XFX 8800GTX XXX locks up system

[RiptoR]

I recently purchased a new computer with a 8800GTX xXx edition card in it. I have no problems when just using Windows, but whenever I start gaming though, the system will completely hang up after 10 to 30 minutes of playing.

Sometimes my LCD will just lose signal, other times the game will freeze for a couple of seconds before my screen loses its signal. The sound is stuck in a loop when this happens.

I tried several things, from manually putting fan speed at 100%, reinstalling drivers,... but to no avail. I checked the temperatures from the card, and they are reaching into the mid-90° just before hangup, even with the fan at full speed.

What could be the problem here? I`m using Vista Ultimate x86 and the latest ForceWare drivers.

My specs:
Intel Q6600 (2.4Ghz)
MSI P35 Platinum
PSU: Corsair 620HX
OCZ 4096MB Gold XTC (2*2GB Dual Kit)
Creative XtremeGamer Pro soundcard

[werty316]

What PSU do you have?

[kiwiplayer]

What PSU do you have?that would be the Corsair 620HX.

next time it locks up, hit the windows key and wait for about 30 seconds. let us know what happens after trying this a couple of times. If it goes to the desktop then i have a fair idea what the probem could be.
when you restart your computer, does windows error report pop up and tell you anything?

[werty316]

DOH! I don't know how I missed that in his post.

[Miker]

Vista that is your problem, get XP and it will go away.

[RiptoR]

Installed XP Pro (x64, x86 wouldn't install :s)

Will test later on, and post results here

[kiwiplayer]

Vista that is your problem, get XP and it will go away.you have some strange ideas sometimes, there are many people that don't have issues with a 8800GTX and vista, installing XP as a fix would only hide the the fact there is a problem.
scott (http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/member.php?u=5) is running vista and a 8800GTX ultra XXX and vista has become more stable than it use to be.

try using Rivatuner or ATItool to down clock the 8800GTX XXX, this is a great way to find out if the card just cant handle the factory overclocked speeds. if this does help then an RMA would probably be needed.
if you hit the windows key (or alt+tab)when the system locks up and after about 30 seconds the desktop appears or you get a stuck thread error, you may have the same problem i had, which was a faulty card. so a RMA would again, probably be needed.

have you properly removed the drivers? did you use a program like driver cleaner? make sure you follow the instructions carefully in driver cleaner.

in case it helps, heres my old thread (http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18050)for the problem i had. see f you are having the same problems then check out the conclusion at the end of the first post.

[RiptoR]

Well, just started a game of serious sam 2. About 15 minutes ingame, screen/sound locked up (static image + sound in loop). I logged the temps, and last entries in the log are around 90°. I heared the fan ramp up when i started gaming, so that shouldn't be a problem i think.

This is on XP Pro x64 and latest drivers.

Will now try underclocking the card with ntune to the standard GTX values.

PS: I will report in a couple of hours, got a deadline that needs taken care of first (I'm a reviewer/previewer for a Belgian game site).

[xfxsupport]

Downclocking a video card is always a great testing tool. Also try disconnecting everything from the PSU except the video card, mobo and main hard drive to see if that helps as well. Keep us posted.

[zachig]

Looking forward to see your updated results and whether downclocking the card helped or not...GOOD LUCK! :icon_tiphat:

[RiptoR]

Well, have been doing some testing this morning.

First thing i did was remove the card and reinstall it, and checking if everything was connected properly. Didn't find any problems here.

I left the case open, started to log the temps on the card, and started some Serious Sam 2. I was able to play over 90 minutes without any lockups. Temps never exceeded 83°, which is good (I presume :)).

I then closed up the case again, and played some more Serious Sam 2 (great game btw :p). After a minute or 15, I stopped playing to check the temps. 86° was the hottest entry in the log. Still not seeing much trouble here.

So after about 2 hours of playing, no lockups or anything. I can't believe simply remounting the card did the trick. I'll be playing some more tonight after work, see how that goes, and report back.

I did notice that the fan made some weird clicking noises while playing, not sure what to think of that. When the fan ramped up, the noise went away (or wasn't audible anymore).

