Constant SL lockups on brand new system.

I hope this it the right place for this. I've been playing Sl for a few years across a bunch of different systems and just this week I put together my first solo computer:
AMD X2 6000+
M2N32 SLI Deluxe motherboard
2 Gig Corsair dominator DDR2 800mhz at 4-4-4-4-12
2 8800GTS 320mb graphics cards in SLI

SL locks up every 5 minutes or so and crashes the whole system, just freezes and I have to reboot. No error messages or signs of failure. I tried using nTune to make SLi work with SL and after the crashes I deleted the profile so second life would run with just one card and it still crashes, sometimes right as the program starts. I have updated drivers, cleared my cache, messed with everything. Anyone else having problems with similar hardware?

please help! Sl is one application I -want- to run on this system that cost me so much : ( !

Thanks,
Dizzy

Vista / xp ?

I do hope you have 600watt+ psu on that, or it will fail, as a single 8800gts 320mb require you have least 400watt psu, easiest way to test is take one out, if SL stop crashing then you have power issues.
(hurr like its hard to crash SL : p)

Youd want to check your psu 12volt amps, tho, but its about this
8800GTX - 720MB+ - $600 range - 600Watts+
8800GTS - 640MB - $400 range - 500Watts+
8800GTS - 320MB - $200-300 range - 400Watts+

you don't happen to use a power backup right? i know my computer greatly stabilized once i removed mine.

This or you have a too weak power supply, the 8800 are electricity ogres.

Oh yeah! I have a 650watt Enermax Infiniti. On Nvidia's website under SLI zone they listed this one as being capable of running two 8800gts's. It has like 22a on three 12v rails. I don't think it could be power related. I've been running stalker and oblivion and dark messiah just fine in SLI mode with no hang ups. Just SL :/ I'm running Xp service pack 2 also. I'm just wondering if there are driver problems with SL and the new 8800 cards? Or if I need to take off the SLI bridge and disable it completely to have SL run correctly.

thanks for your help!

I don't think it's the SLI configuration that's causing the troubles.

First, I'd reccomend making sure you have all of the latest DirectX components. These do not install with the Windows Updates, you have to install them manually. You can get them HERE.

However, lock-ups like you describe usually stem from hardware issues, usually memory. It sucks, but it is possible that you have a bad stick of RAM. You can try testing your RAM with Memtest-86+. Games will often have a finite amount of RAM that they will use, so it is possible you aren't trying to access the bad parts of your RAM with them, but SL is much more "flexible" in its memory useage so it will often find problems that other software will not.

EDIT: Forgot to mention.

When you test your RAM with Memtest, do it with ALL your ram installed first. Then, if you get errors, retest your sticks of ram ONE AT A TIME. For one thing, this will let you pinpoint the problem stick. BUt, if you get errors with all your ram installed, but each stick checks out individually, then you may have timing issues with your motherboard and the number of sticks you are using. In that case you can talk to the tech support from your motherboard manufacturer and they may have settings you can try.

I ran memtest 86+ and I had no errors so my RAM must be okay. My friend Uchi told me to turn off the new "OpenGl vertex buffers" and that lengthened the crash time to about 20 minutes. Maybe that means it graphics? I want to hang with my friends in SL for longer than 20 minutes right? : (

Do you smoke near your PC? This causes the molecules of dust particles to become sticky and block up air vents, cooling fins and gets into fan bearings/blades slowing them down. Is there any leads/cables preventing free flow of air around your memory or graphics cards etc?
Open the magic box and carefully.. very carefully, with the system unplugged from the mains (not just turned off) use a brush attachment from your (or your Mum's) vacumn cleaner to gently remove dust etc from the components (this acts like a heat insulator). With the sides off.. turn on the PC and look at each fan to make sure its working and not noisy (sign of wearing or damaged bearings). Place the back of your hand near the PSU fan and see if that gets hot (sign of overload), again use the vacumn to clean that fan and its cooling vents.

The is also a reported memory leakage in the new veiwer that can cause premature shutdown of the client.

heres a couple things you can try:
make sure you are using the most recent drivers for:
video: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
chipset: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
bios and motherboard: http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
also if you uses more than one drive, move your cache.
sl also seems to be picky about being fragmented, so defrag often.
excluded your sl cache from your anti-virus, (realtime scanner).

Well it finally smoothed out. I completely un-installed the drivers, ran driver cleaner pro, re-installed, left the settings as single card and didn't touch any nTune options and SL has been running smoothly for a week or so now. Not as smooth as it ran in SLI : ( But hey! Thanks for all your help everybody ^^