gta 4 and sli

[ntx710i]

Hi,

 

So I went ahead and bought another gtx 260 to run it in sli, as I would want performance gains with other games. However, whenever I run gta 4 benchmark, after a few seconds the screen flickers and hangs, then blacks out, after another few seconds, the screen returns and the benchmark runs per normal, but again after a few seconds flickers and does the cycle again and again. In the main game I get graphical glitches with the same screen flickering and blacking cycle. Once I disable sli, the game returns to normal. Have tested each card independently but both work fine.

 

 

 

Here's my specs:

 

i5-650@ 3.20ghz(no overclock)

4gb ddr3 ram

2x xfx gtx 260 sli ( one is core 216 and the other core 192) -----can't find another core 192 these days

640gb WD caviar black

MSI P55A-G55

 

Extra info:

Ran with and without V-sync: no effect

Had this problem with Bad Company 2 Dx10 but works in Bad Company 2 Dx9 -----So I guess its game-specific problem? Or sli incompatibility?

 

EDIT: Power supply's a 750w Aerocool and am using patch 7.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited December 5, 2010 by ntx710i

[Girish]

Yep, it's game specific. GTA IV is known to struggle with SLI. Search around the forums and you'll find many topics for the same. Your best bet is to turn off SLI while playing GTA IV.

[dope_dragon]

It's the different clock speeds. I have cores of 670/675 and the only fix that I ever found was to lower them to 625 each. Someone suggested to lower each card by 50Mhz but I don't think it's stress, I think it's the speed difference. This is because all of the BSOD's it caused for me (like 10 different) were related to IRQ's and processor timing, though they may seem like RAM or PSU to most.

 

You need to use either nVidia Performance Tools ("System Tools") to match the core speeds, or something else like RivaTuner.

 

I would recommend using RivaTuner at least for finding the RAM and Shader speeds, since they are linked, and it keeps the ratio constant for you - what software you use to actually change it is up to you, but Riva finds the right RAM time. I assume your cards will have different RAM & Shader clocks as well.

The reason I would use nVidia's software to actually implement the new speeds is because you can configure a new profile to lower them only for GTA IV, when the game is in memory. Since it's a game specific issue, a game specific compromise is ideal!

 

 

 

I had the same problem for over a year and tried everything, everthing - four DIMMs tested in each possible pair, each GPU individually, replaced MOBO with new, outruled ANY temps or voltages, outruled PSU, outruled RAID, outruled bad disc image or DVD drive, outruled all software and drivers or BIOS, tried fresh installs of 32- and 64- bit editions of XP, Vista, and 7, outruled EMI from cathodes - I went out on every limb and about a hundred googles before I found the solution on this forum. The fact that I spent about 18 months troubleshooting a game specific issue should speak for the quality of this game. Except for this issue!!

 

And finally the black scanline between my SLI regions is gone. :-)

Hope that was the source of your problem.

 

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Edited January 3, 2011 by fred