...and again

[Magsol]

I must have insulted the mother of this desktop of mine in a previous life or something.

Ok, so, ever since switching the positions of my video cards and solving the problem of flickering lights when SLI was enabled, crashes have been happening with much greater frequency. Yes, the lock-ups of old are back, in addition to a couple actual bluescreens, and even a few "BIOS Checksum Error"s (where it then started looking for a boot disk in drive A...which my desktop doesn't even have).

I did disable SLI a couple days ago, but it's still crashing with rather alarming frequency (every few hours instead of every few days). I noticed the video cards would run pretty warm (~75 C) when I was gaming, and they never got any cooler than 60 C.

At this point, the video cards are the only major components that I haven't switched out (replaced the mobo, replaced the CPU, replaced the RAM, replaced the PSU, disconnected all IDE drives), so is it that these things are killing my machine?

[Kaleb]

Ah screw it, contact your local church, exorcise it, problem solved.

[Magsol]

Originally Posted by Kaleb

exorcise it

As in, uninstall Windows?

[Kaleb]

Originally Posted by Magsol

As in, uninstall Windows?

Not enough, bring loads of holy waters, crosses, rosaries, faith alone won't help you this time.

[Jelle]

I'd say try a different graphics card for testing purposes, then see if it works. If not, default back to mobo or RAM (BIOS checksums = motherboard or RAM in most cases, AFAIK).

[Magsol]

Originally Posted by Jelle

I'd say try a different graphics card for testing purposes, then see if it works. If not, default back to mobo or RAM (BIOS checksums = motherboard or RAM in most cases, AFAIK).

Problem is, all my spare graphics cards are in Atlanta. Should I wait until late-November when I travel back there again to test this, or should I take your suggestion from last year and get a tripped-out video card?

P.S. God I hope it's not the motherboard or the RAM...already sunk enough money into making sure the problem wasn't either of them.

[Jelle]

Tripped-out meaning one good instead of two low-mid end? Yes.

[Magsol]

Originally Posted by Jelle

Tripped-out meaning one good instead of two low-mid end? Yes.

Yeah, exactly. What would you recommend?

By the way, I have since removed the "secondary" graphics card, and now it seems to be running just fine. I'm letting it run for as long as I possibly can, but it's been 3-4 days so far with no glitches or crashes.

[danimal]

Originally Posted by Magsol

I must have insulted the mother of this desktop of mine in a previous life or something.

Mags, please don't come back as a motherboard. It would ruin my descendants.

[Jelle]

What price range are you looking at, Mags?

I'd recommend you get at least an HD 4850 (great bang for the buck card at that) if you want to keep your performance levels up, maybe even go so far as to get an HD 4890. The nVidia cards are still good cards, but price-to-performance ratio they're falling behind.

[Magsol]

Honestly, at this point, I'm willing to spend whatever it takes. Though I'd prefer not to go over $250 or so, if at all possible. But that's not a hard limit if you can convince me to go over it.

[Tahiri]

I've read reviews that price per performance, 1 awesome card is better than SLI. I don't know if that's true at every single price point, but it seems like you ought to invest in 1 card, especially after this poor SLI experience.

I'm big on nVidia personally, but I've never spent more than $150 on any graphics setup on any one computer.

[Magsol]

Originally Posted by Tahiri

I've read reviews that price per performance, 1 awesome card is better than SLI. I don't know if that's true at every single price point, but it seems like you ought to invest in 1 card, especially after this poor SLI experience.

I'm big on nVidia personally, but I've never spent more than $150 on any graphics setup on any one computer.

Yeah, my preference has always been to nVidia, and I've been drooling over the OC'd 275s, but if a case can be made for a better ATI card, or even better bang-for-buck card in general, I'm game.

[Kaleb]

considering I'm moving in about 10 days, and building a new pc over there, Mag's SLI headaches are probably going to make me pass on the whole SLI thing lol

[Jelle]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102848

HD 4890 with custom cooling (which Sapphire is good at) for 200 dollars at NewEgg.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...1050,1342.html

Its place in the line-up of a good selection of games' FPS and benchmark scores using the cards in question, good averaged-out baseline to base your purchase on.

[Iain]

A HD 4890 huh?

I can recommend that. (granted I've only played TF2, L4D and The Sims 3 on it)

[Magsol]

Damn that GTX 295 looks sexay...

When I'm trolling Newegg for new hardware, I tend to look at what has received the best ratings from the users who have purchased it. Then I look at if it's won any awards. Only after that do I inspect price.

As such, I'm a little concerned by some of the feedback I've read about the HD 4890 on Newegg. But Jelle, if you stand by it, I'll give it a shot.

[Jelle]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127439

It seems like a production issue that's just affecting Sapphire's (or part of their) line of 4890s, this one seems fine (and also with beefy cooling).

[Magsol]

Uhhhhh...only 1 DVI output? That seems odd for a latest-gen graphics card...and tough considering I have dual monitors.

[Jelle]

I'm almost certain that there'll be a VGA -> DVI converter in there along with it, but MSI's website should shed some light on the matter.

:Edit: It's not stated anywhere, so might wanna be safe and grab a converter along with the card. Shouldn't be too expensive.

[Magsol]

*waves* Hey guys, me again. Just wanted to say that I have a hunch what the true issue is (and, possibly, has always been). I haven't purchased the new video card, but I probably will after discovering this little tidbit.

Ever since I removed one of my two 8600 GTs and have been running on only one, the lockups and freezes have decreased dramatically in frequency, but they still happen on occasion. Once, in fact, the display started going all fuzzy after being on for a week. Almost like snow on the TV.

Here's a picture of the inside of the rig (yes, ignore the poor cable management, I've been busy) :



Down in the lower left corner is the backside of the graphics card. If I put my hand between it and the very bottom of the case, the airflow there is practically nonexistent; it's the only part of the case that is noticeably warm to the touch. Furthermore, the backside of the graphics card is VERY warm. Everywhere else in the case is well-ventilated and well-cooled, except for this single corner, and I'm not really sure how to fix that.

Hence why I haven't purchased the new graphics card yet; not much point if there's a dead airflow spot in my case right where the graphics card is.

[Jelle]

Higher-end GPUs are shrouded and have their own internal airflow which dumps all hot air right outside the back of your case. Whereas additional airflow helps, it's by no means necessary.

Although having four side-mounted 120mm fans like I do helps.

[Magsol]

Originally Posted by Jelle

Higher-end GPUs are shrouded and have their own internal airflow which dumps all hot air right outside the back of your case. Whereas additional airflow helps, it's by no means necessary.

Judging from the pictures of that (badass) ATI card you recommended to me, though, its fan would blow hot air into the bottom of my case, where it would just then sit and collect like it is now with nowhere else to go. Unless it just cycles up and gets sucked out by my 120mm exhaust fan which is so conveniently placed right above the card slot (but there will still be a significant perpetual pocket of hot hair right in front of the video card's heatsink).

Originally Posted by Jelle

Although having four side-mounted 120mm fans like I do helps.

That's what bothers me about this thing; I have a 120mm exhaust fan right above the video card slot, an 80mm exhaust fan above that, an 80mm intake fan on the top of the case, a 120mm intake fan on the front of the case, and a 250mm (no typo) intake fan on the side of the case (looking straight down onto the motherboard), not to mention the gargantuan CPU heatsink + fan, the motherboard heatsink + fan, and the PSU's independent fan. Cooling really shouldn't be a problem with this beast.