6800 Power issues

[UCJefe]

My brother just got a PNY 6800 for Christmas and this thing just seems to want way too much power. With 2 separate PSU's, each 420W w/ 18A on the +12V rail, (a Turbolink and a no-name), I got the infamous loud beep of death as soon as I plugged the PSU into the wall (and yes, the auxillary molex was connected properly). As far as I know, this means the thing just isn't getting enough power. By the way, the only things plugged in were the motherboard and video card. So I dragged my rig over and tried it with my Antec 480W NeoPower PSU and sure enough no beep. My question is, are the 6800's really THAT power hungry or is there something wrong with the card. I know all of the issues associated with "unclean" power but this just seems excessive. Anybody else had similar experiences?

 

[Sean453]

Well I'm only running an Antec 350w to power my PNY 6800nu, and haven't had any problems. That's kinda strange.

 

[Navid]

What else do you have in the box? You need to consider everything that consumes power. It is the total that matters.

I have a P4C 2.6G @ 3.17GHz, 2X512PC3200, 2XHD, 1 DVD, 6800OC on a Fortron 350W PSU. The only time I heard that beep was when I forgot to connect the molex connector on the card.

 

[bradyapba]

Sounds like something is wrong. It worked fine with my 250W no name powersupply for 3 weeks until i put it in my new rig, and now its running on a okia(low end) 500W power supply with no problem.

But the 250 ran it fine. So something is going on with the card or your buddies system. Wonder if there is something wrong with his AGP slot.

Chris

 

[LTC8K6]

What motherboard?

Plain 6800nu?

What kind of beep exactly? The Mobo's beep code might tell us something.

 

[UCJefe]

Originally posted by: Navid
What else do you have in the box? You need to consider everything that consumes power. It is the total that matters.

That's the thing, I disconnected everything else. ONLY the motherboard and secondary molex on the video card are connected

 

[UCJefe]

Originally posted by: bradyapba
Sounds like something is wrong. It worked fine with my 250W no name powersupply for 3 weeks until i put it in my new rig, and now its running on a okia(low end) 500W power supply with no problem.

But the 250 ran it fine. So something is going on with the card or your buddies system. Wonder if there is something wrong with his AGP slot.

Chris

Yeah, that's what I thought as well. Maybe a motherboard or other issue. But when I used my power supply on his motherboard/video card in his case, etc, it worked. So theoretically I isolated the PSU as the source of the issue. hmmm...

 

[UCJefe]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
What motherboard?

Epox 8RDA nForce2 board

Plain 6800nu?

Yes, NU

What kind of beep exactly? The Mobo's beep code might tell us something.

It's a high pitch whining solid beep coming from the video card, not motherboard. This is a feature on the 6800 series of cards to alert you (normally) when the secondary molex isn't connected. In my case, it seems to indicate that the card isn't getting enough power. These aren't the BIOS beep codes.

 

[bradyapba]

Ahhh... i assumed you slide the card into your system, not your power supply into his system.... does seem then you have isolated it to the power supply or the card.... i guess your friend needs to buy your power supply or try a new card.

 

[ShrikeAK]

I am having exactly the same issue.

When I plug the power supply into the wall, the speaker on my new 6800 emits a constant LOUD tone, but only when the PC is powered off.

The PC powers on fine... the tone from the 6800 speaker stops. It ran just fine (without any tone) all evening. But when I powered off... the tone starts again.

Secondary molex is plugged in... tried hooking it to every feed coming from the PSU.

Strange strange strange. I will try a spare PSU today.

Mobo is an 8RDA+.

 

[ShrikeAK]

Just swapped in a replacement 400w supply for the other 400w supply.

Tone has changed. It is still there, but it 1/20th of the volume. One cannot hear it with the case on.

So... deciding whether to RMA the 6800.
Hmmm... this one unlocked with ease with no artifacts. But if I RMA it, is there a chance I will get a 6800GT or such back, like those lucky few we all read about. Decisions decisions.

 

[surfcolorado]

I'm bumping this topic because I am having the same problem with an eVGA 6800NU and an Epox 8RDA+ MB.

I have made this observation though. If I touch my left thumb, and my left thumb only to a part of the metal surrounding the connector to the power, the sound goes away. Only my left thumb though and only in that certain spot.

Otherwise the beep is pretty annoying and I have to cut the power to my PS to make it go away. Not a very welcome noise, when you come home drunk at 3am and turn off your computer, crawl in bed, and 2 seconds later have this loud and constant whine coming from your computer.

