Motherboard diagnosis

V

Vortec

n00b
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Mar 5, 2013
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Hey everyone! Been out of the PC hobby for a bit, but started having some issues with my dated build.

I’m running an Asus Z97 Deluxe board with two GTX 780s. A few months ago, I noticed my second card wasn’t being used. So, I went through my settings and ensured it wasn’t something simple. Everything looked correct and drivers were up to date. Have also just been getting random crashes and general issues all around.

Things I’ve done:

- Updated drivers from scratch
- Removed cards, swapped cards, both GPUs work in slot one
- Wiped and installed windows multiple times
- Checked all hardware connections and swapped power supply wires as well as ram

What else could I do to possibly figure out what issue I’m having? I’m thinking that second PCI slot is done for.

Thanks everyone! I would research more on my own, but i need my computer running and am a full time worker and college student.
 
If you have sli enabled thru Nvidia control panel and it is recognized it is working. Typically the default setting is PhysX enabled on the second card. Assuming it is recognized and you are using an app or game that utilizes SLI it brings into question what app you are using to monitor them and what app/game and how it is configured. Sadly SLI has little support amongst many modern games which is no fault of the card. You should also check for hardware issues for example power connections sli bridge and thoroughly clean motherboard pcie connector and pcie contacts on the GPU. Even at that usage is typically a tad lower on the secondary card.
 
owcraftsman said:
If you have sli enabled thru Nvidia control panel and it is recognized it is working. Typically the default setting is PhysX enabled on the second card. Assuming it is recognized and you are using an app or game that utilizes SLI it brings into question what app you are using to monitor them and what app/game and how it is configured. Sadly SLI has little support amongst many modern games which is no fault of the card. You should also check for hardware issues for example power connections sli bridge and thoroughly clean motherboard pcie connector and pcie contacts on the GPU. Even at that usage is typically a tad lower on the secondary card.
Click to expand...

Everything settings wise is enabled correctly. Ive ran this setup for a few years now and I know which games use SLi. After doing the above mentioned trouble shooting, I still am unable to get any usage out of the second PCI slot. Again, both cards work independently if switched to the first slot. My main concern at this point, is to learn how to test pci express slots to ensure they are not the problem.

As in, is there a way to troubleshoot a PCI slot to see if it is working correctly other than putting a GPU in it and seeing what happens? If my PCI slot is done for, I will just look into replacing this motherboard and sticking with the current socket 1150 to keep the cost down.
 
Sounds like you know what you are doing and you may be right the mobo may be defective but the problem seems software or setup related considering the card is being seen in NVCP and that your PCIe slot is working assuming as you say everything is set right the you must have enabled SLI in NVCP so it's configurable. I want to say try a clean install but you say you have reloaded windows. So it makes me wonder how you installed the cards? Were they both in the system when loading windows. Was it a complete format and reload of a fresh copy of windows? A few things to be aware of, one if you add a dGPU in to a system that already has a dGPU running in it you still must run the driver install to take full advantage of the 2nd GPU and sometimes switching cards around has the same effect and has been known to corrupt IRQ table of your bios. Still it's very unlikely you GPU is bad if it's discover-able and configurable.
  1. Did you refresh windows 10? yes or no?
  2. Are you using motherboard bios ver. 2903 yes or no?
  3. Have you tried setting optimized default in bios and flashing the bios? this would clear the IRQ table and reset config
  4. Did you format and reload your OS drive when reinstalling windows? yes or no?
  5. Did you try a different SLI bridge known to work? yes or no?
  6. Did you clear cmos battery out at any point with your trouble shooting? yes or no? may have same effect as #3
  7. What software are you using to monitor sli performance?
  8. Have you tried a different PSU? yes or no?
  9. You are using PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 for SLI? yes or no?
  10. Can you screen shot your NVCP SLI page and share it?
  11. Does GPUz discover both cards and are they both running at x8?
That's it I'm out of tricks.... Except .... Final step find a used Z97 and try that almost any will do.
If that doesn't work it could be your CPU
 
owcraftsman said:
Sounds like you know what you are doing and you may be right the mobo may be defective but the problem seems software or setup related considering the card is being seen in NVCP and that your PCIe slot is working assuming as you say everything is set right the you must have enabled SLI in NVCP so it's configurable. I want to say try a clean install but you say you have reloaded windows. So it makes me wonder how you installed the cards? Were they both in the system when loading windows. Was it a complete format and reload of a fresh copy of windows? A few things to be aware of, one if you add a dGPU in to a system that already has a dGPU running in it you still must run the driver install to take full advantage of the 2nd GPU and sometimes switching cards around has the same effect and has been known to corrupt IRQ table of your bios. Still it's very unlikely you GPU is bad if it's discover-able and configurable.
  1. Did you refresh windows 10? Yes
  2. Are you using motherboard bios ver. 2903 yes or no? Will check ASAP
  3. Have you tried setting optimized default in bios and flashing the bios? this would clear the IRQ table and reset config Yes, I have done this
  4. Did you format and reload your OS drive when reinstalling windows? yes or no? Yes
  5. Did you try a different SLI bridge known to work? yes or no? Tried 3 different bridges
  6. Did you clear cmos battery out at any point with your trouble shooting? yes or no? may have same effect as #3 No
  7. What software are you using to monitor sli performance? MSI aterburner
  8. Have you tried a different PSU? yes or no? No, but have tried different power wires from different slots on PSU
  9. You are using PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 for SLI? yes or no? Yes
  10. Can you screen shot your NVCP SLI page and share it? Will do ASAP
  11. Does GPUz discover both cards and are they both running at x8? Will check
That's it I'm out of tricks.... Except .... Final step find a used Z97 and try that almost any will do.
If that doesn't work it could be your CPU
Click to expand...

