My screen flashes in SLI mode!?

Question

Hi everyone. I have recently got my computer back from repairs because of a hard drive failure. I have 2 Nvidia Geforce 6800 XTs running in SLI mode. Before my computer computer had a hard drive failure, everything was working fine. Now that I got it from repairs, I set it to SLI mode. It is always flashing this black screen every 5-10 seconds!

It runs fine in single card mode, but this SLI mode problem is really getting frustrating. Either I have choppy game play or my screen flashing every 5-10 seconds.

Any help?

I checked it and it is all plugged into the top.

Yay! Thanks! My SLI connector was loose. It works great now!

Answer 1

Yes, that can happen if it considers the display to be a secondary display or if it is plugged into the "slave" card so to speak. Make sure the monitor is connected to the top video card instead of the bottom, only one of them can be used for outputting a signal in SLi mode, though if it has two connectors on it, you can use both of them but not the second card.

Then try it on the second card... it couldn't hurt but I doubt it will help your situation. Okay...

Check the SLi connector, make sure it is secure and snug on both cards, make sure the power connectors are firmly connected on both cards and that both cards are seated firmly in their slots. Do that and post back, we'll try to sort this out one way or the other.

To the guy below, going from dual 6800XTs to a Radeon X1300 would be a very serious step WAAAAY DOWN. Now dual 7600GS or GT cards, that's another story...

Answer 2

I just suggest getting a new card if you get choppy game play with one. Instead of having two cards that make choppy gameplay individually, you should get one good card. I suggest a graphics card from $120-$150 dollars. I recommend a 512 MB 7600 GS or a 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro.