GV-N450-1GI freezes on Welcome screen with X58A-UD3R in x16 slot

[Andy_123]

Not sure if this needs to go to MB forum:

Got from NEWEGG:
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R and Gigabyte GV-N450-1GI video card

New rig with i7-950, 6GB, raid, Win7-64 ultimate

put initial setup on the bench with old VGA monitor - all was Ok for a week.

Moved PC to permanent location with dual DVI monitors, but stopped working before first reboot
freezes on "welcome" screen, no mouse, no keyboard, harddrive still crunching

Moved card from PCIEx16_1 to PCIEx8_1 slot - all works as expected

moved to PCIEx16_2 - same problem

Tried Standard VGA driver - OK

Reading other forums - thousands of people complain about the same issue with X58 and 400 series card - see posts at nVidia, guru3d etc.

tried:
- all possible drivers including 263.00 provided by gigabyte
- clean install with Windows7-64 only + chipset drivers+ nVidia
- disable videocard HD sound
- set PCIE speed to 100 or 103
- disable highprecision timer

I am sure if I RMA card or/and MB no problems will be found.

Any better ideas?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

Chances are if it was working alright before it is most likely a connection problem or power problem. I would say remake all the power cable connections afresh. Make sure thatall the power cables are where they should be including the 12 EPS connection near the CPU and the ones on the GPU.

I would also suggest refitting the GPU in the PCIE x16_1

[Andy_123]

Power connecton checked, tried different 700W power supply
If you think this is a power issue, then how can you explain that is works in x8_1 slot?

Also it never worked with DVI monitors, it was OK with old vga monitor.

I would also suggest refitting the GPU in the PCIE x16_1

What is the point - I did it over 20 times already and it freezes in 10 seconds after welcome screen opens
if I use safe mode and change it to Standard VGA, then it "works"...

I know it should go to PCIEx16_1 but it DOES NOT WORK.

just look at hunders of similar posts here:
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401&st=0

and here
http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=333073

and here:
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=586183
and many many many others

[Dark Mantis]

If you think this is a power issue, then how can you explain that is works in x8_1 slot?

It could be a power issue even though it works sometimes as it could be a simple cable/connection problem.

[Andy_123]

Since PCIE x8 slots using only 8 send/receive pairs vs 16 pair in x16 conncetor I can only guess:
1. bad PCIE channel (pairs 8-15) on MB  
or
2. bad PCIE channel (pairs 8-15) on the video card
or
3. PC BIOS issue
or
4. VIDEO card BIOS issue
or
5. nVidial driver issue

Since I am not the only one who has this problem I would give a small chance for #1 and #2
 

[Dark Mantis]

Well what BIOS version are you using?

Have you checked the pins in the CPU socket for and misaligned ones?

[Andy_123]

>>Well what BIOS version are you using?

MB bios "FD"

>>Have you checked the pins in the CPU socket for and misaligned ones?

Yes, all looks clean, no bent
Again, I am typing this message on the same PC with the same GPU in x8 slot - rock solid since Tuesday
Since PCIE is not connected directly to the CPU (connected to X58), the it can't be CPU socket.

Tomorrow I will try to borrow Quadro 285 from my friend and also put my video card into his Dell PC.

[Andy_123]

1. bad PCIE channel (pairs 8-15) on MB  
2. bad PCIE channel (pairs 8-15) on the video card
3. PC BIOS issue
4. VIDEO card BIOS issue
5. nVidial driver issue

after some research I think I can safely say this is not #1 (MB hardware):
X58 bridge uses separate lines for PCIEx16_1 and PCIEx16_2 and card is not working in both of them.

X58 has 36 PCIE lines, and _1 and _2 pors are separated while x8 pors share lines with x16.
each x16 port uses 16 lines (32 total), rest used by SATA controllers

[Dark Mantis]

I would agree in general with your synopsis. Have you tried clearing the CMOS also just as a precaution. You are running the latest full BIOS version. There is a beta available but it doesn't flag anything to do with your problem.

[Andy_123]

Have you tried clearing the CMOS also just as a precaution.

No, but will try tomorrow

You are running the latest full BIOS version. There is a beta available but it doesn't flag anything to do with your problem.

I saw FE1, but since thay did not mention anything explicitly, I will try to avoid it for now
 

[Dark Mantis]

Actually they are very much rubbish when it comes to describing the actual updates in the BIOSes. We have always complained about it but nothing seems to change.

When you do the CMOS clear I would advise you to do it this way.

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least ten minutes before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Opimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self and then press F10 to save and exit.

[Andy_123]

there is a "clear CMOS" button on the back panel - why can't  I use it?

[Dark Mantis]

Purely because in past experience it isn't always as effective as doing it the old fashioned way. By all means try it first if you want to. Either way make sure you remove the power first and dissipate any charge left in the PSU capacitors.

[Andy_123]

Few more tests performed:

- reset CMOS - loaded optimized setting, enabled RAID - Same problem
- used different hard drive and installed Win7-32 Bit installed only Ethernet druved and vNidia driver from Gigabyte site: same problem - OK in x8 slot, freeses in x16_1 on or right after Welcome screen
- moved PC back to the test bench with old VGA monitor - freezes - it was OK for a week 

This makes me to beleive that hard Video ware failed

I hope I can try a different card tomorrow.


 

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I would agree that is the best course of action next. It does sound like the card could be faulty or indeed the motherboard x16 bus.