"More" problems with the 7950 GX2

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

HK

Distinguished
Jun 24, 2004
24
0
18,510
Thought I posted this earlier, didn't seem to find it...

Well, I purchased the 7950 GX2 about a week ago and I didn't have quite the same problems...

Here's what goes on...

Mild to moderate snow - Kinda like little dots blinking randomly around the screen.
During gameplay I get Slight video tearing - Graphics randomly appearing around the screen, little to big chunks of the wall or other garbage flashing randomly
When I run 3dmark, and you get to this dragon/zepplin video, the whole screen blinks with random colors.
Alt-tabbing the whole screen garbles... sometimes, its like every other time when I alt-tab it goes to windows fine, or garbles the whole screen.

Here's what I got...

M2N32-SLI DELUXE 4200+ Dual Core
550w Power supply
xforce Nvidia 7950 GX2
2g Ram

Here is what I have done...

Flashed the bios to 603 version
tried the 91.31 driver
tried the 91.33 driver
updated the platform drivers 9.35
Windows SP 2

I'm baffled, and it being a Saturday, I have no idea what to do. I mean performance wise, everything seems to run smoothly with the exception of these video problems when I run a game. I am assuming it is a driver problem, but w/o any support from Nvidia itself, I have turned to xfx and Asus who are both closed today. Windows and some older games seem to be fine, just anything from Call of Duty 2 to Fear is a total nightmare to play. BTW, I don't believe its overheating issues, I get a 37 degree temp off the motherboard and a 56 degree temp from the vid card. Everything is brand new in the case with the exception of the HD and SB Aud. ZS card, which were both fine in my other case.

...Now I have figured out if I disable the Multi-GPU Config I don't have ANY of the graphics problems, the problem with that is, only get half the benefits from the card. Seems kinda stupid to have a huge paperweight in the box ya know?

I have also switched out to my brother in laws computer, it had the same problems on a different board. I installed his ATI 1900 in my computer, and everything ran fine... The problems follow the card I suppose. I am not 100% sure its a bad card, but nobody seems to have the problem I am describing. Just looking for some feedback I guess...
 
badge

badge

Illustrious
Jun 17, 2006
13,722
0
41,460
Thought I posted this earlier, didn't seem to find it...

Well, I purchased the 7950 GX2 about a week ago and I didn't have quite the same problems...

Here's what goes on...

Mild to moderate snow - Kinda like little dots blinking randomly around the screen.
During gameplay I get Slight video tearing - Graphics randomly appearing around the screen, little to big chunks of the wall or other garbage flashing randomly
When I run 3dmark, and you get to this dragon/zepplin video, the whole screen blinks with random colors.
Alt-tabbing the whole screen garbles... sometimes, its like every other time when I alt-tab it goes to windows fine, or garbles the whole screen.

Here's what I got...

M2N32-SLI DELUXE 4200+ Dual Core
550w Power supply
xforce Nvidia 7950 GX2
2g Ram

Here is what I have done...

Flashed the bios to 603 version
tried the 91.31 driver
tried the 91.33 driver
updated the platform drivers 9.35
Windows SP 2

I'm baffled, and it being a Saturday, I have no idea what to do. I mean performance wise, everything seems to run smoothly with the exception of these video problems when I run a game. I am assuming it is a driver problem, but w/o any support from Nvidia itself, I have turned to xfx and Asus who are both closed today. Windows and some older games seem to be fine, just anything from Call of Duty 2 to Fear is a total nightmare to play. BTW, I don't believe its overheating issues, I get a 37 degree temp off the motherboard and a 56 degree temp from the vid card. Everything is brand new in the case with the exception of the HD and SB Aud. ZS card, which were both fine in my other case.

...Now I have figured out if I disable the Multi-GPU Config I don't have ANY of the graphics problems, the problem with that is, only get half the benefits from the card. Seems kinda stupid to have a huge paperweight in the box ya know?

I have also switched out to my brother in laws computer, it had the same problems on a different board. I installed his ATI 1900 in my computer, and everything ran fine... The problems follow the card I suppose. I am not 100% sure its a bad card, but nobody seems to have the problem I am describing. Just looking for some feedback I guess...
Click to expand...

This may be a long shot, but why don't you try downloading and using Nvidia drivers OLDER than the recently release 9.1.3.1 drivers. I just built an SLI rig (not with 7950) and I couldn't boot into windows with ver. 9.1.3.1. I loaded up ver. 8.3.4.0 I believe, older anywy, and I'm good to go. here, try 83.40, what can it hurt. Works great on my SLI rig:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html
 
C

Cheese

Distinguished
Jan 15, 2005
122
0
18,680
This may not fix the problem but I've seen this work for simliar situations. I know you have a 550W PSU but you should only have the video card on a power chain. You might have to re-route cables etc. but I would leave one power chain to the video card itself. If it doesn't fix anything then you can always move stuff back.

A video card my friend had had similiar symptoms and we did this and it fixed it. He had a HDD connected to the power chain along with fans and the video card.

Just an idea. Your 7950GX2 costs too much to mess up!
 
S

SAttack

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2006
20
0
18,510
I'm Banging my head this weekend and Gave up and return the mobo and graphic card RMA exchange mobo and refund on Graphic Card.

A8N32-SLI Deluxe (Asus)
Asus N7950 GX2

Boot up to the deskt0p =>> Fine no problem
install Driver (Nvidia ) ==>> Boot to desktop screen and offscreen couple sec later on again and off again etc....


Called Asus , They told me it' might be bad Video card.

I looked up on Net. about compatibility
Nvidia > http://www.nvidia.com/content/geforce_gx2_sbios/us.asp
Asus > http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&l3=0&model=1187&modelmenu=1

Nvidia saying Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe compatible.
Asus didn't list A8N32-SLI Deluxe as compatible mobo.

SO I updated the BIOS to the lastest.
BANG !! No post, No Nothing.

Now I dont' know what to do, to what to get ...
Should I just go with N7900 GT?


PS = 600 W
Corsair = 2 Gig
HD = 350 Gig
 
F

FITCamaro

Distinguished
Feb 28, 2006
700
0
18,990
I agree. I used the latest WHQL driver from Nvidia after a fresh install of XP, and I had the damn thing telling me that SLI was disabled with a 256MB 6200 AGP card....... You think? The driver was pretty unstable.

I went back to the last 8 series driver and its much better.

Seems like the whole 7900 series line is having problems with drivers and what not.
 
badge

badge

Illustrious
Jun 17, 2006
13,722
0
41,460
I agree. I used the latest WHQL driver from Nvidia after a fresh install of XP, and I had the damn thing telling me that SLI was disabled with a 256MB 6200 AGP card....... You think? The driver was pretty unstable.

I went back to the last 8 series driver and its much better.

Seems like the whole 7900 series line is having problems with drivers and what not.
Click to expand...

The 9.1.3.1 driver runs great on this rig. I'm using it now in SLI. When I built a new SLI Nforce 4 rig for my son the other night, I would get a lock up right as windows tried to go to the desktop. I forced it into the desktop on occasion and the 9.1.3.1 driver would run fine once I got there. I eventually just installed 8.4.2.1 and I haven't had any problems since.
 
S

SAttack

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2006
20
0
18,510
No Kidding, THat's all I have to do is go back to "8.4.2.1"
WoW I didn't think of that.
But now it's too late I couldn't even boot up to post :(
I want to try it again... see if I have time to mess around after 12 hours work :(
 
H

HK

Distinguished
Jun 24, 2004
24
0
18,510
Ya, I had plenty of power and everything... 36a, maybe a bit more...

Needless to say it wasn't anything like that...

Nvidia says its compatibility with the new A2 boards... That vid card went into a total of 6 systems, each one had the same problem. Nvidia is claiming it will resolve the problem eventually, but that doesn't do it for me... So I scrubbed the project after we tried a different 7950. Same problem for both cards in various boards. Now, a side note, my brother in law who is A+ cert tried it on his rig that wasn't v.A2, and it had the same problems. I am convinced it is the drivers and not so much compatibility. If you are "stuck" with one, I am sure this issue will get resolved, and aside from the video glitching, I was getting really good frame rates. I suppose what I would do is wait for the next card like this one or wait long enough for Nvidia to address the problem.

