NVIDIA 790i SLI Data Corruption - Solved?
by Gary Key on June 5, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Gary's First Looks
We reported a few weeks ago on possible data corruption when overclocking the 790i SLI boards from EVGA and ASUS. As it turns out, we were not the only ones having this problem as users in various forums started or had already experienced this problem. Our problems were not always repeatable, but it occurred enough times while overclocking either board that we considered this a rather serious issue.
NIVIDIA has worked diligently the past few weeks to solve this problem and just recently released new BIOS code for the suppliers of the 790i SLI product. The updated BIOS code can be located at each suppliers website. We have throughly tested the P05 BIOS for the EVGA board and the 0704 BIOS from ASUS the last several days. We are glad to report that our problems with data corruption while overclocking are solved. The majority of our problems occurred with the FSB bus set around 1600~1800 (QDR) and memory set to Sync. We have tested other combinations in this range along with various voltage settings and so far we have not corrupted our drives again.
However, we are still seeing reports on other forums with users having problems with the updated BIOS code. If you are one of the unlucky souls with this continuing problem then we would like for you to email us ( gary.key@anandtech.com ) with your configuration and settings. We will try to replicate your problem, but more importantly we will continue to work with NVIDIA to solve any remaining issues with this chipset in regards to data corruption.
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Mr Roboto - Sunday, June 15, 2008 - link
I have an Evga Nvidia 680i that I bought and was relatively mature with the P29 BIOS. However it still had a ton of compatibility issues. This board is like some stuck up rich girl with a terrible attitude. Outrageous expectations for me to buy her top of the line hardware. If you don't you're gonna hear her bitch and moan. Anything you try to do for yourself she's gonna drag her feet. Once everything does click it's a wonderful thing. However it's just not worth the effort to try make it work.These boards are so picky when it comes to RAM. Read Nvidia's RAM compatibility list? Me too but you can throw it out the window because I think they just added their partners because they're friends. Well, simply put it's the you scratch my back I'll scratch yours kind of mentality that got them in trouble with the TWIMTBP. Forget overclocking if you have 4 gigs of RAM, as you'll be lucky just to get it to run with 4.
Nvidia software RAID? Really? Alright since this is my first Nvidia board I'll try it. Two 500GB WD HDD corrupted after one week of use. It was fast while it worked. However all my data is gone and the Hotfix issued by MS and Nvidia didn't do anything.
The reference Nvidia BIOS sucks too. Right now I'm using an XFX P30 in my Evga board because Evga is afraid to deviate from the norm. The XFX BIOS is so much more stable and the FSB holes at around 3.8Ghz are gone. My maximum OC with the 680i and a Q6600 is 4.1 Ghz.
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=321578">http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=321578
I love this board now but without the right or rather compatible hardware Evga will just tell you to RMA the board. They told me to RMA it on three separate occasions and all three times it came down to compatibility issues that I had to figure out for myself. This will be the first and last motherboard I buy from them.
justniz - Friday, June 13, 2008 - link
What part of the meaning of 'overclocking' are you all having troubles with?There explicitly isn't any guarantee about reliability when you manually exceed the manfuacturers specified clock rates or voltages. Get over it. How is it you guys think that this is the manufacturer's responsibility?
If y'all keep whining about low overclocking limits, all that will happen is that manufacturers will respond by making the default system clock lower, so that overclockers can successfully wind the clock up by more. All you'll be doing is reaching the same speed that the manufacturer would have sold it at anyway.
Racky - Saturday, June 14, 2008 - link
Please take the time to read / research before posting. If you check the forums you'll see plenty of people having issues at STOCK speeds.I'm not going to defend overclocking practices. If you push a part too far it will exhibit instability, I think you can safely assume that everyone knows this.
In my opinion the 680i/780i chipsets are pushed too hard even at stock speeds, heat and component failure issues are well documented. This is why some people have perfectly working systems, whilst others suffer all manner of problems.
I feel I should be able to complain about this. Nothing will happen though.
Racky - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - link
Timeline:
Jan 2008 - 780i Boards Launched.
29th May - Nvidia (finally) admits video corruption issue.
3rd June - EVGA release BIOS update P05 containing fix.
Asus??? Where are you??? Let me guess, an upgrade to the equally troubled 790i is the recommended fix. I'd would ask on your 'support' forum for an ETA, but I've never seen anyone from Asus on those...
cngn - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
My Problem wasn't even over clocking, all I wanted was rig that ran 24/7 with the CPU at 100% Load. the Nvidia 790i couldn't even give me that for more than an hour, before the whole thing just hung.I changed RAM, SMPS, HDDs, CPU (I use a Q9550), every(bloody)thing I could think off but it just wouldn't run at 100% load.
Guess maybe it's made for those guys who run with with exotic cooling, for 10 secs just so they can post they're cpu-z scores, to make other people go ooooooowww. BTW this rig is water-cooled so it never went past 34C even at 100%.
But sustained loading at 100%, even without an over clock just doesn't work on this Chipset.
Flaky fluff would be my opinion of this chipset.
JonnyDough - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
It sounds like maybe your chipset is getting too hot, this can lead to lock ups and crashes. You say you're water cooling, so you assume your temps are fine, but if you don't have good airflow through your case, it's likely your bridges are getting toasty. I've had to replace decent chipset coolers on an nForce 410/430, 6150 onboard before and then they were rock stable. Try blowing fans on the mobo and out through the case and see if your problem persists.Ephebus - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
I owned for a few weeks an NVIDIA 570 SLI based Foxconn motherboard (N570SM2AA-8EKRS2H) which wouldn't work with my Western Digital Caviar WD5000AAKS if the NCQ (native command queue) feature were enabled in the driver configuration for the device, even when the system wasn't overclocked. System would lock up often at random times and once WD's own diagnostics utility simply corrupted most of the data on the drive. With NCQ turned off the drive would work perfectly. I presented the problem to all three parties (Foxconn, NVIDIA and WD), and none of them was able to present a solution and really didn't seem to care.BigToque - Sunday, June 8, 2008 - link
The article is talking about problems while overclocking, or put another way, running outside listed specifications.There's nothing wrong with trying to push your systems, but don't start complaining when something bad happens because you are running your system in a way it wasn't intended to.
Racky - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
There will always be someone unhappy that their new rig won't overclock to 8GHz, but those people are pretty easy to spot. We're not talking about them...I bought my over priced SF2 because it was advertised to overclock very well, which I assumed was by virtue of high quality design and components. I was wrong.
My 780i isn't stable at stock speeds. I lost one of my Raptor drives last night whilst running at stock speeds. Random HD failure or victim of MB corruption, don't know. I know I don't trust this chipset anymore.
BigToque - Monday, June 9, 2008 - link
If things are failing at stock speeds, then there's definitely a problem (and I've never owned anything with an nVidia chipset, so I can't really comment on their product).That said, even if nVidia says that they support overclocking of every component on the board and that your chances of a successful OC are good, doesn't mean you have a guarantee for anything other than the specification it was listed at.
I've never seen a product with a stated guaranteed OC.
This is going back, but my Celeron 300A couldn't hit 450 no matter how much voltage I gave it*, in a couple of motherboards. 384 was the highest it would go. OCing is just luck of the draw, even if you paid a premium for it.
*I did hit 450 if I stuck the whole computer inside of my deep freezer :p