 

[DarkKnight]

I'm having no problems with my BFG 6800OC on my 400watt allied PSU, which has gotten bad reviews on hardware sites.

Does anyone who has a 6800NU that is not eVGA have this same problem?

 

[uOpt]

You really cannot compare the overall rating of power between PSU brands.

I have a 2.4 GHz AMD64 and a 6800 Ultra on a 400 Watts PSU, but it is a Zalmann 400B, and it works like a charm.

 

[ShrikeAK]

Originally posted by: surfcolorado
I'm bumping this topic because I am having the same problem with an eVGA 6800NU and an Epox 8RDA+ MB.

I have made this observation though. If I touch my left thumb, and my left thumb only to a part of the metal surrounding the connector to the power, the sound goes away. Only my left thumb though and only in that certain spot.

Otherwise the beep is pretty annoying and I have to cut the power to my PS to make it go away. Not a very welcome noise, when you come home drunk at 3am and turn off your computer, crawl in bed, and 2 seconds later have this loud and constant whine coming from your computer.

Very interesting. Exactly the same config I have... eVGA 6800NU and Epox 8RDA+.

As I mentioned, my tone is now somewhat quiet now that I swapped PSUs... but is still there. A grounding issue perhaps?

Later today I plan to cover up the 6800's speaker with a piece of duct tape... that should fully deaden it at the current level.

With my original power supply, it was LOUD... as in 'WTF is that make it stop' loud.

Perhaps I will call eVGA tonight... see if this is common with our mobo.

 

[Chosonman]

I'm running a 400 watt Anetc "Smart Power" PSU with 2 HD, 1 DVD/CD, Floppy, 6800 NU and have no problems.

 

[surfcolorado]

I perhaps might call evga this afternoon too. Maybe they'll feel bad and send me an Ultra instead, doubt it though.

I also have it connected on its own power cable. The cable is plugged into nothing else, and I have tried all of my power connections. Maybe there is an undocumented issue with this Epox board.

 

[MiranoPoncho]

That is indeed odd. I used an 180 watt P.S. and it worked just fine. Certainly could be due inpart to the fact that it had an 800Mhz duron in it, but hey, it worked!

 

[ShrikeAK]

At this point I am certain it has little to do with the available wattage of a given power supply. I tried 3 power supplies with nothing attached other than the mobo & 6800. Differing loudness on the alarm is the only result... one blaring loud, one medium loud, and the other a whipser.

Note that the problem occurs when the system is powered off. No fans, no drives spinning, nothing. The draw on the PS is near zero.

It might be an 8RDA+ mobo thing. Calling eVGA tonight. With luck they will say 'yep... we know about it... here... take a 6800Ultra instead'.

 

[surfcolorado]

Ok, I called up eVGA. The guy on the phone said he had never heard of this problem before and offered me a bunch of crazy solutions like reassembling my computer, trying all different kinds of power combinations in attempt to narrow down the variables. Basically he didn't tell me anything that I already hadn't thought of. So Shrike, what are your computer specs? Maybe there is something in common that we both have that is causing this error.

XP 2400+
512MB crucial PC2700
Epox 8RDA+
NEC 1300A DVD writer
Sony dvd writer
IBM 80 gig HD
Mactor 120gig HD
Linksys wireless pci
Maxtor ATA/100 pci (don't even know why I still use this)
Leadtek XP Deluxe tv tuner

Think my PS is either 400 or 450 I can't remember it's been awhile, and I don't have anything in the PCI slot next to the AGP slot. I'm at a loss especially since eVGA had never heard of this occurring or seemed to show any care in helping me.

 

[ShrikeAK]

AMD2500
1GB PC2700
Epox 8RDA+ <<-- that is likely it... I had everything else unhooked
some CD burner
some 80gb HD
Nothing in the PCI slots.

I tried 2 different 400W power supplies... as I mentioned one causes a far quieter tone than the other.

I am also wondering if the ground on my outlet is hooked up... will perhaps test that tomorrow.

Spoke with eVGA also... my tech support dude was pretty cool. He said the tone indicates that the molex connector does not have a good link to the power supply. Started to advise me on some sh1t (new PS, try to jiggle the plug) but was cool when I said 'been there done that'.

So he told me to take it back to Circuit City. I will play with it a bit more before swapping it.

 

[surfcolorado]

I would've taken mine back by now, if it didn't perform, but it is outstanding, but on the inside of the box it states to call evga if the product isn't working and not to take it back hmmm.....

I even asked the guy what would happen if I could never get it working and he wouldn't give me an answer. So it sounds like they wouldn't be very happy with warranty serivce.