hi,
it sounds like you touched the sli finger and transferred a finger print to it... your have to use 99% rubbing alcohol on it to clean it.
 

Hello,

I am having same issue. Using first set of connector for 980 reference cards (Step up) in SLI, Games in full screen mode shows red flickerig screen!

Its frustrating but works perfect when using second set of connector :)

I also have had the same issue as you. Exact.

I have two cards in SLI config.

ManiXyZDoes anyone know why the first SLI connectors let the cards flickering if SLI is enabled? ( red lines, red flashing ).  But second SLI connectors working good, no problems and no flickering at all.

Just received and installed 2 GTX 980 SCs.   I have not seen what you describe, but will keep an eye out. 
 
When you say first SLI connectors, do you mean the one near the back of the card?

Hello,
I have 2 of the EVGA GTX 980 SC...My first set of them was RMA'd due to having bad SLI fingers on the far left side. I was not able to get Full Screen to work at in SLI, cards worked great in windowed mode. The replacements cards came and I installed them...same exact issue with the replacement cards, the far left SLI fingers only worked in Windowed Mode. In Full Screen I got the black Screen and the flickering when trying to open the program or game
The second set of fingers...the ones farthest right work great. I am able to use the same SLI bridge and gain Full Screen.
 
My friend brought his PC over to my house...he has 2 of the Asus STRIX GTX 980 cards...We placed my cards on his MSI board and his Asus cards on my Asus board. Both fingers on his STRIX cards worked flawlessly. I was able to obtain Full Screen on both SLI fingers. My EVGA Cards gave him the same issue I had on my board. Seems it may be EVGA design Problem or 4 cards in a row with bad SLI fingers. Bad thing is with the RMA process I am well over my 30 day return policy and seems I am now stuck with cards that only 1 set of fingers work on. I was and AM under the impression that on all SLI setups you should be able to use either sets of the SLI fingers. If I was ever to go 3 way SLI and needed both sides of fingers I can not with the current design.

well, the GTX980 SC uses the nvidia PCB.
no clue why the first fingers are defective by a lot of peoples.
 
might be a BIOS bug.
maybe three SLI works without any bug with the first SLI fingers.
can't test haven't a mainboard that supports three SLI

update:
BIOS: 84.04.2F.00.80 for EVGA SC ACX 2.0
 
fixes this problem for me
 

You Really Should Open A Support Call or Ticket For This Issue.
I have one open now myself.

Dear demo23019,
 
I am very sorry for any confusion as we do not have a BIOS update to address this concern. Please understand that if you are having a problem with your cards then we can work with you to process warranty on your products.
 
Please contact us at Support@evga.com or by phone at 1-888-881-3842 option 1.
 
I can confirm that at this time we are investigating these concerns.
 

Dear demo23019,
 
I can confirm that we recommend against flashing a card with a BIOS that is made to fix another concern. In this case I can confirm that we do have one BIOS available to assist with Display Port compatibility with a select few monitors and as requested this BIOS was emailed to you to try and assist.

demo23019
Where you find this BIOS? All i can find is for Hydro Copper

http://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f305/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-gm204-sammelthread-faq-bei-fragen-erste-seite-1038553-80.html#post23154907
 
not sure why the support said to me "no new BIOS for your card"...
the BIOS is out since over 2 month...
 
this bios fixes even the LED on the EVGA pro bridge. check here: http://forums.evga.com/EV...nt-works-m2265191.aspx
 

demo23019
Its probably only one of the cards has problem not both.
 
To find out use a flexible SLI cable to troubleshoot. 
You know left is bad on at least one of the cards you need to find out what one.
Plug bridge in left on top card, and on right on bottom card. If you get no flicker then you know th problem is the bottom card.
If still happens then reverse and use left and on bottom and right on the top. If its fixed then its the top card if still happens then its both cards.
 
What ever the result is have them test in SLI before sending replacement make sure they test both side.
 
 

Thanks, what an excellent suggestion.  That worked for me after hours of troubleshooting.  Seriously though, what a bunch of BS that one of my cards is defective.  Pisses me off, and over volt isn't working either.
 
Actually, that was only a temporary fix.  I was able to fix it permanently by switching out my power supply.  The power supply I was using was an OCZ ZX1250w, a single rail high efficiency PSU that has caused problems for me in the past with Nvidia cards for some unknown reason but has worked really well with AMD cards.  I switched back to my Cooler Master Real Power Pro 1250w which has proven to be an excellent PSU time and again over a period of 6 or 7 years.
 
edit again
it's been a few days and everything is still working perfectly and I'm getting higher stable overclocks with this PSU

3 and a half months later and still no trouble.  The power supply was clearly the issue for me, although, there's nothing wrong with that power supply.  I've used to to run SLI GTX 580s, 3 way SLI GTX 280s and X Fire 5970s.  It must be a problem with these cards.  All those cards utilize more power than these do, especially the 5970s.