A SLight Problem: No Free Resources

[Coelicolour]

Hi folks,

I had the following setup:

CPU: Intel i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 8GB (2 x 4GB)
Video Cards: 2 x MSI AMD Radeon 6950 2GB in CrossFireX
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D2X
SSD: Crucial C300 64GB
Hard Drives: 3 x Samsung F3 1TB in R.A.I.D. 5
PSU: Antec Signature 850W

A failing hard drive on another computer persuaded me to buy a Crucial M4 256GB SSD to swap with the C300 64GB SSD in the above PC with the intention of changing the failing hard drive for the C300. Whilst ordering the M4, my hand slipped and also ordered 2 x nVidia GTX 670 2GB cards to replace the CrossFireX setup above.

Before installing Windows onto the new M4, I decided to update the BIOS to the latest version as I was running a Beta version, as my USB keyboard did not work in the BIOS. The BIOS flash worked and I was using the swanky new BIOS with my USB keyboard. I was able to install Windows and started to install drivers etc., when i noticed that one of the GTX 670s had a yellow exclamation mark next to it in Device Manager, and upon further investigation I discovered the following message "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)". Furthermore, after installing drivers for the HD3000 graphics found in the CPU, the PC would hang at the 'Starting Windows' and sometimes develop a BSOD.

As I did not have a SLi bridge at the initial installation, I wondered if this was the cause, and so removed the second GTX 670. Windows was able to boot normally, and there was no problem with Device Manager.

I located my SLi bridge and re-installed the second card, same problem re-merges, so it's not that.

I then reinstalled the C300 and CrossFireX setup, and there is no problem in Device Manager.

I tried installing Windows 8, but this was unable to install, I then tested my memory with Memtest86+ and have since found that one of my modules fails. I've now removed this module.

I've tried moving the sound card to another slot, but this seems to cause further problems, so it's back in it's slot. I then reinstalled Windows 7 and somehow managed to screw up the R.A.I.D. array this time!

So, I reinstalled Windows again, rebuilt the R.A.I.D. array, but disabled the HD3000 graphics in the BIOS. I still get the message "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)" for one of the GTX 670s.

I suspect it's the BIOS, but wondered if there was anything that you peeps could suggest....

[Coelicolour]

A little bit of progress (or not!) on this tonight.

I read (specifically here: Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 will not detect 3way sli! :( ) that populating Slots 1, 4 and 6 somehow causes the card in slot not to work. The GTX 670s are in slot 1 and 4 while the sound card is in slot 6, I had the same configuration when I had my CrossFireX setup, but this was fine.

I removed the sound card and placed it in slot 5, the PCI bus the GTX 670 was trying to access changed from 6 to 4 but still came up with the same error message.

I then removed the sound card completely, and moved the 2nd GTX 670 from slot 4 to 5, and booted into Windows (I also removed the SLi bridge as the gap is too big to use it). This time, no error messages in Device Manager, but it was using a generic vga driver. I updated the driver, and it now recognises it correctly and appears in nVidias control panel. I could use this for PhysX if I so desired.

I then moved the 2nd GTX 670 back to slot 4, but left the sound card out and the SLi bridge, but to no avail, the error message has returned!

[profJim]

Try testing with a different SLI bridge.
Which Nvidia driver versions are you using?
You might need to test with a slightly older WHQL version or with a newer beta version.
You can also try swapping the positions of the GTX 670 cards.

[Coelicolour]

Try testing with a different SLI bridge.
Which Nvidia driver versions are you using?
You might need to test with a slightly older WHQL version or with a newer beta version.
You can also try swapping the positions of the GTX 670 cards.

I can try the 3-way SLi bridge that I have, but I'm unable to do this until Monday. I'm using the release drivers for the GTX 670 downloaded from nVidias website: 301.42. At the time of writing, I can see no newer Beta version, and I'm not sure an older version would support my cards. I'm not convinced it's a driver or SLi bridge issue, as when I moved the second GTX 670 from slot 4 to slot 5, the system is able to detect and install both cards perfectly. It's only when a card is placed in slot 4, that the error message appears. It also occurs before I install any drivers for motherboard, graphics cards or sound card.

I have tried both cards in slot 1 and both cards in slot 4, the same problem occurs. So far, the only time that I do not get this message is when I had one card in slot 1, and 1 card in slot 5. Due to the distance between these slots, I am not able to use my SLi bridge in this configuration, and as Slot 5 is only a 16PCI-e x4 slot anyway, I'm guessing I wouldn't get the full benefit of SLi.

[pjrs]

Same problem here with dual GTX670's. Both of the 670 alone will work in either slot 1 or 4 but not installed in SLI. Re-installed my GTX580 in slots 1 and 4 with no problems.

[profJim]

It will be MUCH MORE USEFUL if posters include a detailed hardware list in PC Specs or your forum signature.
Right now we don't know if the problem is with GTX 670 video cards or only with specific brands and/or models.
From what I've seen in other ASRock threads, there's a chance that the problems can be fixed with a newer bios that deals with this issue.

Posting your hardware settings in only one post makes it a PITA to find the information.

I don't have the time or patience to go scrolling back through a thread to double check the hardware details for each poster.
Many of us are helping out in many threads at one time where some threads have somewhat similar hardware setups.

[Coelicolour]

Same problem here with dual GTX670's. Both of the 670 alone will work in either slot 1 or 4 but not installed in SLI. Re-installed my GTX580 in slots 1 and 4 with no problems.

Do you have the make of your GTX 670s? Also, what BIOS version are you using? For reference, I upgraded from 1.32 to 2.10.

It will be MUCH MORE USEFUL if posters include a detailed hardware list in PC Specs or your forum signature.
Right now we don't know if the problem is with GTX 670 video cards or only with specific brands and/or models.
From what I've seen in other ASRock threads, there's a chance that the problems can be fixed with a newer bios that deals with this issue.

Posting your hardware settings in only one post makes it a PITA to find the information.

I don't have the time or patience to go scrolling back through a thread to double check the hardware details for each poster.
Many of us are helping out in many threads at one time where some threads have somewhat similar hardware setups.

Done.

[Coelicolour]

Hopefully, this will show my updated signature....

[pjrs]

I have Evga 670 SC 4GB model. I upgraded my extreme7 gen bios to 2.10.

[Coelicolour]

So, it looks like it's not specific to MSI cards then or indeed the 2GB version.

Did you update the BIOS before trying the GTX 670s? Or, did you have the same problem with an older BIOS?

Looks like we might have to wait until ASRock releases a new BIOS.... :(