I've attached a pic of my computer running with case removed, so you can see how everything is placed inside. http://users.telenet.be/byeclan/comp/DSC01668.jpg

PS: Don't mind the cabling, everything is tucked in behind the backpanel now, this pic was just the first install to see everything was working.

[zachig]

Well, have been doing some testing this morning.

First thing i did was remove the card and reinstall it, and checking if everything was connected properly. Didn't find any problems here.

I left the case open, started to log the temps on the card, and started some Serious Sam 2. I was able to play over 90 minutes without any lockups. Temps never exceeded 83°, which is good (I presume :)).

I then closed up the case again, and played some more Serious Sam 2 (great game btw :p). After a minute or 15, I stopped playing to check the temps. 86° was the hottest entry in the log. Still not seeing much trouble here.

So after about 2 hours of playing, no lockups or anything. I can't believe simply remounting the card did the trick. I'll be playing some more tonight after work, see how that goes, and report back.

I did notice that the fan made some weird clicking noises while playing, not sure what to think of that. When the fan ramped up, the noise went away (or wasn't audible anymore).

I've attached a pic of my computer running with case removed, so you can see how everything is placed inside. http://users.telenet.be/byeclan/comp/DSC01668.jpg
I'm glad to hear you've managed to (probably) solve the problem.

It might be that the card just wasn't placed properly in the Slot and reseating it just solved the problem.

Anyway, I still think that 86C on LOAD are a bit high, so I would advice you to cool down the card a bit more, just to be on the safe side.

You can easily set you Video Card fan to work @100% all the time, by using RivaTuner (that's what I'm doing) and you'll immediately see the difference. But that's of course, if you don't care about the noise, though when the fan is working @100%, I can still barely hear it, but that's in my case. ;-)

GOOD LUCK and of course, like always, keep us updated and I really hope that your problem is gone for good...:icon_tiphat:

[RiptoR]

Should I worry about the noise the fan makes?

[zachig]

Should I worry about the noise the fan makes?
I don't think so, unless it's quite loud and/or a strange noise and then, you probably got a defective fan. :frown:

But if the noise comes just from the speed up of the fan (the "woosh" sound...:lol:) then you should be just fine...;-)

OH...and BTW, WELCOME ABOARD to the forums! :icon_tiphat:

[westy87]

the "woosh" sound...

Haha funny zachig! Thats my laugh for the night:offtopic:

[zachig]

Haha funny zachig! Thats my laugh for the night:offtopic:
Hehehe...I'm glad I made you laugh...:icon_tiphat:

And hey, don't you agree it makes a "woosh" sound at higer speeds...:lol:

[RiptoR]

It's not a "woosh" sound :)

More of a ticking, like the fan is hitting something. I've looked closely at it, didn't see any obstructions.


PS: Thanks for all the help till now :D
I just cashed out 2500euro to buy myself a high-end gaming system, and I'm kinda worried my GTX could be a dud...

[zachig]

It's not a "woosh" sound :)

More of a ticking, like the fan is hitting something. I've looked closely at it, didn't see any obstructions.


PS: Thanks for all the help till now :D
I just cashed out 2500euro to buy myself a high-end gaming system, and I'm kinda worried my GTX could be a dud...
If this is the case, so maybe you have a problem with the fan, but like I said before, you'd better set it to run 24/7 @100%.

This way, not only you'll get better cooling for the card, but you'll also prevent that "ticking" noise, as the fan won't ramp anymore from low to high speed, but remain at high speed all the time. ;-)

[kiwiplayer]

so the card works at the standard settings but not the factory overclocked settings and the fan makes a niose at low speed?

PM XFXsupport with your ticket number. make sure you also add a link to this thread in your PM.

[RiptoR]

Yeah, I'm kinda worried here because I can clearly hear the ticking above the casefans of my P182.

I'll be playing some more tonight, will report back with my findings.

[RiptoR]

Well, just did some more playtesting at 'stock' clocks (630/1000). Was able to play for about 20 minutes before Serious Sam 2 crashed. Tried quake4 then, same thing happened.

