Another lockup thread with screen corruption

[Tower1972]

So about 3 weeks ago I had to buy a new video card.Chose the Alpha Dog 8800GTS 512mb flavor.Installed everything(this was a full rebuild with motherboard,ram,video card,processor).Installed everything on a clean Vista install,and had no issues...until 3 days ago.

Random intervals but never more then 20 min,I get screen corruption with lines all over the place,and my pc hard locks(but game sounds are still audible).Thinking its a driver issue(Ive not had Nvidia in my computers since the GF2 mind you),I do alittle research and find a new set of drivers.Wipe the others clean,install the new ones...same issue(not to mention the driver failing and restarting,cant remember the name off the top of my head)

So I toy around abit more,and decide to do another format/install as I was having some IE7 issues also.Finally got her up and running tonight,everything ready to go,and I jump into WoW. Less then 2 min in...corruption,and manually restarted my pc.

I shoot off an email to XFX support with my issue,and ponder the RMA route,either with NewEgg as its only 3 weeks old,or XFX for the warranty.

Anyway,I downloaded Rivatuner,and down clocked my core,ram and shader clocks(50mhz below "stock" speeds),and ran WoW for over an hour with not 1 single hiccup.

Are these cards tested before they are shipped for stability with the factory overclock??

I scoured these forums,and found alot of people have the same issue.I have a 480 watt PS,which I fear is alittle underpowered for all I have running,but im not getting any power errors.Will a new PS(maybe 800watt) clear up the artifacting issues?Will I have to settle for an underclocked card(which isnt what I paid for),or will I have to RMA it for a new one?

Any replies will be welcome :)

[srpeters18]

If under-clocking your card fixes the problem, I would RMA it. XFX is pretty good about understanding that you paid for the over-clocking for a reason. They will probably tell you to send it back to Newegg if you still have that option though, as long as you're within 30 days it might be faster anyway.

[Methious]

If you have good air flow in your case already RMA it to NewEgg, much faster than going the XFX route. NewEgg couple of weeks tops, XFX more like a month.

If you don't have good air flow that might be the problem, soon as they reach temps they artifact, drivers say corrupt (usually just in memory) then BSOD or reboot.

[Miker]

XFX is 1-2 weeks, Newegg is 2-4 with lots of rules.

[Tower1972]

The only thing i fear with using XFX for warranty work is getting a refurb back to replace the one I sent in(which seems to be common practice with alot of companies).

I wonder if Newegg will send out another one and charge me for it,then remove the charge once they get this card back?Ill have to give em a call..thanks for the advice :)

[Tower1972]

Ok I pretty sure it comes down to the factory oc..I can play for hours with it underclocked,but once I return to factory settings,it locked up in 10 min..

I also bought a new power supply...800watt BFG one..going to install it when I get home...see if that might have anything to do with it.

And I bought a BFG 8800GT OC card from a local Best Buy.This will be my last resort if the ps thing doesnt work.

Are there that big of differences between the GT and the GTS besides mem/gpu/shader speeds to constitute that big of a price difference?

I really like the XFX package,but as I stated,this is my first venture back to Nvidia based graphics cards since the GeForce 2...and so far its been rather disappointing.

[mivanx77]

Ok I pretty sure it comes down to the factory oc..I can play for hours with it underclocked,but once I return to factory settings,it locked up in 10 min..

I also bought a new power supply...800watt BFG one..going to install it when I get home...see if that might have anything to do with it.

And I bought a BFG 8800GT OC card from a local Best Buy.This will be my last resort if the ps thing doesnt work.

Are there that big of differences between the GT and the GTS besides mem/gpu/shader speeds to constitute that big of a price difference?

I really like the XFX package,but as I stated,this is my first venture back to Nvidia based graphics cards since the GeForce 2...and so far its been rather disappointing.
Personally I do not like factory OC video cards. For the extra MHz you have to pay extra $$. OC'ing should be decided on the user. But enough of that, btw, never buy tech. from Best Buy, they are over priced and expensive. I suspect most likely that it is the PSU(power supply), or it can be overheating, can you post both the idle temp and full load temp on your video card. I suggest using Rivatuner, its easier to read the temps. with their graphs as opposed to nTune.

[srpeters18]

The only thing i fear with using XFX for warranty work is getting a refurb back to replace the one I sent in(which seems to be common practice with alot of companies).

I wonder if Newegg will send out another one and charge me for it,then remove the charge once they get this card back?Ill have to give em a call..thanks for the advice :)

Doesn't matter if they send you a refurb card. You still get the same warranty whether it is new or refurb so it's not like you're getting something that they won't support if you have issues with it.

[Miker]

If your XXX card can not hold the OC you have 2 options, RMA it for a new one, or just keep it slightly underclocked. The card still kicks ass underclocked so you might want to keep it and not wait for the RMA.

PS. I would've just got a regular card, then Overclocked it and it would still be under XFX's warranty and some money in my pocket.

[mivanx77]

PS. I would've just got a regular card, then Overclocked it and it would still be under XFX's warranty and some money in my pocket.

Well said, Miker.

[Miker]

I think XXX cards are marketed to power users that don't OC, like I once was. The whole fun of OCing is turning something lower into something higher.

PS. Can someone tell me where the multiplier is to set my CPU from one core to two? :lol:

[tyle6]

ROFL WTF? you have single core CPU and how do you figure changing the multi will unlock another core???
ROFL did i miss somethin?

[PieEyedPiper]

Yeah, you missed some pretty blatant sarcasm.
No worries though,

[Tower1972]

ok so I installed a new 800w power supply..3 min into WoW I got the dreaded driver failed and restarted error lol...Alt tabbed out,went back in...corruption was back not more then 20 seconds after tabbing back...So now im downclocking the shader and memory to 1610/965..I might have to go lower tho as this is only a -10 to each..Keeping core at 650

Currently looking in Riva...i see nothing about current temps,only speeds of the fans..And its kinda hard to guage the temp at time of crash as I have to reboot from the hard lock..Anyone know any good sites to post a pic and link?

[Miker]

ROFL WTF? you have single core CPU and how do you figure changing the multi will unlock another core???
ROFL did i miss somethin?

Just a stupid joke.

I use Photobucket.com for my pictures.

[Tower1972]

640 core
1600 Shader
960 Memory

15 seconds to lock...going lower lol
(soon to approach the speeds of the BFG 8800GT OC i have here :( )

Also getting that Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered error again

[Tower1972]

tested a multitude of settings..all the way down to
620 core
1550 Shader
900 Memory

Same results..last time it locked up,I felt the bottom of the card(with static wrist band of course :P ),and it was barely even warm...

Time for an RMA to Newegg im afraid..hopefully the replacement will work as listed on the box...Till then,ill give the BFG a try(30 return with no restocking fee FTW)