Problems with 8800GT

[7earitup]

Okay - this is a pretty long and drawn out ordeal, so before I get started, let it be known that I appreciate anyones' help regarding this issue.

I had a EVGA 8800GT SC for two years until the 196.75 drivers were released. I had been using the drivers for a few days and then I received artifacts in World of Warcraft and my computer threw up a blue screen. When I booted back up, the artifacts were permanently present in the POST, BIOS, and I could not load video drivers in Windows 7 any longer.

So I sent the card into EVGA for RMA replacement. I receive a new (well, refurbished) 8800GT from EVGA and it worked fine for 5 days using the 196.21 drivers from EVGA's website. After a 5 hour session of Bad Company 2, I start receiving artifacts again and my computer crashes. I restart it and once again I have artifacts at POST, BIOS, and once again can no longer load any video drivers.

So then I file another RMA with EVGA and they send me the second replacement. I just received it today. This time, to make sure nothing software or hardware related was causing the issue I took apart my computer, cleaned it out, rerouted all of the wires, and put everything back together like new. I threw in the new (another refurbished one) 8800GT and fired it up. I did a reformat and fresh install of Windows 7. I installed the 197.13 beta drivers from Nvidia's website (they were linked in an email from Nvidia). It was running great for about an hour in BC2 and then I received artifacts once again. My game shutdown and the Nvidia kernel crashed. I restarted the computer and there are now artifacts in the POST and in BIOS.

I called EVGA's tech support line and asked the guy what it could be. He had me check my power supply but it is putting out the correct voltages and it does not vary whatsoever. He said the best thing for me to do now is to wait until EVGA receives my first 8800GT so they can test it to find out what happened to it, then they can relay the message to me. With all three of these video cards I never reached above 75 degrees Celsius so I do not believe it to be an overheating issue.

What else could it be in my PC? Everything else works absolutely fine, so it is hard for me to believe it is something else. Am I just getting a bunch of junk 8800GTs?

Any and all help would be appreciated. Unfortunately I do not have access to another computer that has a PCI-E slot so I cannot try it in another system.

 

[pugh]

What is your power supply brand and wattage?

 

[Tabby]

it might be that your hard drive is dieing if you are seeing artifacts in the BIOS.

 

[PliotronX]

IIRC the 8800GT's memory might be sensitive to temps and they are not monitored so even if the GPU temp is okay, the memory is using the same heatsink but with a horrible TIM to mate with the heatsink. Damaged video RAM will produce artifacts even in the BIOS which is exactly what happened to my friend's 8800GT at stock. With a fresh replacement, try downclocking the memory for a while and keeping the fan at 40-70% according to your noise preference just to see if that helps. It shouldn't hit performance too much, but if it bothers you, pick up an Accelero S1 and carefully place the included heatsinks onto the memory after cleaning the chips with solvent. My hardmodded 8800GT (1.3v/1.988v) is still going strong with the S1 and a couple of silent 12 cm air moving devices.

 

[Termie]

IIRC the 8800GT's memory might be sensitive to temps and they are not monitored so even if the GPU temp is okay, the memory is using the same heatsink but with a horrible TIM to mate with the heatsink. Damaged video RAM will produce artifacts even in the BIOS which is exactly what happened to my friend's 8800GT at stock. With a fresh replacement, try downclocking the memory for a while and keeping the fan at 40-70% according to your noise preference just to see if that helps. It shouldn't hit performance too much, but if it bothers you, pick up an Accelero S1 and carefully place the included heatsinks onto the memory after cleaning the chips with solvent. My hardmodded 8800GT (1.3v/1.988v) is still going strong with the S1 and a couple of silent 12 cm air moving devices.

This. I just upgraded from an EVGA 8800gt SC upon purchasing BC2. My 8800gt with an Accelero S1 worked fine UNLESS I overclocked the memory past 975, which caused a video card crash while playing BC2 despite working in other games. The game must stress the card more. The stock memory clock of an 8800gt is 900, so try that.

 

[Axon]

So many issues with BC2!

The culprits in order, IMO: Video card RAM, HDD, system RAM, PSU, MoBo. Have you done any stress testing? Memtest? PRIME95 Blend?

I assume you don't wanna go in for a better card, but can you borrow a card from a friend? That could help. Also, try rolling back drivers as far back as viable.

