computersssssssss

Boot up windows, and it tells me it has encountered an error installing the drivers (standard VGA adapter). I go to the device manager, and the top card has a little exclamation mark on it. It tells me it's a code 10 error (This device could not start ).

I try running the installation for the latest nVidia drivers (178.13), and then reboot the system. I go into the device manager, and the top card reads as a GTX 280, but now with error 43 (Windows has stopped this device because it had reported problems). The bottom card is still listed as a standard VGA adapter.

Now if I right click to update the driver (on either card) and manually locate the .ini file, I can apply the driver to both cards. Reboot, both cards appear as GTX 280's in the device manager, and there are no errors.

BUT.... I cannot enable SLI. The system sees both cards, but doesn't give me an SLI option in the nvidia control panel.

I tried 4 different SLI bridges, including one I know to work, and it didn't change the situation.

I also tried a fresh install of Windows XP to make sure it wasn't a Vista conflict, still no SLI option.

If I open the nVidia control panel, and then click System Information, one card is reading as 'GeForce GTX 280' and the other just reads as 'GT200'. Odd, they should both be reading as GeForce GTX 280.

So then I try Card A on its own. No exclamation mark, no errors.

I try Card B on its own and it's fine as well.

Both cards run fine on their own, and get similar scores in 3dMark06.

I tried Bios 1002 and 1104.

I've tried disabling all of the onboard stuff (sound, firewire, etc) to free up IRQ resources, didn't help.

Both cards work fine on their own, but not together. So I yank some cards out of another PC, and try them. Alone, no problems, put the second one in, it gives the error.

So now I've ruled out the video cards as the problem. Great, this means it's probably the motherboard. Not to be entirely unexpected with the Asus Striker series. They're notorious for problems, and I know this going in. I got lucky with my 680i build a couple of years ago, but now I'm thinking I finally ran into a bad Striker.

So now I'm looking at an RMA for the mobo. I put the system back together and decide to run with just one video card, until the new mobo comes. I get the drivers installed, everything is good... then for shits and giggles I decide to see what happens if I plug the second card in after the first is already all set up. Somehow during all of the troubleshooting, we hadn't though of that.

Sure enough, as soon as I boot the PC with the second card in, Vista recognizes the card, applies the drivers, and then offers me SLI. Apparently the system just freaked out when it saw two cards in there at once. But if you install one at a time, it's all good. It didn't occur to me right off the bat because my previous 3-4 SLI systems had no problems picking up both video cards at once. And it seems like something that somebody might have encountered before, I mean other people run this board, but in all my searching I never saw it suggested.

So anyway, that's the gist of it. Add tons of hours of frustrating troubleshooting, and spread the whole thing over two weeks, and you get the idea. I don't doubt that this nowhere near the worst build anyone has had, but it's the worst I've ever had, and I've been building my own PCs for almost ten years now. Prior to this my biggest issue was the CPUINIT on my last build holding me up for a whopping 4-6 hours.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over. And the system screams, as you might imagine. Fallout 3 had better be worth it. I'm still on the fence, but that's a long-winded newspost for another day.

Now I don't want to see the inside of a computer for two more years."