Need help with new system

omg you pc is very powerful

If you have all 3 video cards in....take 2 out...use 1 stick of RAM ...reset BIOS and try using your USB keyboard.

Read the manual, and make sure you have the right RAM slot populated.

If that works get your OS installed then add the rest back in.

Sorry But that's one of the broblrms of nForce Chipset mobos
If you can RMA that mobo and get P45 or X48 and mobo and DDR2 will be great
But the problom you'll loose SLI
That's quite a dream rig
Wish you the best luck
By the way, connect your keyboard when system is off
Start with one stick, there are still lot of compatibility issues with DDR3 and many mobos
Great possibility you need Bios update
And as said start with one graphic card installed

Thanks for the help, I got the BIOS menu up and running and I set my disc drive to be the primary drive to boot from. I also got a nice little EVGA logo to show when the system boots, so that I know my changes to the BIOS have actually been changed.

I did remove all of the ram except for 1 stick, but my video cards offered a slight problem which stupid me didnt think about when I was building. It is quite hard to remove 3-way sli on my 790i motherboard hah, and along with that I also made the mistake of running liquid cooling. When I first set my system up, I powered it on to test if it would boot, I did not have a keyboard plugged in, so I had no way of testing. I will not make that mistake in the future. Next, I started my liquid cooling, I ran a jumper on the atx cable so I could run coolant and test for leaks and "burp" my pumps. This was to make sure I had adequate cooling while installing the OS or testing. Now it is almost impossible to remove the cards from the motherboard, but I did remove the SLI bridge connector and played with the 6 and 8 pin power connectors on the cards.

Now the only problem I have is to get my system to actually boot from the disc, which I hope will not require me to empty my coolant. I was wondering if I got the system to boot to BIOS, could I also get the system to boot from the disc with the cards like they are? Or is that a whole different scenario?

Well, thank you guys again. You help is greatly appreciated.

Good news
But I did not get it
Now you have only one RAM stick installed ??
And if you are able to boot to BIOS set your Lite-On Drive as 1st boot
insert you OS disk and OS should install smoothly

I think you'll face a problem if you did not remove 2 of you graphic cards
Even if you disconnect power cables
Cause SLI driver still not installed
So may be things will be confusing for your OS and system
Hope for the best

Yes, I removed my other 3 sticks of RAM, and I did get my system to boot to BIOS, I set my BIOS to use my Lite-On Drive as the primary boot device, I popped in my OS dvd, but for some reason, it goes back to the screen it did after I close out of the BIOS.

Thank you so much for the help, I've been sitting on the floor for about 6 hours now and I'm starting to get awkward pains in my back, but I will not give up! Without you guys, I wouldn't be anywhere!

Any ideas on how to get 2 of the cards out of the PCI-e slot just enough that the mobo doesnt recognize them, while still keeping the liquid in them. I know its a lot to ask, but D=.

Another thing.... I noticed my monitor only gets a signal when I plug it into the bottom video card (furthest from the cpu block).

I was expecting such confusion
cause graphic cards driver still not installed
Did you try with power cables disconnected from other 2 cards??
You were able to install OS ??
If the only problem is your monitor getting signal from one graphic card
it's not a big deal
proceed and install OS then drivers

I will try disconnecting the power cables from the other 2 cards right now, I'm still trying to get my Lite-On drive to boot, so I can install the OS. Hopefully once this OS is installed, it will be easy sailing from there.

Thanks again mate!

I frequently get the message stating that:

Main Processor: intel core extreme
Mem test: 2096128k OK
cpu brand: intel
C1E BIOS supported
EM64T cpu

A single graphic card is detected in slot pcie x16_2 or pcie x16_3
Please move the graphics card to the pcie x16_1 slot for non-sli operation

This was the screen I was looking at when I first started this post. I should have posted it earlier, sorry about that.
But this is also the screen it goes back to after I get out of the BIOS, which only seems to boot "when it feels like it". hah

Thanks!

your booting is stopping at this message and will not continue ??
You're getting this message with power cables disconnected from cards 2 and 3 ??
if so, you can not just lift the cards in slot 2 and 3 for 10mm just out of PCI slots without affecting water cooling system ??

This is where the booting stops yes, 95% of the time, the other 5% it will boot to the BIOS menu if I hold del key.

I wish I could lift the cards out 10mm, but these gtx 280 hc cards are huge! It has about 1 cm space in between each card and doesnt offer very much room to work! Setting up the liquid cooling to the card was a nightmare in itself, since I have about 2-3 inches to work with until its the bottom of the case!

