Geforce 9800GT Problem

[maddermanblue]

Hi all,
I have a problem running for months. When I play any games the graphics are ok then during 5-20mins gameplay the graphics will turn funny colours will look funny, text will turn to blocks etc, occasionaly I will get a BSOD n4 dist error - any ideas whats causing it?
I have 2x Geforce 9800GT GPUs in SLI. This is a self built system.

I tried eliminating the cause but no luck, these are the things I did...
Updated to the latest Nvidia graphic drivers (v.195.62)

Individually tested the GPUs on its own - both came up with graphical errors so not the GPUs.

Installed EVGA Precision tuner and put GPU fan speed (both of them) to 85%, both temp averaging 36C when heavily used in SLI. - so not the temperature.

Individually tested 4 sticks of 512MB Corsair XMS Platinum DDR400 Ram - same problem occured, not the RAM.

I have tested on 2 monitors - same problem - not the monitor

I am at a loss - Please help.
My specs:
Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800 CPU
4x 512MB Corsair XMS Platinum DDR400 Ram (2048MB in total)
2x NVIDIA Geforce 9800GT GPUS in SLI
OCZ PSU 520W.
Windows XP Home (32bit)
I evn clean installed Windows XP and put everything back in - did not work (I screamed at my PC!!)

I also supply my Dxdiag log:

 

[rolli59]

Your PSU is a bit low powered for a SLI setup. What are the exact specs on it.

 

[jay2tall]

For 2 9800gt's taht PSU should be fine. It could be your CPU, you can download OCCT and stress your CPU and see if any issues occur.

You stated that if you test each card by itself in game, the same issue occurs on both cards. You are right, I wouldn't think you would have the same issue with both, but you never know. If a CPU stress test doesnt come up with anything, you can always try and repaste your coolers on the cards. Sometimes if the heat is not dissipated evenly it has funny issues. The temps wouldn't go up but certain parts of the GPU will be hotter. Just an off the wall thought. You can also try reinstalling the OS on a spare drive and see what happens.

 

[maddermanblue]

Your PSU is a bit low powered for a SLI setup. What are the exact specs on it.

Its an OCZ Modstream 520W 28A on the +3.3V line and 52A on the +5V

I individually tested both cards (cards taken out of PC) and my previous GPU (7800 GTX) had a higher wattage use and it worked fine.

 

[maddermanblue]

For 2 9800gt's taht PSU should be fine. It could be your CPU, you can download OCCT and stress your CPU and see if any issues occur.

You stated that if you test each card by itself in game, the same issue occurs on both cards. You are right, I wouldn't think you would have the same issue with both, but you never know. If a CPU stress test doesnt come up with anything, you can always try and repaste your coolers on the cards. Sometimes if the heat is not dissipated evenly it has funny issues. The temps wouldn't go up but certain parts of the GPU will be hotter. Just an off the wall thought. You can also try reinstalling the OS on a spare drive and see what happens.

Thanks, I will try the stress test and reinstall windows on another drive. I'd need some more paste for cards....

 

[rolli59]

Its an OCZ Modstream 520W 28A on the +3.3V line and 52A on the +5V

I individually tested both cards (cards taken out of PC) and my previous GPU (7800 GTX) had a higher wattage use and it worked fine.

You left out the important bit it is only 28amps on the + 12volt rail.