Below is a excerpt from the temperature logs right before the hangups:

Current Time Gpu core(3D)(MHz): GPU memory(MHz): SMART-status: GPU1:(ºC) CPU(%): Disk(%): Network(%): Memory(%): Profielen geladen:
2007/10/31 20:44:3 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:7 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:11 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:15 621.0 999.0 Gezond 82 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:19 621.0 999.0 Gezond 82 29 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:23 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:27 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:31 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:35 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 31 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:39 621.0 999.0 Gezond 82 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:43 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:47 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:51 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:55 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:44:59 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 36 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:3 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:7 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:11 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:15 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:19 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:23 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:27 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:31 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:35 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:39 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:43 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:47 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:51 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:55 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:45:59 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:3 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:7 621.0 999.0 Gezond 82 22 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:11 621.0 999.0 Gezond 81 11 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:15 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 27 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:19 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 29 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:23 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:27 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:31 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:35 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:39 621.0 999.0 Gezond 83 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:43 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:47 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:51 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:55 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:46:59 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:3 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:7 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 31 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:11 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:15 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 31 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:19 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:23 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 20:47:27 621.0 999.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %

As you can see, temperatures shouldn't the problem here.

You may also notice Nvidia Monitor is showing my GTX running at 621 instead of the advertised 630. Don't get me wrong, I can live with that, but I just think it's kinda weird since I didn't downclock the card at this try.

I will now set the clocks to the standard GTX ones (575/900), and play some more. Let's hope I don't get crashes :(

[RiptoR]

2007/10/31 21:41:24 576.0 900.0 Gezond 83 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:28 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:32 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:36 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:40 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:44 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:48 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:52 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:41:56 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:0 576.0 900.0 Gezond 85 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:4 576.0 900.0 Gezond 85 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:8 576.0 900.0 Gezond 85 31 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:12 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 35 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:16 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:20 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 33 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:24 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:28 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 34 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:32 576.0 900.0 Gezond 86 29 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:36 576.0 900.0 Gezond 85 30 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:40 576.0 900.0 Gezond 85 32 % 0 % 0 % 23 %
2007/10/31 21:42:44 576.0 900.0 Gezond 84 31 % 0 % 0 %

Played almost one hour without crashing, temps were about the same (is this possible :))

I guess the card can't handle the factory overclocking.


PS: I've also noticed there's no more screen tearing when I downclock the card. There used to be a line of about a half inch high where the image kinda stayed behind when turning around. Some sort of ghosting, but clearly visible.

[xfxsupport]

was the screen tearing still present with Vertical sync turned on?

[RiptoR]

was the screen tearing still present with Vertical sync turned on?

Only happened from time to time, wasn't always present.

[kiwiplayer]

I've also noticed there's no more screen tearing when I downclock the card. There used to be a line of about a half inch high where the image kinda stayed behind when turning around. Some sort of ghosting, but clearly visible.when screen tearing happens, turn on Vsync. make sure it's also turned on in the Nvidia driver settings.
screen tearing usually only happens when you move (pan up and down or walk forward or backward). Vsync does usually drop your FPS by about 50% and stops the FPS from going more than your monitor refresh rate.
so if you have an LCD set at 60Hz, your max FPS with Vsync on would be 60FPS.
it's cuased by the video card releaseing frames as it makes them, regardless if your monitor is ready for them. Vsync makes the video card only release new frames when the monitor tells it to, hence why the FPS max is the same as the monitors refresh rate:grin:
it may make the FPS to drop to 30 or 40 but a constant 30-40 quality FPS is better than crappy 100-200FPS.
best thing you can do is turn on Vsync and adjust the image quality settings until you can get a constant FPS, i doubt you will notice a difference of 10FPS but you probably will notice if you got from 60FPS to 30FPS to 60FPS consistantly.

but this still wont change the fact that you have had to downclock from the factory overclocked settings so you can get a stable system. if you can continue to play at the standard settings without any crashes (let us know for how long it's been stable), let us know so XFXsupport can decide what is the best thing for you to do :smile:

[RiptoR]

just been playing almost the entire afternoon on stock GTX speeds without any hang ups or crashes.

put it back on the XXX speeds, and after 15 minutes, system locked up while playing Q4. :(

[xfxsupport]

PM me you email address and I can send you a different bios that should help out.

[RiptoR]

I've also ordered a couple of extra 120mm fans for my case. Got some extra room to install at least one extra to take in fresh air.

