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Damage · Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:51 pm

I'm seeing a weird artifact in SLI with a pair of GeForce 7600 GTs. It's like a flickering green fringing effect on certain pixels on the screen. Sometimes there are puple-colored pixels doing the same. Sometimes it's kind of subtle, but other times it really jumps out at you. The problem appears to be related to an image from the secondary card not making it over 100% intact to the primary card somehow. I tried to take a screenshot, but the artifacting doesn't show up in screenshots.

My basic test setup is like the one here:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/ra ... dex.x?pg=2

So far, I've tried to eliminate it by swapping things out, hardware-wise. I've tried:

-Two sets of 7600 GTs
-Two different driver revs (91.31 and 91.47)
-Two different copies of the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe mobo, each with its own Core 2 Extreme X6800, 700W PSU, and 2GB of RAM
-Three different SLI bridge connectors

The image artifacts remain with any of these configs. This problem doesn't affect G71-based 7900-series cards on the same setup.

The only way I've found to eliminate the fringing artfact is to shut down, remove the SLI bridge connector, and boot back up. Running without the connector, the image looks perfect. Of course, that hurts performance, which isn't acceptable for testing.

Have any of you guys seen this problem with SLI and G73-based graphics cards? Any ideas for a possible fix?

Shintai · Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:56 pm

Still 0204 BIOS?

Try 0305 beta BIOS:
ftp://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock ... e/0305.zip

Nitrodist · Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:58 pm

Do you have enough power running? Artifacts in your gameplay can result from this.

Damage · Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:27 pm

Nitrodist wrote:
Do you have enough power running? Artifacts in your gameplay can result from this.

Well, these 700W OCZ PSUs do just fine with dual Radeon X1950 CrossFire and Quad SLI. Ya think I need more than 700W for a pair of 7600 GTs?

MixedPower · Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:54 pm

Try testing each card individually to rule out the possibility of a faulty card. Also check to make sure you have the latest BIOS.

Green fringing, eh? Sounds like subliminal messaging to 'go green' to me...

Damage · Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:38 pm

Shintai wrote:
Still 0204 BIOS?

Try 0305 beta BIOS:
ftp://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock ... e/0305.zip

Thanks for the link. Didn't realize there was a new beta out. I tried it, and it didn't help. Doh.

MixedPower wrote:
Try testing each card individually to rule out the possibility of a faulty card.

Way ahead of you. I tested each card individually, swapped in an entirely different set of cards, and also verified proper operation in SLI mode when not using the SLI bridge connector.

Sounds like nobody so far has any experience with this exact problem. I think I've been through the basic troubleshooting steps pretty thoroughly. This only seems to happen with 7600 GTs. Anybody here running a pair of those in SLI?

tu2thepoo · Sun Sep 03, 2006 12:48 am

Do the cards behave the same on a non-C2D SLI system?

Fighterpilot · Sun Sep 03, 2006 4:22 am

Scott,the bottom card in SLI can often heat up a fair bit more than the other and cause some memory probs.Try lowering the RAM speed by 5-10Mhz and see if that fixes it.
Also you might want to check that your 12V rails are supplying enough power.

flip-mode · Sun Sep 03, 2006 8:12 am

Fighterpilot wrote:
Scott,the bottom card in SLI can often heat up a fair bit more than the other and cause some memory probs.

That's a good thought. Maybe point a 120mm fan straight at the cards just as a test to see if it's heat. Or as fighter said, lower the core/mem speeds.

Sun Sep 03, 2006 8:44 am

Have you tried a diffeent monitor cable?
What demo are you running when it happens, or is it on any demo?

You seem to have touched all the bases otherwise.

I find it really odd that the artifacting doesn't show up in screenshots.

Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:40 am

Well?

Did you find the problem?

Inquiring gerbils want to know.

Damage · Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:42 am

Hoser wrote:
Well?

Did you find the problem?

Inquiring gerbils want to know.

Not yet. Working with Nvidia on it to see if they can help. We'll see...

Jigar · Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:02 am

I sense a heating issue ... My ex 7600GT use to run hotter then my older 6800Ultra. ... Running 7600GT in SLI would make the things more toasty.