Oddly, I just checked Nvidia control panel and noticed that it is no longer detecting the second card and the SLI menu is missing. I reset the PC and installed drivers with no change. I aam currently running through your steps above. Thank you!
 
If the board doesn't detect the card or is intermittent and both cards work fine in PCIEX16_1 your motherboard is the problem, as you suspected, of course there is an outside chance it's the CPU but, it's not very likely.

If that's the case sorry for your loss the last option is a good one though I've had great success switching OS to new motherboard of the same chipset heck for that matter I've done it with different chipsets but that's a bit more involved. One for one is easy. GL
 
have you tried running either card by itself in the second slot?
test and/or replace your cmos battery. its getting about that time....
 
owcraftsman said:
If the board doesn't detect the card or is intermittent and both cards work fine in PCIEX16_1 your motherboard is the problem, as you suspected, of course there is an outside chance it's the CPU but, it's not very likely.

If that's the case sorry for your loss the last option is a good one though I've had great success switching OS to new motherboard of the same chipset heck for that matter I've done it with different chipsets but that's a bit more involved. One for one is easy. GL
Click to expand...

Both cards work perfectly in the first slot with no issue. Neither card works alone in second slot. Guess I will just look for a used Z97 board to get me through till I can afford to dump $700 on a new cpu/mobo/ram combo. I very much appreciate all of the help.

In regards to the cmos battery, I have never really owned a setup for long enough to worry about a cmos battery till now. So, that's something I didn't even think of. Ill try that today and see how it goes. It's worth a shot!
 
The batteries can go bad but not typical I was more concerned about a complete clearing of the bios. The steps are as follows
  1. remove power to PSU
  2. remove mother board battery
  3. press and hold case power on or motherboard pwr on button for 5 to 10 seconds
  4. followed by pressing the cmos clear button or using jumper to clear bios on motherboard
  5. leave power cable to PSU off for up to 12 hrs and press cmos clear again or leave jumper in clear position the entire time power is disconnected.
  6. reattach power to PSU start system and enter bios don 't forget to put jumper back to normal position if you did it that way.
  7. set optimized default F10 save and exit
  8. Enter bios again and do your normal setups as needed

This should clear the IRQ table as suggested earlier
 
Last edited:
Before you buy a new board check your Processor too. Run IPDT or Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool. Make sure nothing is overclocked and you install all features. Certain runtimes will not install as you probably have newer ones already installed just continue and ignore the warnings. Run the tool it will take several minutes sometimes up to 15-20 minutes YMMV. If it detects and error it will shut down immediately unless you untick the box bottom right in the main screen. This is of no concern if you monitor temps throughout the test. You'll want to see the image below before you buy a new board.

a9qhpm.png
 
owcraftsman said:
Before you buy a new board check your Processor too. Run IPDT or Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool. Make sure nothing is overclocked and you install all features. Certain runtimes will not install as you probably have newer ones already installed just continue and ignore the warnings. Run the tool it will take several minutes sometimes up to 15-20 minutes YMMV. If it detects and error it will shut down immediately unless you untick the box bottom right in the main screen. This is of no concern if you monitor temps throughout the test. You'll want to see the image below before you buy a new board.

a9qhpm.png
Click to expand...

Ran this program a few times and it passed with no issues.

owcraftsman said:
The batteries can go bad but not typical I was more concerned about a complete clearing of the bios. The steps are as follows
  1. remove power to PSU
  2. remove mother board battery
  3. press and hold case power on or motherboard pwr on button for 5 to 10 seconds
  4. followed by pressing the cmos clear button or using jumper to clear bios on motherboard
  5. leave power cable to PSU off for up to 12 hrs and press cmos clear again or leave jumper in clear position the entire time power is disconnected.
  6. reattach power to PSU start system and enter bios don 't forget to put jumper back to normal position if you did it that way.
  7. set optimized default F10 save and exit
  8. Enter bios again and do your normal setups as needed

This should clear the IRQ table as suggested earlier
Click to expand...

I went through these steps and reset the cmos. No change in my issue. I'm gonna assume that the second PCI slot is done for.
 
owcraftsman said:
Sorry to put you through all that wish I could have helped GL
Click to expand...

No. don't be sorry! You did your best to help me out and save me some money. I very much appreciate everyone's ideas and assistance!

On a side note..... I need a z97 board if anyone has one :)
 
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