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Abit IX38 Quad GT - Can't enter setup?

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NotDJK

New Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
I've been trying to troubleshoot a PC lock-up issue since I replaced my video cards last Friday. Basically, the PC would bench fine in 3DMark06, and work normally in Windows, but within five to eight minutes in a game (LOTRO, WOW, HL2, PORTAL) the video display would go black, the card fans would spin up into high gear, and there would be a lot of disk activity. I wouldn't be able to get back into the system, so I'd have to restart. Once this happened, the PC would sometimes lock in Windows, also requiring a restart.

Anyway, I've tested memory with no issues, I can't see anything funny with voltages or heat, and yet the problem persists with either card by itself, or both cards in Crossfire. Windows doesn't identify anything in error logs beyond 'the previous shutdown was unexpected.'

SO, last night I pulled the CMOS battery for a couple hours just to clear things out and start troubleshooting from scratch.

When I put the battery back in and started the PC, I got the Abit logo followed by a post screen, detecting my CPU, memory, and single hard drive correctly. I can hit F1 to continue or DEL to enter setup (I see the CMOS error, defaults enabled message), but hitting either one takes me to a black screen with a single blinking cursor in the upper left corner.

I've rebooted multiple times, cleared CMOS, nothing changes.

Any ideas on how I can get around this, or is the board officially dead?

My specs...

Abit IX38 Quad GT
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4gHz @ 3.0gHz
Scythe SCING-1000 120mm CPU cooler/heatsink
Seasonic M12 SS-700HM 700w PSU
4x1gb OCZ ATI Crossfire 240-pin DDR2 800 PC2 6400 SDRAM
2x HIS HD3870 IceQ3 Turbo PCIe 2.0 video cards
Soundblaster X-Fi audio card
Antec P160 case with 120mm Antec rear exhaust fan
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm front intake fan
Vista x64
Catalyst v8.1

Case temp between 25 and 31 celsius, up to 35 when in games
Primary card idles at 45-50 celsius, up to 70 when in game
Secondary card idles at 37-40 celsius, haven't seen it used yet (no chance, really, because of the PC locking problems)
 
Thanx for the suggestion...

I use a wireless keyboard/mouse, so there is a USB receiver involved.

I didn't have an issue when I first installed the board with that setup, but I can try with a PS/2 mouse and keyboard instead. I HOPE it's this easy to get around :)
 
PS/2 Keyboard is a no go...

The PS/2 keyboard doesn't help.

As for the bios, the board came with version 11, and I flashed it with 12 in the middle of last week (part of my troubleshooting of the original PC locking issue). So, technically the bios was okay until Friday, but maybe 12 has a problem with a cleared CMOS? I haven't seen anyone post that type of issue though...

Anyway, I'm completely at a loss as to what to do now, except gut the box on the weekend, put everything together one bit at a time and see if I can get past this. If not, RMA time.

Unless, of course, someone has another suggestion?
 
well i dunno but i have a feeling about the PSU. seasonic is solid for psu's but if that is a split rail and the gpus are both pulling from the same rail. there maynot be enough power for them. either that or one of the GPUS is having issues in, have you tried in a non CF setup? last thing i would do is do a deep cmos clear, leave the battery out for 1-2hrs. then go back into the bios and set things up, then get into windows.
 
Thanx Evil.

I don't have the cards on the same adaptor to the PSU - two pairs coming out of the PSU, one adaptor on each going to an individual card, the other adaptor to nothing.

I have tried both cards individually, and the cards in CF mode and reversed in CF mode, same problem. I've had a lot of people tell me to reinstall, start with a clear CMOS - and that's where I've been heading. It's just that now, after having the CMOS battery out for 3 hours, I can't get back into my BIOS to do anything. So I'm stuck. :(
 
ok now it sounds like you just need to take a memory stick out and redo the memory voltage... i would do a reformat and start fresh.. i have heard some crazy things happening with ati drivers that a reinstall of windows fixes...
 
Thanx for the suggestion :) I've been given some steps to follow in getting into my BIOS again, and I'll try that tomorrow night and do a reinstall. I'm starting to feel better about all the suggestions, as it's giving me some hope that I don't have to RMA the board or the cards.

I'll be sure to post the results as soon as I have them.
 
Back in...

So, I was able to get back into my BIOS, set things up, and reinstall Windows. I still have the lock up problem, but I think I've tracked down the issue.

The fans on my two HIS HD3870 turbo cards don't appear to spin up when the GPU temps rise. Under normal settings, from a cold start, the primary card reads at about 30-35c, and then continues to edge up past 50c within five to ten minutes just in Windows. The secondary card starts at the same temp, but stays idle around 40-45c. Of course, once I start a game, the temp on the primary card shoots up to at least 70c, and that's when the display turns off, the fans kick into high gear, and I have to restart.

I installed Rivatuner and turned the fans to 75%, and sure enough, the primary sits idle at about 34c, the secondary at 30c. The primary hovers around 60-64c under load, and althought I haven't had the chance to sit under load for hours, it at least did not lock up within five minutes.

The rest of the case seems to have appropriate temps, between 28-34c, and the CPU cores are at 31 idle, moving up to 50-54c under 100% load using Prime95. I don't know if this is an airflow issue, or if my case just isn't the best option for this new setup (Antec P160).

There was a point yesterday, after running in Windows for about 2 hours and the card fans running at 50%, that the PC locked up. As soon as I got back in, a check of the primary card temp was at 51c - again, sounds like the temp got high enough that the card locked up.

So I guess it's really nothing more than the fans on the two cards not keeping things regulated. I hope that this is a BIOS/driver issue that will get worked out in the coming months, as I really can't believe that I got two bad cards at the same time. Until then, I guess I'll keep my fans running at 75% and see what happens.

Thanx again to everyone for their comments - if you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them :)
 
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