XFX 7950 GX2 Problem!!

I hope you'll get a more educated answer than this... but I have a hunch posters wiser than myself will point to your power supply. Not exactly a brand-name unit for such a high-end system.

The fact that you only have this issue when you fire up games does tend to support this theory... when you're just poking around in XP your video card is pretty much idling... putting a really light load on your PSU. Fire up those games and that card (probably more than any other single card) starts to pull power. I can't seem to pull up a good picture of your card... did it have 2 power connectors or just one?

NZXT PSU's aren't terrible, but 500W IS cutting it kinda close. Are you overclocked at all? Have you checked your Dxdiag to see if it's reporting anything wrong? Do you have bios 0404 installed?

I go along with Rodney in the part that your psu isn't cutting it. With that 7900 GX2, you need a minimum of 550wt, and a 600wt would probably closer to what you need. I haven't heard NZXT psu's as good or bad, but I've never seen them recommended by anyone.

Well, i haven't installed any new bios at all... but every other driver has ben installed from the manufacturer's website. And Dxdiag didn't found anything unusual... And i don't know about the PSU i mean. The problem occurs only at starting up the game, but when i play it, it goes smooth and all, and no other component or colored fan seems to flicker... I hope that help a little.

Get a new PSU. The OCZ GamerXstream 700W is superb.

Yeah, i think that's the problem, better start saving for a Toughpower 750W...

i use a thought power 600W and its all OK. no need for more

Bro I have nearly the same set up as you can see. Instead I have the Toughpower 750 in the TT Armor case and all is running flawlessly. I suggest you buy one of those PSU's for sure. I first had the OCZ 700 gamerxtreme and that thing took a dump on me a week into owning it. I Extremely pleased with the Thermaltake. I say go that direction.

You know now that I think about it. You might be having some overheating issues on your 7950. These things run really hot and if your not getting good air flow through you case it could be spikeing once you put a load on the card. I have an sli fan that blows dirrectly on the 7950 plus I have 4 case fans 3 of which are exhausting air out the back and top while the 1 draws in cooler fresh air from the front. There is also the fan on the TT psu that exhausts as well and I set up the Zalman 9500 to work in cojunction with the exhaust flow.

I have had a similar problem when playing Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) on my XFX7600GT. I had gone all over the internet and tweaking my system before I stubled upon a solution to isolate my problem. It might help you.

Download the coolbits regestry patch which will allow you to modify the core and memory frequencies of your video card. Most folks use this to overclock their cards - you are going to do the opposite. I want you to drasticly UNDERCLOCK your card, and see if the situation improves. If it does, then the core problem is either a heat condition (which is what I had), or a power condition (which is probably what you have). Play your game, switch back to your monitoring tools for temp and voltage (if you have them) - and keep track of your numbers.

Underclocked, it should approach stability - though your performance will suffer. It should make your overall system stable until you can get a better power supply. Once you get a better PS - then return your card back to default settings, and monitor your temps and voltage again - just to be sure.


Cheers.

Does the PSU have a dedicated PCI-e rail (6pin) or are you using the molex type?

Yeah andalin we have almost the same system... and guess what. I bought the Thermaltake Toughpower 750 just yesterday. But that didn't solved anything. I still experience the same problem starting up Oblivion and several other games, they just keep freezing or booting my computer. I have been reading all over some forums about something called the Benny Hill effect, that is some problem with dual core processors and high end graphic cards... I have tried everything and the problem continues! I even reformatted my HD and reinstalled everything but the processor's drivers, that didn't help at all. I don't know what to do, even doing the affinity thing didn't solved it. Any suggestions?

LOL

The Benny Hill effect?!? Are you SURE that's what it's called?!? Were half-dressed women chasing you really fast like they were in fast forward while some upbeat music played?

Hmmm. did you try the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer. Just a thought. The other thing I'm thinking about is could it be an issue with the card? It might be time to take it to a shop and have some diags run on it. Sry I couldn't be more help.

i have a very similair system but mine has an opteron 165 o.ced to 2.7 and a ocz 520 watt p.s my machine would start games and run them for about 2 minutes suddenly artifact and lock up solid. i thought it could be the power supply as well too, but i did an online p.s test that said i would only need a 450 watt power supply. i have excellent airflow in my case as well, with 2 120mm fans as intake and 2 120mm as exhaust with a 120mm fan blowing on the card as well. i found that with the side of my case off, it would run for about 4 minutes before crashing so i have decided to rma the card. it is possible the power supply could be too weak for this setup, but it meats the requirements with 28 amps on the 12 volt rail where evga says i need 26. any suggestions for a good but near silent p.s?

You may also want to contact your motherboard manufacture for instructions. As you are aware this video card is actually two GPU's connected via a built in bridge. This bridge many times will confuse the motherboard. To resolve this issue many motherboard manufactures require a specific motherboard bios/chipset driver combo. Also good idea to ensure you are using the latest driver from www.nvidia.com. If you continue to have issues please visit www.xfxforce.com and start a support ticket so we can further assist you.

XFX Support

I already went to the xfxforce help desk... they said to me that i can return my card if i want, but i think the problem isn't that bad. I am sure it can be resolved with some later patches or something.

You power suply is the problem ...... get a more better & powerful supply ... i have tt toughpower 680 watts ,,, and it runs flawlessly .....

Two years to come up with that!

Are you going for some kind of record?  

Well at least the OP's PC will work now.  
I bet he's been really pissed off for the past two years!  

  Small wonder that we lose some of the flock to consoles.

'tis true!