the sli that failed

[flatlander]

I have added a second 7900GT to my system, and am able to switch in the nvidia control panel to SLI, which runs fine and stable, not even too hot. But, when I ever reboot, I get a blue screen with "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". I have to go to safe mode and unload the nvidia drivers (93.71 forceware for win XP) and restart, to get out. If I change out of SLI before I reboot, everything is fine.

I have upgraded the drivers, checked the connections, etc.

Any suggestions?

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, 7900GT (one sparkle other evga), Antec Trio 550, 2 GB RAM, 2 HD, 2 DVD/RW. Win XP.

 

[badvock]

I have seen this problem a few times, I would suggest a flatten and reload XP.
Pain in the arse i know, but shoul give you an indication of whether or not it's a software issue or a hardware fault.

 

[echoplex]

I have that same board in my case right now. I'm exchanging it for an EVGA 680i SLI board. I've had enough of that board to last me a lifetime. I've reloaded windows twice on that board to try and fix the SLI issue I was having with 2 7900GTs. The NForce 4 is the culprit I would think. I get weird performance in SLI and I've tried everything. Good luck man. I'm sorry to report this negativeness to you lol. Maybe you'll have better luck then me.

 

[slim142]

As far as I know you need two identical video cards to run SLI. That can be a problem especially with ASUS boards.

 

[swifty_morgan]

You have an incompatability problem with a piece of hardware, or you have bad drivers somewhere. First thing I would do is go into the control panel and remove all the nvidia drivers for your video cards. Then go upto the device manager an delete your video cards. REBOOT. When the machine restarts, it will tell you it found new hardware. ( your video cards )....Don't let windows try and install any drivers or anything. It will then tell you that something happened and new hardware might not work properly. That's okay.

Now, goto nvidias' website and get the 91.34 or earlier drivers. Download and install. REBOOT. See if that helps.

Otherwise, you'll have to start unplugging hardware til you find out whats causing problems.

While you up in the device manager, check and see if anything else needs to be updated. One thing can mess up your machine.

m See if ant of that works first.

 

[flatlander]

Thanks for all advice.

I have tried older drivers but no luck. Both cards work on their own. The bridge I can't tell, but again, SLI works on the system: it just crashes when it reboots, not after the BIOS runs, but right after the windows screen starts to load. I called ASUS, and they say it could be that the P.S. is too weak, but this doesn't seem to be reasonable by my calculations and the nVidia suggestions.

I guess I'll try and reinstall windows, but it's such a pain .

 

[papi4baby]

Asus, that's all that should be said.

 

[slim142]

PSU doesnt look like its the problem because you can run SLI without rebooting.

I would say reinstall XP and try.

 

[advcomp2019]

Since the video cards are not made by the same company, that could be the problem.

 

[slim142]

As far as I know you need two identical video cards to run SLI. That can be a problem especially with ASUS boards.

 

[slim142]

Yeah I agree 100% too. I recommend him to RMA the sparkle one since I think eVGA is a better brand.

 

[flatlander]

Thanks to all, gave up after the windows reinstall didn't help (which itself is not much fun when you have to fit the nvidia RAID drivers in somehow, believe me). Card returned, and may ASUS and nVidia get what they deserve.

 

[sirheck]

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c3

try this.