Thanks for all your help kad, I greatly appreciate it!!!
You have eased my hair pulling quite drastically!

I've encountered another problem, when I go to boot the system and hold the del key to enter the BIOS, I now get shot to a black screen that just hangs with a blinking _ ...

Do not mention mate
As long as you still have somr hair  
Did you disconnect power cables from two cards ??
If yes I'm afraid the only solution is just pull them out of slots
If I were near you I'd come and give you a hand  

Hah! Thanks. Another hand would be nice, these things are about 21 lbs when together! Its pretty hard to hold with one hand for 5 minutes while trying to bend my fingers in ways they shouldnt be going. And not to mention, this Cooljag LED fan that reads out "Have a Nice Day" isnt really helping either.

I will give it my best shot to pull out 2 of the cards, does it matter if I pull out the top 2 cards rather than the bottom 2, which will be twice as hard.

The top 2 cards are disconnected at the moment.
Thanks!

if you have a bios reset botton use it to reset bios
Your bios started to get confusing, not a big issue
The easiest way
power off system and disconnect power cable
remove the bios battery for one minute
reinstall it
and boot

That is another big problem, the BIOS battery is sitting under one of my massive video cards =(....Yes, the bottom one.

I hope I'm wrong
but 1st slot will be the nearest to processor
wish things will work with the card installed in far one

That is what I was afraid of. I read through my motherboard manual, which told me the one closest to the cpu block is the main pci-e. I guess I was just hoping they were lying to me.

sorry man
buy I laughed when I read this one  
if it is so hard to pull out this one
there is a jumper to reset bios
just change the jumper and put it on the other 2 pins for one minute
and retun it to its place
please don't tell me now that this jumper is under CPU cooler  

     
waiting your news

Obviousely you have another PC you are using
Download the latest driver for your card and get it ready
Driver that come with card usually sucks

I've spotted the jumped, which is conveniently place next once again under the bottom video card. EVGA really outdid themselves for placing everything under a massive video card. The good thing is I can reach it if I wiggle my fingers under it, but then my vision seems to also cut off with a big hand in my way and very little light! Hah

790I boards have issues with 45nm extreme quads also.

I have the latest driver for the video card on a disc, which I dl from the EVGA site. But, I dont have any OS on my system yet, and I still am staring at this trying to figure out how I'm going to get these cards out and the jumper!

That's true
And that's why I always advise people to stay away from nForce chipset mobos

With figers, it's very difficult
You need some tools, like that small plier with long and thin end
Hope you have it

Well, I guess I put a little too much faith in Logan from TigerDirect on his review for the EVGA 790i. But, I reset the BIOS, I started the system up, I'm in the BIOS right now, I'm going to set the boot priority now.

That's good
If you wrere able to pull that third card, cause in anyway you have to
can you reach the battery ??

Did you insert only 1st card in slot1 and connected both power and VGA cable to it ??

I can touch the back end of the battery, but that is about all. I just set the boot device, but when I go to save and exit, it sends me right back to my favourite screen, which tells me about the video card in the wrong slot.

So, now it comes time to attempt to pull out the bottom 2 cards enough that the mobo doesnt recognize it. I have some tools, but I dont think they make a tool to push that dreaded pci-e lock-in pin down to release the video card, unless I'm mistaken. In that case I'm going to buy a whole box of those!

As I said before
release 2nd and 3rd card from slots and disconnect power cables
I doubt there is still some contact between cards and pins inside slots
Connect power and VGA (monitor) cables to 1st card only

One more thing check also in BIOS if there is an option to enable or disable PCI slots
Enable 1st and disable 2nd and 3rd

I will check on that right now, I just created a tool to slide inbetween my video cards to push the lock down. First I'm going to check the bios.

If you were able to boot into bois
before another try to reset bios connect cables as I said and check the enable/disable issue in bios and give it a try

The bios gives me options

Init display first
reset config data

resources controlled by

pci/vga pallette snoop

masimum payload size

I do no see any place to disable certain pci slots in the BIOS =\.

You mentioned this option

Init display first
is it enabled ??

Did you connect the cables to 1st card as I said before ??
1st card is inserted in slot ??

