Freezes at Splash Screen When Fourth GTX 1070 is Connected

[elf1]

I am attempting to assemble a rig to play around with gpu crypto mining, and running into problems outside the scope of my knowledge.

My specs:

4x Geforce GTX 1070 Founder's Edition cards
1200W Power supply
EVGA Z270 Classified K Motherboard with 6 Pcie slots
8 Gigs Ram (1 stick)
120GB Sata connected SSD drive for the OS
Windows 10 Pro Operating System, 64 bit
Intel Pentium Dual Core G4400 @ 3.3GHz

My 1070 cards are connected to the board by pcie risers which use usb adapters. The risers are powered by Sata connections to the power supply.

- - -

I've downloaded and updated the bios, the chipset, intel graphics drivers, and have the same problem with Geforce Driver versions 376.51 and 382.33. I'm currently on 382.33.

My issues:

Originally when I would plug in more than one of the risers to the 1070's my splash screen would freeze. I could use one only and run Windows normally. When two(or more) were connected, the digital readout on my motherboard would get stuck on 9C-USB Input. I could not get to the bios at all. I disconnected all but one and went into the bios and changed the setting to disable using Legacy USB. At that point I could put two more risers into a total of 3 of 6 PCIE slots on the board, and Windows would load.

However, when I would attempt to use the cards to mine, I would run into all sorts of errors, from "Unspecified Launch Errors" to Windows Video Scheduler Internal Error Blue Screens.

If I only have two GPU's connected, I can seem to use both no problem. If I have three connected and use three, I get blue screens. If I only use two, but have three connected, same result.

If I plug in 4 to the PCIE's, then I'm back at the frozen splash screen, and my Motherboard displays error "97", which in the manual reads as "Console Output Devices Detected".

I have tried to change the PCIE speed settings in the bios from auto to 3, 2, or 1, and this seems to have no effect.

Also, in my device manager, it shows the three 1070's, status as "working properly", but a yellow triangle next to "PCI Simple Communications Controller" in other devices.

I'm not sure what the "other device" is--Windows can't find any drivers online. I've tried to uninstall the device but it doesn't take.

- - -

For the purposes I have, I don't need any form of SLI--the cards should run independently, coordinated by the CPU. Ultimately my goal will be to use all 6 PCIE's with 6 different cards. I realize I'll need to modify my power setup in that instance, but at the moment I'm just trying to understand the hangups of using more than two cards at a time.

I suspect there is a combination of Bios mods and drivers that I need to apply, but I'm really without a clue at this point where to go. Any insight or help in this matter would be really appreciated. If I've left out any details let me know. Thanks!

 

[Capitan Harlock]

I don't know anything about crypto mining but are you sure 1200watt is enough for 4 gtx 1070?

 

[elf1]

I don't know anything about crypto mining but are you sure 1200watt is enough for 4 gtx 1070?

I'd thought about that. When I'm checking the power usage it doesn't ever go above 180w while mining, and usually reads closer to 150. The instability happens at only three cards though, which should be well within the psu's capacity, and idling with four it won't even boot up. For a full active rig I'd definitely need more power though, you're right.

 

[Hugis]

The board supports SLI+PhysX in PCI-E 3.0 x8/x8/x1 configuration,

http://www.overclockers.com/evga-z270-classified-k-motherboard-review/

 

[eidairaman1]

Risers are a hit and a miss

 

[qubit]

Two questions about that PSU:

1 Is 1200W really enough for those cards?
2 What make and model is it? Having a decent brand is crucial in this scenario

 

[eidairaman1]

Two questions about that PSU:

1 Is 1200W really enough for those cards?

2 What make and model is it? Having a decent brand is crucial in this scenario

This is a oranges to apples comparison but as a reference point, my card maker recommends a 750W(Generic) PSU minimum. If ran at stock or underclocked, gpus should be able to run off a 1200 unit, otherwise a 1300-1500 unit would be needed.