I then bought 2 7900 GTX's and everything is fine. Very smooth and I am happy for the most part. Just very disappointed with the Nvidia's take on the situation and really disappointed because I wanted to do a quad rig... Oh well, maybe next time...

A side note, I believe the card is worth getting if you can get support for it... ASUS and Nvidia couldn't give me a straight answer of what was causing the conflict other then compatibility with the A2 boards... And being a loyal customer for quite some time and like a /shrug to me is a pretty big "F U" IMO. I suppose I should note it was a xfxforce card, and it is possible another card manuf. may not have these problems.

Ultimately, if you look at the 7900 GTX and the 7950 GX2, the 7950 imo has a poor cooling system for it. Which, could quite be another issue, seeing the 7900 runs about 20celsius less. I dunno, if you want to wait it out, I'd wait for the next dual card comes out and for the SLI support for them. Which btw, despite the advertisement on the box, it isn't ready for the SLI and I am not sure if/when they will ever have support for it and that comes directly from a NVIDIA rep.
 
S

SAttack

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2006
20
0
18,510
I can say for sure it's the driver issue. I don't like to mess around but I 'm willing to give it one more try. waiting for my RMA Asus Sli32-Delux mobo and Asus N7950GX2.
Price between 7950 and 7900 are not much different , but I'm looking at
512 MB vs 1 Gig.

And I agree with Temp (heat) issue. 7950 poor design on Cooling down.

I'm in the same situation , not sure which to get
7900 ? or 7950 ?
SLI vs Quad SLI?
 
D

DaveUK

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2006
383
0
18,790
Some of this is relevant to one person that had problems, the other bits other relevant to the other guy:

I'll be perfectly honest with you, given the reviews and all around the net for the card its very possible that its not a driver ormodel issue because I certainly haven't seen any issues like this widely publicised.

Especially considering the A8N32-SLI is listed as being '7900 series' compliant. If this didn't include the 7950GX2 I'd consider that a pretty big oversight from Asus/nVidia given the popularity of this board; and given that the 7950 is just 2x7900 series GPU's on one board.

I presumed you've tried this new BIOS revision that specifically mentions 7900 compatibility?

This is further reinforced by the fact that tomshardware conducted their own review of the card using an A8N32-SLI motherboard.

I may be completely wrong, but the problems that you are experiencing when enabling SLI are exactly the same as an overclocking issue... or like when those ATI cards could be BIOS modded to unlock extra pipes or whatever. Some of the cards had the pipes locked because they were faulty which is why the cards became cut-down versions.

This would also explain why you are getting the artifacts in newer games not older ones. It is possible that when the card is trying to use certain parts of the hardware (eg Pixel shaders) it has problems. Althought this could also be a driver issue lol.

To the A2 board guy it sounds highly possible to me that you had a couple of faulty cards. Especially because you tried 6 systems and all with the same fault.

Well, I guess you've already thought of all this stuff and your problem sucks so I'm just going to feel sorry for you and go away now.

Oh, and I looked at the 7950, and decided to go for the X1900XT whilst saving the extra £100 for when the DX10 cards come a-knocking :)
 
D

DaveUK

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2006
383
0
18,790
Oh, and I looked at the 7950, and decided to go for the X1900XT whilst saving the extra £100 for when the DX10 cards come a-knocking :)
Click to expand...

Excellent logical progression!

lol... I wanted a 7950 but my wallet said no :( I just make myself feel better by saying I'm saving up for the next round of cards :D
 
S

SAttack

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2006
20
0
18,510
I'm not sure If I want to go with crossfire , IF i go
I have to change the whole thing to crossfire

Rgt now I got SLi ready >> Power supply, recommended RAM,
One last try b4 I change the whole thing to Cfx3200 (crossfire ).

I wish Nvidia/Asus come up with the new revision and edition package for quad people :D . anyway Now i'm sitting duck using my other system at home , until I can get the mobo back from RMA. and shopping for new video cards.
 
H

HK

Distinguished
Jun 24, 2004
24
0
18,510
:roll: Well... I am fortunate to have a couple of things going on...