Will also remove the platsic grills from the front intake fan, see if it can help :)

[xfxsupport]

I emailed you the BIOS, let me know how it goes.

[RiptoR]

I did some extra playtesting with case open. temps didn't even reach 76° in a one hour playing session. I'm starting to think it might be a temperature problem after all.

Game was Quake 4, res 1920*1200 everything maxed (4x aniso filtering).

I'm about to close the case again, and see what it gives temperature wise. I'll report back later tonight.

[RiptoR]

Well, seems that (replacing) the extra casefan that blows directly onto my 8800 might have helped. Been playing through Quake 4 without any problems atm.

My soundcard (Xfi Xtremegamer pro) did have the infamous high pitched sound thing one time, but other than that, everything's been smooth as butter.

I'll continue playing games this afternoon (Serious Sam 2, Lost Planet, Test Drive Unlimited, ...) and see what happens.

[RiptoR]

Computer's been running since 8:30am this morning, been playing games on it for several hours non-stop, and been watching some Dark Angel (season 1) on it as well. No lockups whatsoever.

Card temperatures didn't go above 80°, seems the new fan does help a great deal.

PS: I did notice Quake 4 wasn't running on Ultra High quality, still have to test that out. But I doubt it will make a difference with the High quality setting.

[trikki69]

Hi all, :icon_tiphat:
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I've got exactly the ame issues on my 8800 GTX XXX - The system locks up after about 20 - 30 mins playing Crysis/Call of Duty 4. RivaTuner and nvidia monitor logged the highest temp at about 77 degrees whilst playing either game. :frown:

I've raised a ticket with XFX to see if I can get it sorted, the ticket ref is: 119028.

I want to try and down clock the core and memory to see if this has any effect, could some kind soul please point me in the right direction as what program to use and how to do it...? :help:

Thanx
Rick

[RiptoR]

my problems seemed to disappear by adding (well, replacing a broken) front case fan that sucks in fresh air.

for downclocking, you could use ntune (from nvidia) or rivatuner.

[trikki69]

I can't really add any more fans to my system...
It has a large fan at the front of the case sucking cold air in and another in the back blowing it out again, 2 fans mounted on the side panel, one of which is blowing cold air accross the top of the GFX card PCB the other is higher sucking out hot air and finally there are 2 small fans blowing ducted cold air from outside the case onto the fan of the gfx card.

I don't know what else to do, I logged system temps with nvmonitor and the highest the GPU on my card got to was 75 degrees.

Any ideas? :help:

Thanks

[RiptoR]

My system's been running smoothly the last couple of weeks.

But tonight, the lockup happened again while playing Prey. Gonna start logging my temps again...


Oh, I was thinking about faulty ram on the card, could that be possible? that the lockups happens whenever a certain bad patch in the ram is reached?

[trikki69]

OK,
Just a quick update - I have had a response from XFX Tech support, they requested I downclocked the GPU and memory to standard GTX speeds and test which I did. The lowered GPU and mem speeds seem to have solved the crashing issue so I will be sending the card back to my re-seller for an RMA.

[mike20v]

OK,
Just a quick update - I have had a response from XFX Tech support, they requested I downclocked the GPU and memory to standard GTX speeds and test which I did. The lowered GPU and mem speeds seem to have solved the crashing issue so I will be sending the card back to my re-seller for an RMA.

What about someone who purchased the card in late 2006? Or someone who purchased the card from one previous owner? Doesn't xfx offer a "double" lifetime warranty? Whats the deal with all that jazz?

[XFX Tech]

April 17th, 2007 was when the 30 day registration started. Everyone who purchased before then was grandfathered in to the Double Lifetime Warranty. You are fine.

[RiptoR]

Been a while since I posted this question, but I just wanted to share how I got my system stable for the last couple of months.

1. For starters, I set the "Max prerendered frames" option in the nVidia control panel to 4 (standard = 3). This helped for the majority of games that crashed with a BSOD.

2. Some more powerhungry games (such as for example Gears of War, Mass Effect and Oblivion) still crashed from time to time. Could be after a couple of minutes or a couple of hours, so it was completely random. To fix this I just lowered my memory clock by 50mhz, and my system has been stable ever since.

Seems that in my system the memory timings were the culprit.