Bfg 6800 Gt

rabbitinlights

A kind man from Fedex delivered a BFG 6800 GT OC this morning, I got it from the states for €360 and i didnt get stung for Duty, so im quite happy.

Anyway I cleaned all trace of my last card (5600) from my system and installed the new card and drivers (from CD), I loaded up far cry just to test it, after about 3 min of gameplay, it lock's up and reboots the PC. I got the newest drivers from the nvidia site and it still locks up. I tried HL2, and after about 10 mins it locks up, before it locks it run's 90fps no problem on high detail (1280x1024), I did notice its say's AGP 0x in the GFX properties?
Any ideas?

Heres my Spec:

ABIT IC-7
P4 2.4@3.06
1GB PC3200 - Corsair Pair
BFG 6800GT OC
XP Pro
360W PSU

Its driving me nuts, also just before it locks up it shows kinda wierd flashes in parts of the screen.

Sean

Bass.exe

Define "Wierd Flashes".
Graphical Errors? Snow (static)?

It sound like it's either a)Overheating or b)It's overclocked to unstable heights.

Edit: Or maybe.. hmmm.. what brand of PSU do you have? nVidia cards guzzle the juice, your PSU may not be up to the task...

rabbitinlights

Wierd flashes, and the card is overclocked out of the box, Its 370Mhz (most 6800GT's are 350) I have my case open and ive never had any problem with cooling before the temp is 52' (GPU core), the PSU is a Chieftec 360W.

Could it be anything to with my motherboard?

Bass.exe

Yes, I'm aware it's OCed out of the box, hmmm, 52 degrees is reasonable....
Chieftec 360w should be ok, unless you have a LOT of HDDs. Do you?

It COULD be something to do with ANYTHING, including, but not limited to, your mobo. Most likely not though....

No, it sounds like a problem my friend was having, which WAS cooling related.... but then just "went away".

You say it happens after about 10 mins? That's about when the card has reached it's peak, if it's being pushed (i.e. by a game)

I'll ask a couple friends...

rabbitinlights

Thanks, I have 2 HDD and 1 Optical. Im gonna try new Chipset drivers for my Mobo and give it a blast tomorrow, god damm I wanna play HL2.


Sean

Dr Bolouswki

I had some graphics probs recently (same thing, blue screens, rebooting) due to not having the latest microsoft.net updates installed - I updated to msnet 1.1 and it worked out... worth a try?

Bass.exe

I'm told that the temperature on that line of GFX cards can jump, vertically, 20 feet (or degrees, whatever) in a matter of about a minute.... but it could just be a driver thing.

Update drivers, then try this:

If you have a fan (As in a desk fan) put it up to the side of the computer (case open) and let if fly!
Try gaming again, (being careful not to kick the fan into your machine...) and see if it crashes after 10 mins. If it does, well you've eliminated the cooling as a potential problem. If it doesn't... may I suggest ArcticIce?

secret_squirrel

Just a suggestion but have you tried running your CPU at stock? Its always worth ruling any problems in that area out.

rabbitinlights

I doubt its my CPU, its been at this speed since last september when i was waiting for HL2, and my 5600 ran fine. Although ill try it tomorrow to make sure.

Sean

BloodBath

Hmm your pushing it with a 360w psu. Even a good brand like Chieftec would struggle with what your running on it.

Most psu's are only rated for their output up to a certain temp. If they do overheat they can lose some of the output.

I reckon your using around 300w-350w of power in that system so that could be your problem.


BloodBath

BabyEater

Can I ask you where you bought it from.

rabbitinlights

6800 GT - $406 That works out at about 311 Euros, i forked out for the $60 48hr delivery because of HL2.........

I updated the Intel Chipset drivers from ABIT and it has stopped locking up, but at random times the flashes are still there, now in the 4 hours it happened 3 times, its not at very heavy graphic parts either but it is annoying, i might disconnect a few things and see how she runs?

Bloodbath, where did you get your PSU and how much? its E90 on Komplett.

Sean

Venom

My guess would be you PSU. 350w is very low for a card of that type so maybe try picking up a Antec or Thermaltake 480w PSU. You can get a Tt Purepower 480w in peats for about €80 quid.

TacT

Venom wrote:

My guess would be you PSU. 350w is very low for a card of that type so maybe try picking up a Antec or Thermaltake 480w PSU. You can get a Tt Purepower 480w in peats for about €80 quid.

I would definitely suspect it's your psu. Have you tried disconnecting almost everything from it apart from your primary hd/ a few fans and seeing if it's a lack of juice possibly?

rabbitinlights

Right, im gonna try disconnecting a HDD and my optical drive and sound card and see how it goes, because forking out for a PSU wasnt expected...... Damm you HL2.

I think id go for a Thermaltake Butterfly 480w if i do have to fork out for one, Im guessing they are fairly quite?

Sean

Dr Bolouswki

try http://www.hitide.ie/ if you need one in a rush... you in dublin anytime soon?

rabbitinlights

Nah, not for a few weeks anyway, I just ran 3dmark05 and i got 4689, Which i was very happy with, im gonna leave it for a while and see how i get on, ive been playing for the last 2 hours and have not seen any flashes at all. I know it sounds wierd but it kinda feels like it just needed to "settle in" Or am i just talking Shíte?

Sean