8800GT Alpha Dog artifacts/screen tears up.

[wickhmar]

Hi guys,

1st time poster, hope you can offer me some advice. :help:

I installed a brand new XFX 8800GT AD card last night and I'm getting artifacts (like jaggy black shapes randomly tearing up the image). It looked exactly like what used to happen when I overclocked my Ti4600 too much.

It happens with 3Dmark'06 and LotRO (pretty much any 3D app)

Aaanyhow, I assumed my power supply might be to blame. It's a Macron 400w PSU and the box tells me 500w is recommended.

I tried the drivers that came on the disc (circa 169),the 175 drivers and finally the drivers that Vista installs by default. I also updated the motherboard BIOS (which seems to have conveniently killed my onboard LAN!) and re-installed the latest DirectX.

I also tried to unplug the rails on everything bar the Motherboard/HDD/Fans/GFX card and took out the Wi-fi card but to no avail.

Nothing has worked and I can only assume that the system doesn't have enough juice to run the card properly? Perhaps the fan isn't receiving enough power? I'm a bit of a noob at this!

I'm running:

Windows Vista SP1 (recent clean install)
P4 651 3.4Ghz Cedar Mill (maybe this is the problem - It idles at around 67C!)
2 Gb 533Mhz DDR2 RAM
Intel D945GNT mobo
SB Audigy SB card
Wi-fi PCI card

Can't seem to get a temp read on the GFX card using SpeedFan so I'll try getting my hands on RivaTuner tonight... I also received my noo Core 2 Duo 7200, which will hopefully be less of a drain on the PSU and generate less heat overall.

BTW, the system and remote temps are around 36C.

Any insight much appreciated! :icon_tiphat:

- D

[typh4u]

First off welcome to the bjorn3D....

If I am not mistaken your PSU puts out 15 amps on the 12volt rail which is a total of 180 watts of power. I read a review that said the 8800GT consumed 150watts at idle and up to 250 watts under load. I would definitely upgrade your PSU.

Here is a free PSU calculator that can help you decide what your system requires....

on edit, the CPU temp is way to hot for a idle Cedar mill. Since you are upgrading to a Core2 I would get that done quick fast and in a hurry.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

[xfxsupport]

I would also try this video card out in another system if possible. If you motherboard has any automatic PCI-e bus overclocking features, ensure that they are disabled as well.

[wickhmar]

Thanks for your help guys, I bit the bullet and ordered a new OCZ 600w PSU. (apparently the Macron's a cheapo $28 psu!)

Will let you know how it goes w/ new power and CPU.

Thanks again! :)

[xfxsupport]

Good luck and keep us posted.

[wickhmar]

Hi fellas,

Well, it turns out my motherboard was incompatible with the Core 2 Duo in the end, so I ordered a brand new ASrock Penryn 1600. Popped in the 600W psu, new motherboard, new CPU and 8800GT, re-installed Vista, installed nVidia 175 drivers and... no joy! :jawdrop:

Still getting the artifacts and tearing, looks like it may be something faulty on the card itself. I'm currently arranging to get it replaced.

Fingers crossed!

- D

[Miker]

What chipset is in the new Mobo? Is it PCI-e 2.0?

Also, ASrock would rank in the bottom 3 in Mobo quality.

[werty316]

Depending which model,the ASrock Penryn 1600 uses the 680i/650i chipset.

[wickhmar]

Hi Miker, werty is right, it's an nVidia 650i.

My system is now an E7200 Core 2 Duo 2.53 Ghz running on an ASrock Penryn1600SLI-110dB.

CPU temps are at a stable 30 or so C.

Interestingly enough, SpeedFan picked up the 7600GT I had in there previously with no problems at all but couldn't see the 8800GT...

[werty316]

Quick question, what temperature does your 8800GT read?

If you were to decrease the 8800GT's clocks do you still get any artifacts/screen tearing?