Okay, I removed the 4th GPU and started the computer and as expected, it booted right up to Windows!
There is something definitely off when I install the 4th GPU; or actually, when I insert GPUs into the 1st and 3rd PCI-E slot. Could it be a power issue? I'm using 2 EVGA Power Boost modules for extra power to the PCI-E lanes since my motherboard doesn't have an extra molex connector.
To be honest, your guess is as good as mine. I have never used the configuration you describe, so I cannot really comment on it. There is a graphics cards forum on these forums: Graphic Cards - Windows 7 Forums
There is also a hardware and devices forum: Hardware & Devices - Windows 7 Forums
Those are the two places I would recommend starting a thread (try one forum, and then try the other if the first one does not get your the information you seek; do not start two threads at the same time or the administrators may intervene).
Okay, I'll start a thread in one of those sub-forums.
I removed the motherboard yesterday and reseated EVERYTHING; the CPU, the GPUs, the RAM and reconnected all the other devices. With the 4th GPU, the system does not even POST most of the times. I got it to boot to Windows once out of 10 reboots and even then, the system locked up after about a minute or so.
There is something definitely wrong with the motherboard. I will be calling ASUS first thing tomorrow to RMA it.
Thanks for the help so far. I will update this post once I figure out if the motherboard was indeed the issue.
Alright, look forward to finding out. Sorry you had such trouble.
You're not going to believe this.
Just as a last ditch effort, I figured I'd try reinstalling Windows from scratch.
I cleared the CMOS, reflashed the BIOS (v.1001), secure erased the SSDs, and installed the OS from scratch and the system has been working all evening without a hitch!
The only issue I'm having now is when I installed EVGA Precision X 3.0.2 to benchmark my GPUs, the actual benchmark shows only ONE GPU being used! The other 3 are "load: 0%". Nvidia Control Panel doesn't open either so I'm not sure what's causing that. I have the WHQL 301.42 drivers and after installing that, I enabled 4-Way SLI and OC'd my CPU to the old settings (4.41GHz @ 1.30V). I've restarted the system (after driver updates/programs etc.) at least 25 times and every time it booted right to the desktop without any hiccups; and rather quickly to boot (pun-intended)! :)
The only thing is this GPU testing is not going well so I need to figure that out. Perhaps SLI is indeed broken on the motherboard but the NVCP, when it worked, showed 4-Way SLI so I'm not sure.
So the question is, why is NVCP not starting/opening up? And, when I ran OC Scanner (w/ Precision X), it showed only one GPU being used. Any ideas on this?
*EDIT: So I installed Unigine Heaven 3.0 (DX11 benchmark) and ran it for a while. It showed ALL four GPUs being used (mostly maxed out @ 99%) so the main issue I'm having now is that NVCP will NOT open no matter what.
I have seen such strange things happen before. Odd that it would cause hardware like symptoms like POST issues, though...
For the nVidia Control Panel problem: Have you tried re-installing all nVidia software? You will want to uninstall all first through Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Uninstall a program. Start with the NVIDIA Graphics Driver (it should remove the rest of the NVIDIA software with it). Restart your computer, and then confirm that Uninstall a program shows no other NVIDIA software. If it does, remove the remaining NVIDIA software, as well. Then install the driver package you want to install fresh.
Well, my joy was short-lived.
I had the computer on pretty much all day; installing programs, games, and just doing work. The machine seemed completely fine. I am running the CPU OC'd by the way @ 4.41GHz.
Just to make sure, I wanted to test my rig so I started Trine 2; one of my favorite games.
I maxed out all the settings and fired it up and it seemed to start well. Within 2 minutes of starting the game, the system locked up. I had to hard reset; there was no BSOD. Once I got back into Windows, within 30 seconds, the screen went black and the computer restarted only to show on the Windows desktop that it had a BSOD of 0x1000007e. I've attached the dump files so please let me know what it says.
I still haven't given up hope because this was after installing so many games and programs and everything seemed perfect! I went from not POST'ing to being able to run the rig almost all day without a single hitch.
By the way, during the game, I was OC'ing my cards @ 900MHz/2200MHz.
On the NVCP issue, I just reinstalled the NVIDIA drivers and it came back without issue. I think the problem came about because some program I installed asked to install DirectX and I let it so that caused some conflict with the NVIDIA NVCP. After the reinstallation of the drivers, the issue was resolved.
However, this new BSOD is a whole other issue!
Please help!
First, turn off all overclocking and get the system running stable. Do not overclock until you are 100% sure the system is stable. Then overclock in small steps rather than going straight for the settings you like. After each step, check again that the system is 100% stable.
Also, make sure your RAID drivers are up to date by installing straight from Marvell. Marvell - Support
On that note, RAID was really not designed with the home user in mind. It was designed for companies running servers. Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea - Puget Custom Computers
The crash points to your display card drivers. Do the above first; it may have been due to the overclock...
Okay, I will try that out but I'm pretty sure my CPU OC is 100% stable. I ran Prime95 Blend, OCCT, and IBT and they all passed without errors. Anyway, I'll put everything to default and play the game to see if it freezes. I tried it without OC'ing the GPU last night and it froze again. This time, it was worse because I was in the BIOS and the screen went black like before; I think the motherboard is giving up.
That page for the drivers only shows drivers for "Yukon" devices which relates to some "Ethernet Controller" and not the RAID Controller. I downloaded the RAID Controller driver (mv61xx) from another site and they are dated 5/6/2011 but the name is "Generic Marvell RAID Controller". Is there a newer version for those? I can't find them on Marvell's site!
I will set everything to default, reinstall the GPU drivers and see what happens. I just feel like the motherboard is the cause; if it freezes/crashes again, I will be RMA'ing it.
Thanks.
RAID: Marvell* SATA Driver should help.
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