My old board is the A8N32-SLI... The 7950 didn't work on that board either. Don't think it was "both" 7950's we opened up from the box, although, they were both from xfxforce and I am not sure if that manuf had a bad batch of cards. I find it unlikely, but who knows....

On a side note, and hopefully avoiding a pissing match...

The ati's 1900xt, it scored on 3dmark06 5308 by itself, and 7190 sli; as the 7900 GTX's scored a 5920 by itself and a 7983 sli. This isn't overclocked and straight from the box, had it scored better, I would have perhaps opted for the 1900...

I would say the 7900GTX (512mbx2) is rated better on the sites I have been checking out. Maybe not the least expensive, but the ratings are higher. Although, a single card by itself, the 7950 is still the best option, that is... if you can get it to work...
 
S

SAttack

Distinguished
Jun 14, 2006
20
0
18,510
I see the Rig of the July on SLIZone , this guy Quad the 7950GX2 and on the Armor Case.

I have the same case ( Armor ) hard to slide the card in the case , anybody know how ? did he modify the case?

This is my dilema , 7950GX2 => 1 Gig vs
7900GT >> 512 MB.

Price almost the same , I would go with 1 Gig aside from not getting to work lol :D
Still my rig is collecting dust and waiting patiently on Nvidia to do something about this.
Any 7950 out there ?
 
C

ConsciousTech

Distinguished
Jul 8, 2006
82
0
18,630
The day my shop got a 7950GX2, it got sold. Some guy came in and paid cash down, have seen him twice since then and he has not had a problem since. He's running the same board, M2N32SLI-Deluxe. I however did have one guy bring his computer in that had two 7600 GS cards on it, problem was the drivers, reverted back to an older version and the screen flashing / random choppiness subsided.
 
K

kuolas

Distinguished
Jul 25, 2006
3
0
18,510
Hi,
I am technician, working for one big PC retailer. I had my hands on this piece of hardware too and had same or similar problems.

My starting point was nVidia demo called Luna on PowerXS 7900 duo. Initially I got flickering spots on Luna face, then randomly some triangular shapes appear. It is not related to any particular motherboard or chipset as I have confirmed this problem on both nvidia and ati chipset based motherboards.

Graphics driver version 91.31 and 91.33. Same problem on both. Earlier drivers will not support this and newer GPUs.

I have discovered that this is overheating issue. I had a big room cooling fan blowing on a test rig and initially there was no display corruption. I paused luna demo. It pauses action only but still keeps rendering. I have switched off room-fan and after 1 minute or so different artefacts started appearing on the screen. I think it is safe to assume it is overheating problem. Now corruption will appear even GPU is barely warm but I think card has sustained heat damage and it will not work properly anymore.

So far I have tried dual-gpu cards of XFX, Gainward and PowerXSand they have similar problems. There's one common thing: they all get very hot but GPU fan speed will not increase for some reason. Fans can spin faster as they do for a moment when you power on PC or until Windows start-up. I have noticed fans of PowerXS 7900 duo will not slow down at all if graphics driver is not installed.

Now I have got Gainward 7950 GX2 which gets very hot too. I've been running Luna for 3 minutes, then I closed it and checked temp which was 75C. I have never seen GPU temp that high before and I think it is way too high. Fan was barely spinning and it does not seem normal to me as well.

All of this makes me think it is Driver / video BIOS issue. Fans are not controlled properly and this makes GPU and/or VRAM overheat which leads to display corruption (and permanent damage to a card).

It would be nice if more owners of dual-gpu cards could share their experience.
 
H

harrysagger

Distinguished
Jul 25, 2006
1
0
18,510
I'm having the same problem (ish) as the person who posted this topic.

In some of the games most noticably Oblivion, the game has red spots and flickers. However after 5 minutes of play the game freezes then after 20 seconds it unfreezes and everything works fine, in fact the frame rates are awsome. Why does this happen is it oblivion or drivers. Can it be overheating if so why does the performance get better instead of degrading further?

I tried fear (v1.0) a few weeks ago and it was breaking up. Prey was very slow but with the beta driver it now runs perfectly.

My current gpu temp is 61c is that normal?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom