Problem with GTX 260 SLI

[cavemangrinder]

I'm trying to help a friend out in figuring out what is up with his computer problem when using 2 GTX 260 cards in sli. Here is a post he has on another forum:

Okay, I'm having a dilemma that I've never had before. I recently purchased a couple of XFX GTX 260's to replace my 8800GTX cards. While using only one of them, everything is just fine however, when I switch them into SLI, I can only run a game for 5-10 minutes and it freezes up and I have to reboot. I've never had an issue like this with my 8800's and I can't figure out why I'd be having this problem now. I've swapped the cards around, reseating them, and it didn't make any difference. As for temps, under full load #1 runs @ 60C and #2 runs at 65C. Could I have a bad SLI bridge, or...? This really makes no sense because they work just fine if I'm using just one of them, but a few minutes after going SLI, I have to reboot my pc because it locks up.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys.

I finally got a blue screen with a stop error code of "0x000000EA...THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER" which states This issue might occur if the graphics adapter is caught in an infinite loop while it waits for the video hardware to become idle. This issue typically indicates a problem with the video hardware or that the graphics adapter cannot program the hardware correctly.

That being said, does it mean one of my video cards are bad, or...?

The computer itself is a XPS 710 with a 1000watt psu.

 

[Teny]

so i am guessing that both cards work when being used as single cards?

does he have the latest drivers?

 

[cavemangrinder]

so i am guessing that both cards work when being used as single cards?

does he have the latest drivers?

Yeah. Both cards work perfectly fine when used as single cards. The problem only occurs when bridging them into sli. Yes, the latest nvidia drivers are installed as well.

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

that could only mean somethings up with the bridge or maybe not enough power but 1000w will do so im gonna guess its the SLI bridge

 

[Teny]

it could also be the second PCI-E slot.
did he try putting one of the cards on the second slot to see if he gets any errors?

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

ooooo didnt think of that. good one

 

[cavemangrinder]

it could also be the second PCI-E slot.
did he try putting one of the cards on the second slot to see if he gets any errors?

I'll tell him to give that a try, but if the previous 8800GTX cards in sli worked fine, idk if a PCI-E slot would be the culprit. I'll post back what the results are.

*EDIT*

Ok, so both cards work fine. Tested on both PCI-E slots with no errors. Any other ideas?

 

[Teny]

i guess try a different SLI bridge?
it might be the SLI connector on one of the cards thats broken

EDIT -
this is what Microsoft recommends
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078

 

[cavemangrinder]

i guess try a different SLI bridge?
it might be the SLI connector on one of the cards thats broken

EDIT -
this is what Microsoft recommends
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078

Yeah, I think replacing the sli bridge is the best thing to try out. I'll post back to see if that solves the problem. Thanks alot guys for you help. If you or anyone have any more suggestions, plz let me know.

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

bump so you can bump later