Problem with my 2 GeForce 6900 GS Extreme Edition SLI cards

[Beelz]

Problem with my 2 GeForce 7900 GS Extreme Edition SLI cards

I have had them installed for about 3 months. I am now having a serious issue with them. Whenever my computer is turned on for about 30mins or longer I am getting a "Error message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER" and my computer is restarting. This is making my gaming life pure hell. I have followed ALL the "fixes" that Microsoft recommends, including installing the latest driver and rolling back to a previous driver. I have found nothing that has helped. It's very odd cause it just started happening out of the blue. It was acting normal for the whole time, great performance, no complaints then "BOOM" all this happened. If anyone else here has had this problem and can help me out I would be forever in your debt.

also, I edited the subject of this thread cause I accidentally put 6900GS... they are actually 7900GS

 

[MetalX]

Are the heatsinks on the cards dusty? If they are, the cards might be overheating. Try blowing off the dust with some canned air.

 

[Beelz]

I tried what you said... but the fans were completely clean. No dust came out and they still shine like a brand new penny... and the fans are still that nice clean transparent fluorescent green... any other ideas?

ok so after blowing them out and the computer was on for a while I got an error message saying that my power wasn't sufficient for the cards... could my PSU be going bad and if so would it cause all this? why would the computer think it was a driver problem if the power was low?

 

[sghiznaneck]

It is possible. How old is the psu?? If I'm not mistaken, that's a psu with two pci-e power connectors. Did you try disconnecting them from the cards and reconnecting them?? If they aren't getting enough juice, I'd say the psu is going bad. If the connectors are loose, you might be in luck.

 

[Boogityboo04]

How many amps does that PSU put out on 12v? If you've been running over-spec it may be failing on you.

 

[Beelz]

here is a link to the exact PSU I have:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1273340&CatId=0

and it's only about 3 months old as well... and I'm pretty sure I'm not pushing it too much... I still have QUITE a few plugs unused... and yes it has 2 pci-e plugs... I tried unplugging them and replugging them and it didn't help any...

 

[MetalX]

Ultra PSUs aren't terrible, but they aren't all that good either. Nvidia recommends something like 34A on one or 2 12V rails for SLI, and that PSU provides 38. However, when the PSU heats up, it may provide less that 34, which could cause the system to become unstable. I suggest you upgrade to a crazy psu like enermax galaxy or something like that.

 

[Beelz]

something like this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194016

do you think that this could have possibly ruined the video cards? or do you think them shutting down is actually saving them from being ruined by the PSU?

 

[nickc]

that should be an execelent psu...