 

[7earitup]

What is your power supply brand and wattage?

OCZ GameXStream 700W

So many issues with BC2!

The culprits in order, IMO: Video card RAM, HDD, system RAM, PSU, MoBo. Have you done any stress testing? Memtest? PRIME95 Blend?

I assume you don't wanna go in for a better card, but can you borrow a card from a friend? That could help. Also, try rolling back drivers as far back as viable.

I will try to run some Prime95 testing in a bit and get back to you guys with the results. Thanks for all of your help!

 

[7earitup]

Some more tidbits of information for you:

I booted it just now from being off overnight. No artifacts at POST or in BIOS. Windows 7 loads up just fine and the NVIDIA drivers are still installed and running. I go to browse the internet with Google Chrome and it artifacts out and has a NV_XXXX.DLL crash and restarts the computer.

In Safe Mode however, it does not show any sign of artifacting. This has been the case with all three cards. They also show no sign of artifacting if Windows 7 is booted in normal mode without any NVIDIA drivers loaded.

Could this be a sign of something? I am running the Prime95 Blend tests now.

 

[Axon]

See what Prime yields, because what I'm looking for is whether or not your RAM, CPU or MoBo is overheating or has another issue. If you don't see artifacts during a 100% near max heat load on your system with a test that uses very little/no GPU, then it's almost certainly the video card.

What's the oldest driver you can get you hands on from nvidia?

 

[7earitup]

See what Prime yields, because what I'm looking for is whether or not your RAM, CPU or MoBo is overheating or has another issue. If you don't see artifacts during a 100% near max heat load on your system with a test that uses very little/no GPU, then it's almost certainly the video card.

What's the oldest driver you can get you hands on from nvidia?

The oldest drivers I can get from NVIDIA's site are the 181.71s. I have been running the blend setting on Prime 95 now for an hour and a half with now errors whatsoever.

EDIT: I am doing the Prime95 testing in Safe Mode - this is okay - is it not?

 

[Axon]

No, you need the primary video driver running It doesn't matter really, we're looking for errors within the rest of your system. Just would have been nice to see what heat was doing. Anyway, cancel out of prime and roll back to the oldest driver you can find, or at least the last properly functioning driver.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/driverrollback.mspx

Try the old driver and see what happens. Otherwise you've probably got a dud or overheating card on your hands. You can try to downclock it I suppose.

 

[7earitup]

No, you need the primary video driver running It doesn't matter really, we're looking for errors within the rest of your system. Just would have been nice to see what heat was doing. Anyway, cancel out of prime and roll back to the oldest driver you can find, or at least the last properly functioning driver.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/driverrollback.mspx

Try the old driver and see what happens. Otherwise you've probably got a dud or overheating card on your hands. You can try to downclock it I suppose.

I installed the 181.71 drivers. I am now up and running with those drivers enabled and Prime95 running in Blend mode. No artifacts thus far. What should I be watching for specifically?

 

[Axon]

Never mind Prime95 now. Go into BC2 and see what happens. Just do what you would normally do. Given you the info you've listed before, it sounds like your card is just getting too hot. It could also be the HDD.

 

[Bill Brasky]

How is your case cooling and cable management? Have you tried monitoring gpu temps with gpu-z?

 

[Axon]

Going out to enjoy the weather. Hopefully you're good to go.

 

[7earitup]

How is your case cooling and cable management? Have you tried monitoring gpu temps with gpu-z?

Just cleaned out the case and rerouted all of the wires yesterday. Two 80MM intakes in the front, one 80MM intake on the side, and two 80MM exhaust on the back.

Two hours of successful Prime95 (blend mode) shows a max of 59 degrees Celsius on the CPU (OC'd to 3.2GHZ). The GPU is 59 degrees Celsius during these tests as well. This is on a pretty hot day in which I would say the room temp is around 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit.

I am going to try BC2 now with these older drivers and see if for one, I can even play it without it crashing, and two, what temperatures I get on the GPU while doing so.

I will report back soon.

 

[7earitup]

Never mind Prime95 now. Go into BC2 and see what happens. Just do what you would normally do. Given you the info you've listed before, it sounds like your card is just getting too hot. It could also be the HDD.

Well - Okay, I just played an hour of BC2 with those older drivers. Max GPU temp was 76 degrees Celsius leaving the fan speed on auto in EVGA Precision.