 

[elf1]

Just an update. I had the EVGA Mobo RMA'd. While it was in the process of being returned I bought a Gen 2.0 pcie Gigabyte Mobo with a six core AMD Fx chip. It supports four 1070's and works perfectly--same PSU, risers, etc.

I received a new EVGA z270 Classified K Mobo and still had the same issues. So I swapped out the cpu with a compatible i-3; same issues. Changed out the RAM, twice--issues unchanged. Mind you this time I'm only trying to have two 1070 cards working, not four, but no bueno.

I'm at a total loss with the EVGA board. It seems like it should function like a dream, but this hasn't been my experience. Again, any insight would be great, but otherwise I'm returning it for a more competent piece of tech. I appreciate everyone who has looked over this thread.

 

[eidairaman1]

Only thing that can be said is a bios update, whether beta or release. Otherwise ship it back

 

[erocker]

Your G4400 only supplies a total of 16 PCIe lanes. It cannot work with anything over 2 GPU's. The x99 chipset can support 4x8 lanes.

 

[elf1]

Your G4400 only supplies a total of 16 PCIe lanes. It cannot work with anything over 2 GPU's. The x99 chipset can support 4x8 lanes.

The risers I'm using are 16x to 1x. In the Bios they register as 1x. Just using two cards still crashes the computer. I get internal video scheduler errors and "launch errors" in the applications I use.

Only thing that can be said is a bios update, whether beta or release. Otherwise ship it back

Thanks, I did make sure to update the bios, chipset, graphics drivers--the whole stack from EVGA's page for that board. I am afraid you may be right.

 

[eidairaman1]

Thanks, I did make sure to update the bios, chipset, graphics drivers--the whole stack from EVGA's page for that board. I am afraid you may be right.

Is the K model a Higher end board? I just know K models from AsRock and Gigabyte tend to be middlegrade ot lower end at best...

 

[elf1]

Is the K model a Higher end board? I just know K models from AsRock and Gigabyte tend to be middlegrade ot lower end at best...

The Classified K from EVGA is definitely not a lower end board. That's partially what makes it so infuriating--i pick up a used 2nd Gen, by comparison lower end Gigabyte board, and ouila, works perfectly.

 

[cdawall]

Several misconceptions in this thread.

Pcie bandwidth doesn't matter, the risers he is using convert pcie 1x to USB 3.0 and back to 16x for the gpu.

1200w is plenty for loading the windows splash screen (and for mining for that matter) if his cards are configured correctly during mining they will consume 130-140w each and kick out 30mh/s.

My question would be is it specific pcie slots that are causing the issue sometimes the boards switch can be funny with the 1x stuff connected. I assume you have tried different bridges? Out of curiosity how is the power hooked up? How many riser cards are out using per rail of sata connectors... You should be doing no more than two per string. Anything more and it typically causes fires.

 

[elf1]

Several misconceptions in this thread.

Pcie bandwidth doesn't matter, the risers he is using convert pcie 1x to USB 3.0 and back to 16x for the gpu.

1200w is plenty for loading the windows splash screen (and for mining for that matter) if his cards are configured correctly during mining they will consume 130-140w each and kick out 30mh/s.

My question would be is it specific pcie slots that are causing the issue sometimes the boards switch can be funny with the 1x stuff connected. I assume you have tried different bridges? Out of curiosity how is the power hooked up? How many riser cards are out using per rail of sata connectors... You should be doing no more than two per string. Anything more and it typically causes fires.

Thanks for your input! It doesn't seem that any specific combination of pcie's used makes a difference. If I have two card via the adapters in any two slots it is unstable and will crash. If I put the cards directly onto the board, as it is meant to be, it will crash.

The power supply hooks up directly to the motherboard via the 24pin and cpu. Additionally it supplies power to the risers via sata power connectors.

I'm only doing at max two riser cards per string, like you say. I have one pcie string powering two cards, and a different string hooked up solely to another power input on the board itself (meant to supply the pcie slots when more than two cards are used).

