9800 pro problems

[arnon99]

hi!
just got my new radeon 9800 pro by visiontek, installed it and got a problem.

i get bad image corruptions. it happends worst in 3dmark03. the card is perfectly ok when handeling 2D but in 3D it gets all messed up:
i ran 3dmark03 and its seemed at first (game 1 and 2) that every thing is abit slow but ok. than came game 2 (battle of proxycon) and the
image was very VERY corrupt.
during the entire test and till the end of the benchmark it seems that there are a lot of pixels that shouldnt suppose to be there. object has big transparent pixels
and sometimes the entire image is messed up. i moved on and the next test (goblin lair) and it was the same. in nature (test number 4) the computer locks the minute
it started.

my main computer is:
pentium 4 2.4
abit sr7-8x (sis 648)
DDR333 512MB
sound blaster live
adaptec 2940 SCSI
realtek 8139
CTX pr960F monitor
Antec 430W power supply.

here is what i tried:
1) before i installed the card i removed the detonator drivers i had. after getting these corrupt images i thought maybe the old detonator drivers messed
it up so i installed a fresh new windows xp and it was still the same.
2) my bios is already updated (version sr7cm). and i changed the settings that abit published. those settings were to disable "post write combine" but still no good.
3) i downloaded the latest drivers from ATI. the drivers in the CD (ver 1.1) were old so i installed catalyst 3.2 Version: 6.14.01.6307. and still no good.
4) i lowered the hardware accelaration a notch and marked "enable write combining" yet the problem persist.
5) i tried other software (splinter cell) and though it wasnt as bad as in 3dmark03, it was apparent in some places.
6) i thought about IRQ problem so i removed every PCI card (SCSI NIC and SB) but it was the same.
7) since i heard about motherboard problems i tried the card on my secondary computer:
pentium 3 800
Asus CUSL2-C (intel 815EP)
SDRAM PC133 512 MB
sound blaster live value
intel 10/100 NIC
mag 15" monitor
but still the same

tell me if i missed anything and if so what should i do...

 

[chizow]

Looks like VisionTek overclocked their 9700pros too far. What drivers are you using? I'd try running riva tuner and downclock the card a bit...try 325/310. All those symptoms of artifacting and then crashing are identical to overclocking issues. If it runs without artifacts at 325/310, I'd put in for an RMA.

Chiz

 

[HardWired]

Yep..maybe heat related. Possibly from a HSF assembly at the factory that didn't go quite right. We all know how the shim around the VPU is major suck when trying to get proper contact w/ the hsf

 

[Glitchny]

also try running with the speeds it came as but use the 3.1 drivers, the 3.2's have issues sometimes

 

[Junkman]

What version of Direct X?

 

[Badash7]

Well first most ati card problems require reformating to solve. However if you had the same exact issue on 2 pc's theres a good chance the card is bad. Reformat install your chipset drivers, 9800 drivers, sound card drivers. Directx 9, 3dmark 2001. Close all background tasks, Set the desktop to 1024x768x32, run 3dmark01 at default and then see if it works. Oh set write combining off and agp fast writes in the bios if you have it. And try running the card at agp 8x and 4x. Check your aperture size in the bios.

 

[Snipe292]

Just wondering, how similar is Visiontek's card to the reference? I can't find any pictures of it. Same cooling solution?

 

[arnon99]

enjoy the pics of a probably dead 9800
10x guys, ill try it out.
i wont underclock my card so i wont lose my warrenty
yes, its a referance design

 

[arnon99]

oops...
here is the link again:
link

 

[Badash7]

Did you try your agp related settings in your bios? And running it at agp 4x? If you had it shipped that far it could be damaged. I've seen a similiar static when the settings in the bios weren't correct, except for that line I've never seen that.
Check Agp fast write, Graphics window size/aperture, Video memory cache mode.

 

[Killrose]

You did hook-up the external power cable too did'nt you?

 

[arnon99]

all relevant bios settings are disabled but it doesnt matter if it happends the same on 2 very different mobos.
power cable is connected killrose the card is so power hungry that without the cable it doesnt boot and beep.
i never understood why shipping cards abroad is a risk factor. just one more stop and one more jet...

 

[FiLeZz]

Just ordered this card from outpost..

where did you get yours..

Thanks

 

[sharkeeper]

Bad RAM or RAM that can handle the speed at which it's operating at.

-DAK-

 

[touchmyichi]

underclock it a little.

 

[bmg]

Make sure the heatsink isn't flopping around, mine was really loose.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Glitchny
also try running with the speeds it came as but use the 3.1 drivers, the 3.2's have issues sometimes

What else is new...

 

[Jeffph]

did u activate 8x? if u did lower it to 4x using the control panel hope this helps