GTX 295 + G210 - System ULTRA slow

[puntoste]

Hello everyone, I'm new here.

I'm having real trouble setting up a triple monitor configuration.

Here's my PC configuration :

Motherboard: Asus p6t (NOT deluxe)
CPU : Intel i7 920 @ 2.66ghz
RAM : 12gb Kingston 1600mhz
GPU1 : Nvidia gtx295 1,8gb ram (made by Asus)
GPU2 : Nvidia 210 Silent (by Asus, too)
Coolermaster silent pro m 850W PSU

I just bought the second card to connect a third monitor to my setup. Obviously, I'm NOT trying SLI.
Everything is fine if i plug in just one video card. When i plug them both, after POST the system becomes REAAAALLY slow, about half an hour to boot up win 7 Pro. And then, just one card is recognized, the system keeps on running slow (like running win vista on a Pentium II ) and there's no sign of my 3d monitor.

I've tried everything, i've switched slots and tried every configuration possible (even with the 3d slot, which is PCI_E 4x instead of 16x).

When I unplug one Video card, system is coming back to normal.
I can't understand if it's a driver related problem (btw, drivers are up to date, i've downloaded the last nvidia version this morning) or a Mainboard problem, 'cause problem start immediatly after POST, when no video driver should be loaded (yet).

Anyone can help me please? Did I purchase the wrong card for the job (210 was the cheaper I could find around here)
Thank you very much

Stefano (from Italy, so...just ignore my bad english )

 

[puntoste]

Oh, btw...i've googled everywhere, and tried every possible solution available.
It seems an outdated problem, since last video card are all capable of multi output.
My gtx295 is the 2output version (2 DVI, NO HDMI). Someone is running 3 monitor over 1 gtx295 but sadly I really can't.

 

[nforce4max]

You may need to dump the gt210 for obvious reasons. Do you have any other cards on hand?

 

[puntoste]

nope,no other cards at hand (except a very old geforce FX5600 )....
let's forget for a second the physx thing and the performances...
why should a generic videocard mess my system up so much?
the g210 is garbage and we all agree about that. But it's simply a SLOW video card that should eventually work in a normal way.
My system isn't practically booting since POST if I plug 2 video cards.
and if i plug the g210 ALONE,system is NORMALLY BOOTING.

My only need is multimonitor for 2d softwares (no gaming), i don't want to spend a lot if not necessary.

 

[bystander]

According to Nvidia's website, a single 295 can support 3 monitors in 2D surround. Assuming the card has 2 DVI connectors.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-surround-system-requirements.html

 

[puntoste]

UPDATE.

I've found out that my problem is RAM related.

I have 12 gb (6x 2gb), i've tried to remove 3 slots (6gb on 1 triple channel) and it perfectly works, even the triple monitor.

Here is what i think.
The G210 is a bus-powered card, so it sucks energy directly from the motherboard, which should provide power to 6 slots of ram too.

Maybe the total current available from the 12v plug of my PSU isn't enough? there should be 66A available on the 12v line.

Any ideas?
It's late here in Italy, so I'll try something different tomorrow morning.

 

[puntoste]

According to Nvidia's website, a single 295 can support 3 monitors in 2D surround. Assuming the card has 2 DVI connectors.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-surround-system-requirements.html

That's not a problem, since everything it's perfectly working if i unplug 6gb of ram.

My videocard has only two dvi connectors (they gave me the adapter for HDMI, but there's no 3rd plug in the card), so there's no way for me to plug my 3rd monitor on my single card. That's why i bought a second crappy card

The problem is Ram related -> Motherboard related -> Power consumption related.

Maybe this is not the right section anymore feel free to move if needed but please don't close

 

[bystander]

Assuming it's because the 210 is taking power away from the ram, wouldn't it make since to just remove the 210, get an HDMI to DVI converter, and just use the 295.

That said, I'm confused as to why you have a 295 if you don't game on that machine.

 

[puntoste]

I have that card since I used to play more often in the past. Now my needs are programming, web developing, video making, 3d modeling and rendering and gaming. That's why I prefere 3 or 4 monitor instead of a decent physx card.

I repeat. My 295 HAS NO HDMI PORT. Only 2 output ports.

 

[nforce4max]

What version is your 295? Is is the original dual pcb model or the single pcb co op model?

Original

Single pcb model

 

[puntoste]

It's like the second one, one PCB i think.

Anyway, my problem is solved. I've tried the last motherboard bios update and everything went fine, it was my last chance (it's strange, since, as ASUS declares, it should only add compatibility to some kind of new CPUs).

Thank you anyway

 

[puntoste]

oh, by the way...everything is working fine, even the 210 and the 3rd monitor as well