Motherboard Resource Issue?

[dbam987]

Hi all,

I have a problem with getting SLI enabled on by system. Firstly, Vista (64-bit, Ultimate) says that it can't load up the second graphics card due to insufficient system resources (problem code 12). Without the second graphics card enabled, I can't get SLI going. I've tried fiddling with the BIOS to see if I could free up some IRQ, memory ranges, and other things but the problem still exists. Here's my system specs:

AMD Athlon 3800+ X2
DFI Infinity NF4 SLI Mobo
4 GB memory (2 x 1 GB Kingston, 2 x 1 GB Crucial)
XFX 7600 GT 256 MB (x2, SLI bridge attached to both)
Corsair 620W PSU

Any ideas on what could be wrong with this setup?

Thanks

[J.R. Nelson]

Honestly, I'm not sure what could be causing the problem. Do you have anything overclocked? Does your BIOS have an option for 'optimized defaults'?

[dbam987]

Hi J.R., thanks for the suggestion.

While I had my machine overclocked before. I undid the overclock a while back though, as I didn't want to risk damaging my components from long exposure.

I did set everything to optimized defaults, and tried again but it still showed one of the graphics cards as not having enough system resources. I did some scouting on the Internet and one person tried installing the graphics cards one at a time which worked for him. That will be my next check to do. It did work fine in XP though which is odd.

Side question: Is it possible to run dual ATI cards in SLI mode? I don't think it will since SLI cards have a bridge card to connect them together... and the fact that ATI has their own dual graphics card technology, Crossfire. But I thought I'd ask anyway.

[J.R. Nelson]

You know, I did some more looking around and it looks like you aren't the only one with this problem. It may be a bizarre artifact of the combination between your cards, your motherboard, and Vista 64. I can only recommend that you update your BIOS and video card drivers, and see if that works. If it doesn't, you may be stuck to one card in Vista and SLI in XP. If it comes to that, you could set up a dual-boot system if necessary.

As far as ATI goes, you are correct in that they have their own technology for stacking video cards known as Crossfire. SLI and Crossfire are mutually exclusive technologies, unfortunately, and you're not going to be able to shove two ATI cards in there and get them to run.

[dbam987]

Thanks for looking more into this J.R.

I've decided to just stick with one graphics card for now. The second card that I got was literally dirt cheap from Ebay so it's not a big loss for me at all to stick with one card only for now.

I am contemplating though on getting an ATI card with either the 3870 or 4870 GPU. I could choose to get the Radeon 3870 now, and when I need to change out the motherboard, double up the 3870. But, I've read in many places that it's just better to have one awesome card versus two mid-range cards for graphics power. Whats your take on this? I'm leaning towards the 4870...

Thanks again!

Edit: Another question I have is, even though my motherboard is based on an NVidia chipset (NF4 SLI), would it be ok to run it with an ATI graphics card?

Edit #2: Are PCI-Express 2.0 graphics cards backwards compatible on PCI-Express 1.0 motherboards?

Edit #3: Nevermind the question on Edit #2... a Google search found dozens of places stating that PCI-Express 1.0 does support 2.0 devices.

[J.R. Nelson]

Yes, you can put one ATI graphics card in, but if you want to get a second one to run in Crossfire mode, you'll have to get a new motherboard.

Also, if you're trying to decide between a possible 3870 and 4870, don't forget about the 4850. It's essentially the same card as the 4870, only with GDDR3 memory instead of GDDR5. You can get some pretty good deals on them right now, on places like Newegg.

[dbam987]

Thanks J.R., I am actually looking at the Sapphire 4850 Toxic graphics card. I just haven't pulled the trigger in getting it yet. It goes for $200, which is a tad high on my budget, especially since I just pumped $200 in getting a new power supply and memory sticks.

Thanks again for all the help.

[J.R. Nelson]

It's no problem! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=4850&x=0&y=0 If you look on NewEgg I see an MSI going for around $155 after rebate.

[dbam987]

I looked into the MSI cards that NewEgg had but decided to go with the Sapphire Toxic card instead. The Sapphire card comes with the Crossfire bridge already which would be useful down the road when I decide to get a new Crossfire-enabled motherboard. Plus it has a few other goodies, like a wicked nice cooler on it (Zalman).

[J.R. Nelson]

Fair enough