme-g 163.14 drivers and reinstalled the official 162.18 drivers and SLI is now functioning properly.

Lelisevis · Jul 31, 2007, 05:32 PM

Mixed bios versions will work. I had a 500mhz core and a 550mhz core running together in SLI, it just defaulted to the lower. Then I flashed them so they are identical. I think the problem is in the 163.xx drivers as I was getting random black screens, rolled back to 162.xx and it's all good again. Sure the 163.xx was just a game specific fix was it not?

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jul 31, 2007, 07:00 PM

The 163.14 is a dev release that has certain tools for game devs to troubleshoot with. I heard good things about it on different forums so thought I would give it a go. TRU stripped out all the dev tools and applied there standard xtreme-g tweaks so basically the version I was using is a standard release. For some reason it doesn't like my SLI setup though. I really didn't think I was having a driver specific problem because it has happened on about five or six releases now both modded and official. I think my chipset combination on this board is kinda picky about what drivers are going to work the best. All is good now though and pulling over 13k with 162.18 drivers in 06 with stock clocks on the cards. Thats not bad for 320's.

EDIT: Just noticed you have the same board so maybe it is just an issue with certain drivers and the 650i/570 combo.