Unable To Get TV Tuner Card To Work On Z68A-GD80B3 w/Quad-SLI

[Ohmwrecker]

I just put together a new system which uses the MSI Z68A-GD80B3, Core i7 2600K, 16GB G.Skill memory, 2X Nvidia GTX 590 (Quad-SLI), Hauppage 2250 PCI-E Dual TV Tuner, and a Sound Blaster PCI (not PCI-E) X-Fi Elite Pro sound card.  I for the life of me can not get the TV tuner to detect, even when using utilities like SiSoft Sandra to scan the busses. 

I understand that one issue with Sandy Bridge is the lack of PCI-E channels, but I should still have some available shouldn't I?  The 2X GTX 590 cards use 8x and 8x.  The PCI shouldn't use a PCI-E channel from what I know.  The Hauppage 2250 should only use X1, not X4.

I've tried the Hauppage 2250 in both the very top slot (x1) and the very bottom (x4) with the same results.  I also hooked up the 6 pin PCI-E motherboard power connector but that didn't help any either.  At this point I've pulled it out, but considering the specs of this system I was really hoping to continuing having a TV tuner.  Can anyone give me any advice?

 

[Henry]

Well then see if it works with only one of the VGA cards installed.

Edit: What PSU do you have in the PC?

 

[Ohmwrecker]

Power supply is an Antec Silver 1200W.  The TV tuner worked fine in the previous build I had a Core i7 920.  Obviously the Core i7 was x58 based so there were no limitations on the PCI-E bus.

I'd like to avoid yanking out a GTX 590 SLI unless that's the only other option which isn't realistic anyways because I wouldn't sacrifice a GTX 590 just to have a TV tuner. 

When I look at the PCIE bus in Sisoft Sandra I'm surprised to see things like the X-Fi on there ("Type PCIe 1.00 x1 2.5Gbps"), and even two sets of USB 3.0, SATA-600 controller, and a few unknowns like "MSI PCIe GBE Family Controller", "ICH2-8 Hub Interface to PCI Bridge", and "PCI Express Root Port".

I have on board sound disabled, that doesn't help.  As mentioned I've swapped between the x1 and x4.  It looks to me as if I'm out of PCI-E channels, and if that's the case that sucks.

 

[Henry]

I only mention that as a test to see it it works on the MB with one VGA installed. 

 

[Ohmwrecker]

Can we do a little theorycrafting first?  I thought the Z67 / P67 series is limited to 20 PCIE lanes?  As far as I know I should have been able to use 8x, 8x, 4x without problems.  I'm certain that each GTX 590 card is using x8 (speaking of which, the motherboard box is a bit misleading suggesting 2 x16 lanes, that's not true). 

Are there any BIOS settings that manipulate the PCI-E lanes?  I couldn't find any.  I thought maybe there was a power issue, but plugging in the motherboard side 6-pin didn't do anything. 

Trust me when I say that pulling out a GTX 590 will be a huge pain in the butt.  The way the cables are running and the size of the cards it's something I'd like to avoid unless there's no other option.  Do MSI techs ever read these forums?  As mentioned I'm not willing to give up a GTX 590 for a TV card, and the likelyhood of both an x1 and x4 slot being bad is extremely slim.  I'm thinking it's an issue with PCI-E lanes.

 

[HU16E]

Are there any BIOS settings that manipulate the PCI-E lanes?

No.

As far as I know I should have been able to use 8x, 8x, 4x without problems.

That should be the case, with exception as noted in the manual concerning slot population limitations.

Recommend to contact MSI Tech Support with a ticket. There may be a conflict & compatibility issue with that TV tuner. http://support.msi.com

Added:

the motherboard box is a bit misleading suggesting 2 x16 lanes, that's not true

Just took a look at my GD80 box. It actually states '3' PCI-E 16X slots which is true. Didn't see anything about two 16X 'Bandwidth' when in Crossfire or SLI.  

 

[JeremyP]

You definitely don't want to use the bottom most x16 slot (PCI_E5). The PCI slots (PCI1 and PCI2), Marvell SATA 6 controller, on board USB 3.0 front panel connector, and Firewire ports all share the same PCIe channel and will be disabled if you populate this slot. (page 1-3 of the manual)

It's understandable if you don't want to remove one of the video cards. Have you tried removing the sound card to see if the TV tuner is detected then? The PCI slots are definitely sharing PCIe lanes.

 

[HU16E]

Slots
3 PCIE x16 slots
PCI_E2 supports up to PCIE x16 speed (when PCI_E4 is empty),
or PCI_E2 supports up to PCIE x8 speed (when PCI_E4 is installed)
PCI_E4 supports up to PCIE x8 speed
PCI_E5 supports up to PCIE x4 speed ***
(***due to the PCIE lanes limitation of chipset, when the PCI_E5 has been
installed with a PCIE x16/ x8/ x4 device, 1 eSATA port, 1 SATA port (SATA7), 1
onboard front USB 3.0 connector (JUSB4), 1 1394 port (back panel), 1 onboard
1394 connector (J1394_1) and 2 PCI slots will become unavailable.)
2 PCIE x1 slots
When both of the PCIE x1 (PCI_E1, PCI_E3) slots have been installed, only the
PCI_E1 slot is available, using one PCIE x1 slot is recommended.
2 PCI slots

It's talking about the available Z68 chipset (PCH) PCI-E lanes (4), not just the allocated 16 lanes of the CPU, but you do lose the PCI slots with all three PCI-E 16X slots populated.

The OP may want to consider for such a powerpacked pc, one of MSI's X58 offerings, or even wait for the Intel Gen2 40 PCI-E lane socket 2011 enthusiast platform.