EDIT: Scott i dont know but my friend had a the problem running 7900GT in SLI mode.. he had changed the bridge and the things were solved ... Hope it helps.

Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:46 am

Jigar2speed5095 wrote:
EDIT: Scott i dont know but my friend had a the problem running 7900GT in SLI mode.. he had changed the bridge and the things were solved ... Hope it helps.

Damage, in his original post wrote:
So far, I've tried to eliminate it by swapping things out, hardware-wise. I've tried:

-Two sets of 7600 GTs
-Two different driver revs (91.31 and 91.47)
-Two different copies of the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe mobo, each with its own Core 2 Extreme X6800, 700W PSU, and 2GB of RAM
-Three different SLI bridge connectors

The image artifacts remain with any of these configs. This problem doesn't affect G71-based 7900-series cards on the same setup.

It seems he's already eliminated the bridge as the problem.

Jigar · Wed Sep 06, 2006 9:56 am

My bad i didnt read it carefully.... :oops:

Jigar · Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:45 am

Hi Scott did you find the solution ..

flip-mode · Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:12 am

Jigar2speed5095 wrote:
Hi Scott did you find the solution ..

Damn man... it's only been 24 hours since the last time you asked, at which point he was consulting with Nvidia on the issue. Give him a couple days.

Jigar · Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:43 am

flip-mode wrote:
Jigar2speed5095 wrote:
Hi Scott did you find the solution ..

Damn man... it's only been 24 hours since the last time you asked, at which point he was consulting with Nvidia on the issue. Give him a couple days.

Whats up with u flipy ... Did u had a fight with ur wife.. u seem to be in a very bad mood. :roll:

Anyways i was just curious to know the solution of this problem.. I didnt knew you would be bothered with that :cry:

flip-mode · Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:53 am

No, I'm not in a bad mood.

tsoulier · Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:24 am

Damage wrote:
Nitrodist wrote:
Do you have enough power running? Artifacts in your gameplay can result from this.

Well, these 700W OCZ PSUs do just fine with dual Radeon X1950 CrossFire and Quad SLI. Ya think I need more than 700W for a pair of 7600 GTs?

Yeah I know the 700 Watt OCZ is not the problem , those are sweet

Damage · Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:58 pm

Here are some screenshots (well, photographs) of the 7600 GT SLI image problem.

http://techreport.com/etc/2006q3/7600gt-sli1.jpg

3DMark06 graphics test 2. Note the green "fringe" around the green "firefly" (brighter than the glow of the light itself) and on the bark of the tree stump.

http://techreport.com/etc/2006q3/7600gt-sli2.jpg

Better example. The sky in Oblivion. Green fringe around the clouds.

leor · Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:18 pm

Damage wrote:
Better example. The sky in Oblivion. Green fringe around the clouds.

at least the fringing is in keeping with their branding . . .

Nutmeg · Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:49 pm

Why don't you swap them for a 512MB card?

Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:10 pm

Judging by the screenshot of Oblivion, I'd say it's definately the cards themselves. Maybe you got a couple of bad cards there. Seems to be something with edges not being processed properly. Does it do it right away, or only after you've played for a while?

tsoulier · Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:14 pm

I think he said he changed the cards out with same results

MixedPower · Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:20 pm

nVIDIA's got new beta forceware drivers, you could give those a shot. I'm not sure what changes they made to them yet though...

Damage · Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:28 pm

Just giving you guys an update. Not really looking for troubleshooting help at this point. Nvidia has reproduced the issue in-house and may have a sense of the cause. I'm definitely not alone here. Will let you know if they find a fix.

Bauxite · Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:57 pm

How much should we bet theres a driver fix for it in a few weeks? :wink:

Fighterpilot · Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:30 pm

Ouch you weren't kidding ...the rendering of those frames looks awful.
"Green tinge" is putting it mildly.

crazyjediman24 · Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:39 am

really glad I read this....I was just thinking of putting some 7600Gts in my build in SLI. I think I've decided against it. Not that I couldn't eventually get them to work, but I'm too lazy to work on them constantly. But I do like the look of the 7900GS

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