I have not been using any SLI, on either board.

 

[cdawall]

How strange that is the same basic setup I use for my stuff without fault. I assume you have done clean installs just to make sure it isn't a strange conflict?

 

[elf1]

How strange that is the same basic setup I use for my stuff without fault. I assume you have done clean installs just to make sure it isn't a strange conflict?

Everything is clean, from the operating system to the nvidia drivers, yeah. It is as if it just will not accept gpu's, very bizarre.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I don't know anything about crypto mining but are you sure 1200watt is enough for 4 gtx 1070?

1 Is 1200W really enough for those cards?

stock or underclocked, gpus should be able to run off a 1200 unit, otherwise a 1300-1500 unit would be needed.

"Geforce GTX 1070 Founder's Edition" According to w1zzard's review, the maximum power draw for that card is 154 watts, which would put the max GPU power draw at 608 watts. That must be an awfully power hungry Pentium Dual Core G4400.

OP, welcome to the wonderful world of "It wasn't designed for that."

 

[cdawall]

Everything is clean, from the operating system to the nvidia drivers, yeah. It is as if it just will not accept gpu's, very bizarre.

USB is hot swap have you tried booting up with one of the risers USB cable not connected to the gpu and plugging it in after boot?

 

[Laki89]

welcome to the wonderful world of "It wasn't designed for that.

If you speak about intel - you are perfectly correct
buying some quad core Cpu may solve problem

2nd. i suspect that motherboard can be faulty (not necessary )

 

[cdawall]

If you speak about intel - you are perfectly correct
buying some quad core Cpu may solve problem

2nd. i suspect that motherboard can be faulty (not necessary )

I am using a celeron in one of mine and it does multiple cards fine. CPU makes no difference for this.

 

[elf1]

USB is hot swap have you tried booting up with one of the risers USB cable not connected to the gpu and plugging it in after boot?

I just tried that per your suggestion and still the same result. I also again tried different pcie slots, and it actually failed to boot at all, got a 97 error, which in the manual says "Console Output Devices Connect"--just hangs on that seemingly indefinitely.

When I run it using one of the miners I get this error (ccminer): "Cuda error in func 'neoscrypt_hash_k4' at line 1519": Unspecified Launch Error"

Then one of my cards became unresponsive.

Similar Unspecified Launch Errors also occur with other miners like Claymoure.

"Geforce GTX 1070 Founder's Edition" According to w1zzard's review, the maximum power draw for that card is 154 watts, which would put the max GPU power draw at 608 watts. That must be an awfully power hungry Pentium Dual Core G4400.

OP, welcome to the wonderful world of "It wasn't designed for that."

The CPU doesn't run hot at all--never above 50%. In any case I swapped it out for an i-3 7th gen, and am only attempting two cards at this point. This board and the cpu's are at the very least designed to handle two cards. The CPU's I'm using are listed as officially tested and functioning/compatible by EVGA, for that board. On my Gigabyte(working) rig, that currently has 4 cards going, the CPU is barely used. This process doesn't appear power hungry on the CPU at all.

 

[cdawall]

I just tried that per your suggestion and still the same result. I also again tried different pcie slots, and it actually failed to boot at all, got a 97 error, which in the manual says "Console Output Devices Connect"--just hangs on that seemingly indefinitely.

When I run it using one of the miners I get this error (ccminer): "Cuda error in func 'neoscrypt_hash_k4' at line 1519": Unspecified Launch Error"

Then one of my cards became unresponsive.

Similar Unspecified Launch Errors also occur with other miners like Claymoure.

It really sounds like a bad riser...but you said you have tried others. I got nothing that is just weird...

 

[elf1]

It really sounds like a bad riser...but you said you have tried others. I got nothing that is just weird...

The risers do work on the other board. I got a new pack of different risers in recently though, could try those just to be thorough. Thanks for all your input.

 

[Vya Domus]

I am pretty sure this has something to do with the CPU not having enough PCIe lanes.