SLI screen flicker or Artifacts

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce' started by DiceAir, Aug 20, 2013.

  1. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Hi there

    First let me post my system specs

    i5-2500k
    2x MSI geforce GTX570 Twin Frozr III power edition
    Sound Blaster z Sound card
    MSI z77a-G45 thunderbolt motherboard
    Corsair AX850w PSU
    Cooler master Sniper case with the front HDD cage removed for better airflow
    Qnix QX2710 @ 60HZ/59Hz Whatever stock is.


    So I have my cards on stock clocks when connected to dual link DVI port on the monitor. When i run both in SLI I get eiter Screen flicker or artifacts in my games only.

    What i have tried
    1. Changed SLi bridge (The flexible kind)
    2. Changed to another SLi connector on the card
    3. Swapped cards arround
    4. I took out one card and then it works fine no flicker etc etc. (Tested both that way)
    5. Tried a different DVI dual link cable
    6. Tried different drivers from 320.xx up to latest beta drivers.
    7. Tried other DVI connections on cards
    8. Connecting to old 1080p monitor only with same cable and let the GPU do the scaling and everything is fine.

    So as you can see I almost tried everything there is to test. Can anyone suggest me what I should do. Funny thing is when tested on my old 1080p monitor as I can remember everything was fine until I switched to my new monitor. Bare in mind there is no scaler so GPU is doing the scaling. I also ran the following and was fine untill I go into a game especially Planetside 2(flickering and green dots) and far cry 3 (artifact with either green dots or horizontal lines at exact same area), BF3 also crashes some times. Was playing BF3 one night and my screen went off then on again.

    http://www.testufo.com/#test=framerates
     
  2. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    so no one can help?
     
  3. HellSpawn2097

    HellSpawn2097 Master Guru

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    My guess, dying card or faulty monitor.
     
  4. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    To my understanding is when it's the monitor busy dying it will do that even with only 1 card in my pc but it's not. Like I said I also tested both cards individually and it works fine but not in SLI.
     

  5. HellSpawn2097

    HellSpawn2097 Master Guru

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    GPU:
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    Bios needs updating?
    PSU?
    Faulting Pci-e slot?
     
  6. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    I hope it's not the psu as that thing cost an "arm and a leg". I'm going to test the slot tonight but if I remember it i did test it and the pc was just going in an endless loop. i was thinking maybe I must have a card in first and second long pci-e slot.

    If all that doesn't work then going to update to latest bios. I'm running 1.4 I think
     
  7. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Well, doesn't that PSU have über long warranty? But anyway, it doesn't seem likely unless it really is faulty. Have you tried different drivers, pre 320? I would definitely try updating bios. Can you capture those artifacts in screenshots?
     
  8. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Yes I tried it and it doesn't work. But will try again. The only think I find weird is that it works in single card but not SLI except when I use my 1080p monitor.
     
  9. yasamoka

    yasamoka Ancient Guru

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    I'm guessing the SLi bridge is not handling the higher bandwidth. Have you tried a different SLi bridge?
     
  10. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    hahahah. Read my first post.

    Hint: I have tried 2 others and same issues. Also tried another sli slot and dvi port on the cards. In single card i can even run the screen on 96Hz and it's still fine. Will it help if i connect 2 sli bridges at the same time
     

  11. yasamoka

    yasamoka Ancient Guru

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    Hmm sorry I didn't read the OP well enough. No need for the laughing.

    It might help as I've heard several users had improvements using 2 CF bridges. Might be the same effect for SLi.
     
  12. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Ok I will also try that. Maybe my GTX570 is to old for 2560x140. I remember about picle clock limit or so when you have sli. Maybe with the 500 series it's like a hit and miss or so
     
  13. yasamoka

    yasamoka Ancient Guru

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    Spartan F8 over on the Korean PLS monitor club got his monitor as high as 153Hz and runs 120Hz while reducing pixel clock as much as possible. He has 570 SLi as well. He commented that he only got 8% higher monitor OC when he used a single card. So I don't think it's about being too old for 1440p.
     
  14. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    So what can it be? So far I have the following to test

    - I can try 2x SLi bridges but according to this it won't do anything

    http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/introduction-to-sli-technology-guide#5

    - I can also try running single card in second slot to check if it's the PCI-E slot.

    -Try Pre 320 nvidia drivers.

    I think that's about the only things left to try.
     
  15. yasamoka

    yasamoka Ancient Guru

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    Might be the second slot. Try that first.
     

  16. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Will Test when I get home from work and let you guys know
     
  17. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    I tested it now with the card in the other slot and it works fine. No flickering in any game whatsoever
     
  18. VolkNasty

    VolkNasty Guest

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    Bridges

    I've got MSI MB & 580 lightning SLI config. I was seeing a lot of the same problems you are. My older Mobo (p55-gd65)had a faulty PCIe slot which made the problem worse. I had a Corsair 850, but said screw it and just ordered a 1050. I over clock so having power overhead isn't a bad thing. Anyways... After changing to a new motherboard (x79-GD65-8D) I still saw the same issues, it wasn't until I changed out that SLI bridge that everything finally ran properly. MSI is notorious for bad SLI bridges, you may be swapping a bad bridge for a bad bridge. So ordering a better brand might do you well. I also assume that you are doing fresh installs of your drivers, if not, definitely do that.
    Also, did you convert from ATI to Nvidia? Are you still on the same OS that the ATI cards were installed on? If so you may need to deep dive in and delete ATI drivers that are still lingering around.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2013
  19. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    I did a fresh install of drivers. Also Had this windows with this system. Maybe I am swapping it out with bad sli bridge but the other bridges worked before and was never used since last I tried it in my system.
     
  20. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Just want to let you guys know I fixed it. I wiggled the sli bridge while pressing down and it works 100% now. Running 96Hz 2560x1440 and not a single flicker etc etc
     

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