Thanks for all the help kad! I'm getting tired and I don't want to make any rash decisions and screw this thing up. I'll get back working on it tomorrow, I will continue to post to update any and all who read this. I hope after I get this problem solved and get it up and running, it will be able to help all those who are having the same problems I am. Thanks again for all your help and support guys!

I did connect the cables to the 1st card, but I have no been able to get the other 2 cards out of the pci-e slot. The init display first asks if I want pci or pciex. When I reset the bios, it was set on pci, which I then set to pciex hoping that would do something, but so far, I've had no success. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to remove these oversized cards from the slots enough that the motherboard does not recognize them. This should hopefully allow me to boot to my Lite-On drive and finally install my OS.

Good luck
I'll visit this post tomorrow
see ya
 

Alright, well, I made some progress this morning. I've managed to get all the cards pulled out without taking the liquid cooling off. I just so happened to have a spare 8600gt sitting around, which I popped onto the motherboard.

My system seems to like to boot with it better =\ . Anyhow, now I've come across another problem. I'm attempting to install Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so I set my drive to boot it and it does what its told. My screen displays "Loading Windows Files", then moves on to the Vista load screen with that nice green bar. Here is the part where I once again admit defeat and need help. After the Vista bar loads, it takes me to a nice euphoric bluish-green background typical of windows with my cursor on screen. I thought this was just great, until it just decided to hang there!

I'm using a PS2 keyboard and mouse ( I read in some vista fourm that Vista doesn't like usb when trying to install, who knows ).

My 8600gt, which I'm going to replace with my gtx 280's when I get Vista loaded.

And a Western Digital 300 gig Velociraptor.

I've tried resetting the BIOS, which does nothing to cajole my Vista beautiful screen of death into letting me slide by a single time. I'm just stumped at the moment. Again... hah.

Well, Thanks again to everybody. Any information or help would be once again...GREATLY appreciated!

Alright, more progress forward, I'm installing windows right now, everything seems to be okay. I'm installing with my 8600gt until i can load into windows, then switch out to my gtx 280's and add my other 6gigs of ram back. Wish me luck guys!

Okay, problems again with my mobo. I booted into windows, everything was working perfectly, so I decided since I not have windows installed and ready, I would throw my 3 cards in. Well, now I get the bios screen when I turn it on, telling me that the cards need to be moved or whatever. And this wont allow me to boot. I'm going to try a few different things, hope they work.

My OS is installed, but when I power on the system, it tells me:

A single graphic card is detected in slot pcie x16_2 or pcie x16_3
Please move the graphics card to the pcie x16_1 slot for non-sli operation.

I want SLI operation... Can't I just boot to windows and install the drivers?
Why does it have to go to cmos?

I just got off the phone with EVGA tech support. They told me that its either a problem with one or more of the cards, so I need to go through each card individually to see which ones work. If its not the cards, its the motherboard. I wish I knew a card was bad before I started this watercooling.

All memory sticks are working and they recognized in bios and windows ??
If yes
Start with one graphic card GTX280 in slot 1 with other cards removed from their slots and SLI bridge removed
If things working, test the second one the same way and then the third
If you have adefective card you'll know it this way
If all working start SLI 2 only and see, cause it could be a driver issue
Then try with 3rd one bridged
Check the manual of your mobo if there is a certain setting in bios
GTX 280 is still new and lot of issues with 1 card are expected
With 3 of them SLI'd you need lot of patience
nVidia also is known of poor support to SLI
Do not be surprised if in a certain game only one card worked but not 2 or 3
Also it is reported that in some games one card will score and perform better than 2 or 3
waiting you news
 

Well, I'm back. After taking a break and doing some other things that needed to be done, I got back to doing my build.

I started by draining enough coolant to get all the cards out, then I moved on to testing each card one-by-one.

First 2 cards I check were perfectly fine, I had no problems at all. Then I get to the 3rd card.... Well, I did get a signal from my monitor and I tried multiple things. I've come to the conclusion that one of the cards is bad. I'm going to be sending it back to EVGA and hopefully get a new one.

Next, I decided to test 2-way SLi, so I plugged in 2 cards, put that SLi bridge on and powered on the system. It booted to windows!

Everything seems to be fine, I'm done for tonight as I still need to put all the coolant I drained back into the system loop. After all the liquid cooling is running smooth, I'm going to get working on installing all the drivers.

Maybe even get a few hours in game, which will be really nice.

Thank you all again for your help and support, maybe I even helped a few people out with this post. Thank you all again and see you guys later.

I might post a few pictures later, so keep tuned in for updates!