6800 GT PCI-E Card Bus speed x1 Problem!

[aboynamedmatt1]

Hey guys I just recently tried to utilize SLI with my computer using two 6800GT cards unsuccessfully (still not sure what's wrong). In the process I found that one of my motherboards PCI E x16 slots is not working so I scratched the idea of using SLI and switched back to using one card (got the other card free so no biggie). When I did this, however, I put the card in the second PCI E slot instead of the first(the first one is broken) and now the bus speed for the 6800GT is x1 instead of x16 like it should be. I'm really not sure how to fix this problem.

Here are my system specs
A8N SLI Deluxe Mobo
2GB RAM DDR400
550W PSU
AMD 3800+ Venice Core
Evga 6800 GT

Nothing is overclocked and I didn't change any BIOS settings. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Was the slot working before you installed the second card?

 

[aboynamedmatt1]

The first slot was working beforehand, not sure if anything was wrong with the second one though. I'm not sure what happened with slot 1 during the SLI process, but it is now not working (I get a post beep error that signifies no card is in the slot). I should be able to get x16 bus speed instead of 1x speed on the second PCIE slot though right?

 

[Atomic Rooster]

I think it should run faster than x1. Have you tried both cards in the first slot?

 

[aboynamedmatt1]

Yeah. I tried both cards in both slots. **Sometimes** the cards will work in the first slot but then the entire system freezes. Also, I have tried both cards in slot 2 and both run at x1 bus speed. Theres another thing too, when I configure the system to run SLI and use 2 cards, nothing happens, but when I configure it and use one card is PCIE slot 2 I get x4 bus speed. I really have no idea what is going on, but either both cards work and the PCIE slots are messed up, or both cards have the same problem. But I doubt both cards suffer from the same problem, really don't know though. This is a stumper.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

That is an odd problem alright. You have the 6 pin power plugged into the cards if they have it? Are there any settings in the BIOS that need to be changed?

I have the same board but haven't tried SLI yet.

 

[aboynamedmatt1]

Yeah they have the power pins connected. I tried to search the BIOS and couldn't really find much of anything that would adjust it. All I could find was the voltage settings, I think. I'm about to call up ASUS maybe they will cover it since the mobos have a 3 year warranty.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Hmm. . .

How about installing just the one card in the PCIe 1 slot, and then clearing the CMOS.

I dunno. I'm just throwing out ideas. What power supply do you have?

 

[aboynamedmatt1]

I appreciate it man, I'm definitly out of ideas. Not sure how to clear the CMOS, never done it before. I'll check into it and try that out to see if it works. PSU is a 550W Antec.

 

[freestyler105]

Look in the motherboard manual to clear the CMOS. You probably have to unplug the computer, take out the motherboard battery, and move a jumper.