So my question now is - WTF?

What has been causing these other cards to go bad? Is this first test a fluke?

What else can I try?

 

[Indus]

Its not just your problem. I had a chaintech 8800GT and those drivers gave me the exact same problems so I ended up sticking with the 191 ones.

 

[Axon]

Well - Okay, I just played an hour of BC2 with those older drivers. Max GPU temp was 76 degrees Celsius leaving the fan speed on auto in EVGA Precision.

So my question now is - WTF?

What has been causing these other cards to go bad? Is this first test a fluke?

What else can I try?

Well, remember: newer is not necessarily better. nVidia has been having severe driver issues of late, which is why I wanted you to roll back quite a ways - I wasn't sure which was the last good driver set. Are you still seeing artifacts? Stick with this driver until they get a fix up.

 

[7earitup]

From the short amount of time I have played, no, I have not seen anymore artifacts. Why with my other cards and even this one for a brief period of time, give me artifacts in POST, in BIOS, and while booting? None of that is dependent on the driver I am using.

 

[Itdbclos]

I have the same exact problem as the op. Everything has been replaced except for the HDD and cd/dvd drive. The replacement 8800gts that EVGA sent me as a replacement for the 8800gt gives me the same problem. Artifact lines or dots appear on the screen unless you use a gigabyte g41m-es2l mobo's integrated graphics or an old nvidia 6xxx gpu. I will have to try the 8800gts with old drivers.



My computer:
Abit IP35-E mobo, and new replacement gigabyte g41m-es2l mobo
Intel e2180 @ 3.15 GHZ
Coolermaster hyper 212+ hsf
Hitachi 1TB 7200 rpm HDD
Corsair DDR2 Ram 2gb XMS2
First an EVGA 8800gt dual slot, 2nd a replacement 8800gts 512 dual slot, now a nvidia 6xxx gpu (at least it works)
sony optiarc nec dvd burner
Windows 7 64bit
Antec Earthwatts 430w PS
antivirus

Here is the link to my original post describing the problems: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=327441&highlight=

 

[Axon]

From the short amount of time I have played, no, I have not seen anymore artifacts. Why with my other cards and even this one for a brief period of time, give me artifacts in POST, in BIOS, and while booting? None of that is dependent on the driver I am using.

Couldn't tell you, but I do know I've resolved artifact issues using better drivers.

 

[7earitup]

Couldn't tell you, but I do know I've resolved artifact issues using better drivers.

Definitely a weird situation. I am interested to see what EVGA says is the reason behind my original card dieing on me now.

Thanks for your help Axon!

 

[7earitup]

So, an update on my situation:

I called EVGA to see what the issue was with my original 8800GT and the first one they sent as a replacement. They just said that "testing failed" and they could not give me any further details - BIG help that is.

So yesterday I load up the Starcraft II beta using the 191.07 drivers (the only ones that would not give me artifacts in most games) and started up a skirmish with a bot player. 10 seconds into the game and my computer blue screens, does a memory dump, and then restarts.

The BIOS, POST, and Windows 7 loading screens are now full of artifacts again. EVGA had me check my voltages, and my 12V was at 12.175 which is within specifications. I really cannot pinpoint what is causing these issues, or if it is simply just really REALLY bad luck.

Either way, the third replacement 8800GT is on its way from EVGA now. I have to say I do not have high hopes.

As soon as I have the money to do so, I will probably just replace it with a XFX 5850.

If anyone has any other suggestions as to what may be killing video card after video card, I would absolutely LOVE to hear them! Thanks!

 

[SinxarKnights]

196.75 Alert!
NVIDIA is aware that some customers have reported fan speed issues after installing 196.75 drivers from NVIDIA's website. NVIDIA has removed these drivers and asked its partners to also remove the drivers. Any customers still using 196.75 drivers are asked to immediately discontinue use and either roll back to their previous driver or install the new 197.13 drivers. Driver roll back help can be found here. For those that experienced quality issues with 196.75 drivers, NVIDIA has setup this

Taken directly from the nvidia site. its on the "Download Drivers" Page on the menu.

I was thinking there was some issues with some drivers and i didnt know what ones they where, so i looked at the ones you had and went to the nvidia site to check for newer ones and that alert was up.