XFX 8800 Ultra XXX problem

[Blindbirdhouse]

:help:
I have the XFX 8800 Ultra XXX edition Graphics Card currently installed in my PC
Specs:
QX6700 CPU @ stock 2.66 (liquid cooled)
Asus Striker Motherboard (Bios ver 0605)
2GB DDR2 Kingston HyperX PC2-6400
500GB Sata Seagate Barracuda HDD
Enermax Galaxy 1000watt PSU
Lian-li V2000 Case

I've tried to run games such as Bioshock, Prey, Tomb Raider Anniversary and Counter-Striker Source. Whilst playing all of these games I get artifacts (black lines etc) and all games Crash at some point which leaves me with no choice other than to restart my PC.

I've tried multiple drivers (taking each one off before installing a new one, with no anti-virus running in the background) but the outcome is always the same.

I've created a ticket on the XFX website, so I'm waiting on that
(Ticket #115334)

Any suggestions will be helpful (though I'm not too fond of messing around with clock speeds etc)

I've added a screenshot of when I ran GPU-Z if this is any help

Thanks in advance.

Chris.

**Also I live in the UK and I bought the Card from Ebay (America) New in August before I built the PC, so I don't think sending the card back to them is hopeful :(


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y161/Blindbirdhouse/GPU-Z.jpg

[Miker]

I hope you registered the card for the warranty and haven't taken off the old heatsink?

Try underclocking the Clock and Memory by about 5, and see if it makes a difference. If it does you know you have a bad card and you should RMA it. The XFX Tech on this forum will do his best to help you out.

[werty316]

What load temperatures are you getting?

This might be a sticky situation since the Double Lifetime warranty doesn't apply to Europe but then if the card wasn't originally registered by the seller then you should be fine.

[Miker]

Still has a warranty in Europe, and XFX stands behind there product. If it is truly defective they will RMA it.

[Blindbirdhouse]

Thank you all for your replies :smile:

I have registered the card with XFX
I have not removed or tampered with anything on the card
How do you downclock the GPU?
I tried running NVtemplogger only with CSS and it says the top temp was 78C


Hope this helps

[werty316]

Try using nTune (http://www.nvidia.com/object/ntune_5.05.47.00.html), Rivatuner (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163) or ATITool (http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/) to downclock your video card.

[bobletman]

Riva tuner is really good for changign clock speeds i would do that. Use ATITOOL to check how many artifacts ur getting after uve underclocked.

[Blindbirdhouse]

ok, I used Riva Tuner to underclock both the core and memory clocks by 5 then I ran ATITool and scanned for artifacts
*see attachments for results*

What do you think ? should I try and underclock more and scan again ?

Thanks again,

Chris

[Blindbirdhouse]

*update*
underclocked Core clock to 650 & Mem clock to 1130 and ran ATITool again
*See attachments*

[bobletman]

From what I see there are no artifacts. Good job

[Scott]

I do know there is a BIOS update which I had to get. Wait and see if my XFX tech support guy chimes in on Monday and can figure this out.

The BIOS actually upped my core clock and lowered my RAM clock and fixed my issues.

[Miker]

Yes, wait for the all-powerful XFX Support dude (AKA Shannon) and he will help you. You will probably just need a BIOS update first, then if that doesn't work you will need to RMA the card. Underclocking it is not a Permanent solution.

[xfxsupport]

Sorry to hear about the problems. Let me look into getting you a BIOS that seems to help. If this does not work you may need to RMA it. I will be sending it to the email address listed in your support ticket shortly.

[Blindbirdhouse]

Thank you very much for your support :icon_tiphat:
I have updated to the Bios you provided
Should I clock the card back up to its original speed or leave it as is ?

Thanks again,

Chris

[xfxsupport]

Leave it as is and run some benchmarks. Let us know how it does.

[Blindbirdhouse]

Ran 3DMark06 and no artifacts were present (good start) :)
I've attached a screenshot of the results, before downclocking + artifacts 13k then after downclocking, Bios update and no artifacts 12k
Should I be getting these kind of scores ?
I'm off to test some games *crosses fingers*

Thanks again

[Scott]

Scores look good to me. Let us know how it is going.

[Blindbirdhouse]

Managed to run Counter-Strike Source and the Crysis Demo so far without any problems
Though this is still with the card underclocked

[Blindbirdhouse]

been running the card at 650 core and 1130 memory and had no artifacts and no game crashes with multiple games. the XFX team them asked me to put the core back to 675 and the memory to 1140 and straight away there were artifacts.
I'm just wondering what will happen as I can't send the card all the way back to America :help:

[xfxsupport]

Are you able to exchange or RMA your video card through the retailer?

[Blindbirdhouse]

Its doubtful, as I bought it on Ebay (America) brand new back on the 31st July and I live in the UK.:frown:

[Blindbirdhouse]

Had to downclock to 645 core and 1120 memory now just to stop artifacts :help:
Maybe I should of got a regular Ultra and not the XXX version :cry:
I'd tear my hair out if I had any :ahhhhh:

[parkboy072]

why don't you just send it back to US XFX? that way you can get the warrenty service and if it is defect, I'm sure they will replace it. You should be patient of shipping time and so.

[Blindbirdhouse]

I hope I can (be it US or Europe) but I havn't heard anything from XFX about sending it to them yet.
Its just frustrating having spent so much money and time building the PC and having the Graphics Card holding it back..but I know these things happen :hide:

[parkboy072]

You are in UK right? Just make a International phone call to them 1-909-230-9800
Since you bought it from US ebay, it has US warrenty which is lifetime warrenty. Just call them and see if they can handle this. :)