Strange eVGA 6800 Ultra problem

[DarkAmeba]

I just switched from a 6800GT to a 6800 Ultra (traded my GT and $40 to a friend who didn't want the ultra)

Ever since I switched, i've had really strange problems. When I have more than one window of anything open, particulary firefox, the screen will flash to black for half a second then return to normal. When its going on, the flashes occur about once every 2 seconds. ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! Strangest thing is that it appears to run games fine.

Any ideas what could be wrong here???

Revelant system specs:
Dell 2001fp via DVI connection
Antec true430 PSU
eVGA 6800 Ultra (5.40.02.15.07 bios version, Forceware 66.93)
no overclocking whatsoever

 

[DullesGuy]

I too have had the occasional "flashing". It deleted an entire DVD project I was working on.

I'm pretty sure it has to do when the screen saver tries to come on, but I'm not sure yet. It's only happened maybe five times.

 

[fstime]

do you have two seperate molex connecters going to the card or are you using a Y-cable, what kind of voltages are you geting on that PSU(12V)

 

[DarkAmeba]

I have a single cable from the PSU with nothing on it other than the video card. I am using 2 seperate molex cables off of that cable - no Y adapter. I was a bit worried about my 430 watter but i know its a good psu so i thought i'd be ok. Not sure of the exact voltages I am getting though. Do you think I need to upgrade the PSU??

 

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: DarkAmeba
I have a single cable from the PSU with nothing on it other than the video card. I am using 2 seperate molex cables off of that cable - no Y adapter. I was a bit worried about my 430 watter but i know its a good psu so i thought i'd be ok. Not sure of the exact voltages I am getting though. Do you think I need to upgrade the PSU??

wrong!

please read the install instructions. you need 2 seperate molex lines for the vid card.

 

[fstime]

Your psu should be fine, depends what it is, name brand? Whats your voltage on your 12V.

 

[DarkAmeba]

My current PSU is an Antec. The 12v is steady at about 18a.

Thanks for the suggestion Thugs. I'll give that a shot... gonne be intresting finding enough cables for everything

 

[sparkyclarky]

I had the exact same problem. I run a 2001fp on DVI and a 15" Mitsubishi on DVI, both running off of a Gainward 6800GT. It went away when I reversed which monitor was connected to which output on the gfx card.

 

[DarkAmeba]

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky
I had the exact same problem. I run a 2001fp on DVI and a 15" Mitsubishi on DVI, both running off of a Gainward 6800GT. It went away when I reversed which monitor was connected to which output on the gfx card.

Ok i'll try that too.

BTW, Awesome post count! LOL

sparkyclarky
Golden Member

Posts: 1337
Joined: 05/03/2002

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: DarkAmeba

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky
I had the exact same problem. I run a 2001fp on DVI and a 15" Mitsubishi on DVI, both running off of a Gainward 6800GT. It went away when I reversed which monitor was connected to which output on the gfx card.

Ok i'll try that too.

BTW, Awesome post count! LOL

sparkyclarky
Golden Member

Posts: 1337
Joined: 05/03/2002

Ah, I was 1337 for but a brief moment. Such a fleeting thing it is!

 

[DarkAmeba]

I tried all of the above suggestions and it appears one worked because the problem is gone. Thanks guys!!

 

[sparkyclarky]

My theory about why this happens revolves around nVidia's implementation of DVI. Many people know by now that NV's on chip DVI doesn't quite push the full bandwidth of DVI/runs slightly out of spec. At least that's what Tom's pointed out. So, on dual DVI cards in the 6800 series, one of the ports is being driven by the on-GPU DVI transmitter (or whatever it's called), and the other is being driven by the external silicon image chip. The silicon image chip is better than NVs on chip solution. So, when I switched my 20" FP and my 15" FP around, I'm willing to bet that the 20" was originally on the port driven by NVs on chip transmitter and was moved to the Silicon image transmitter, thereby giving it higher and more stable/consistent bandwidth, helping at it's native res of 1600x1200 and eliminating my flicker problem. The 15" FP couldn't care less as to which port it uses, seeing as how its native res of 1024x768 doesn't push the bandwidth of DVI at all. I'd be particularly interested in learning if anyone is driving two 20" + flat panels on a 6800 series dual-DVI card with no flicker issue at all.

However, the only monkey wrench in this theory (and it's a big wrench) is that the problems with flicker seem to revolve around Firefox primarily. Unless Firefox has some wonky coding which somehow is causing a huge run on pixels (I have no idea if this is even possible?), my theory might fall flat.

 

[slash196]

Wow, I'm really surprised a 430 W, 18 A psu can run an Ultra, but then again, Antec makes good stuff.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: slash196
Wow, I'm really surprised a 430 W, 18 A psu can run an Ultra, but then again, Antec makes good stuff.

I'm running a Truepower 430 that's about 2 years old or so (maybe a bit older - bought it used). I run 5 HDs (used to run 6), 3 optical drives, 1 gig RAM, AXP 2500+ @ 2.25, a 6800GT, etc. just fine. Voltages are pretty much rock solid and right on when measured with a multimeter (rather then dick around with the innacuracies inherent to MBM5 and the onboard sensor chips).

 

[yoshimbo]

i think this is a lesson for all......read manuals, who knows what good stuff you'll find

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: yoshimbo
i think this is a lesson for all......read manuals, who knows what good stuff you'll find

HUH?

 

[fstime]

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky

Originally posted by: yoshimbo
i think this is a lesson for all......read manuals, who knows what good stuff you'll find

HUH?

The manual says to use 2 seperate molex connecters off 2 different lines.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: BouZouki

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky

Originally posted by: yoshimbo
i think this is a lesson for all......read manuals, who knows what good stuff you'll find

HUH?

The manual says to use 2 seperate molex connecters off 2 different lines.

That's not what was causing his problem. Read my previous posts. I have a dual dvi 6800gt. Hence, one molex connector. I had the exact same problem he describes. When I changed my monitors around on the DVI ports, the problem disappeared. Therefore, it's almost certainly not a PSU issue.

 

[slash196]

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky

Originally posted by: slash196
Wow, I'm really surprised a 430 W, 18 A psu can run an Ultra, but then again, Antec makes good stuff.

I'm running a Truepower 430 that's about 2 years old or so (maybe a bit older - bought it used). I run 5 HDs (used to run 6), 3 optical drives, 1 gig RAM, AXP 2500+ @ 2.25, a 6800GT, etc. just fine. Voltages are pretty much rock solid and right on when measured with a multimeter (rather then dick around with the innacuracies inherent to MBM5 and the onboard sensor chips).

That's a pretty hefty load, I'm impressed.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: slash196

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky

Originally posted by: slash196
Wow, I'm really surprised a 430 W, 18 A psu can run an Ultra, but then again, Antec makes good stuff.

I'm running a Truepower 430 that's about 2 years old or so (maybe a bit older - bought it used). I run 5 HDs (used to run 6), 3 optical drives, 1 gig RAM, AXP 2500+ @ 2.25, a 6800GT, etc. just fine. Voltages are pretty much rock solid and right on when measured with a multimeter (rather then dick around with the innacuracies inherent to MBM5 and the onboard sensor chips).

That's a pretty hefty load, I'm impressed.

I was happy it worked too, considering that I have the PSU all nice and sleeved up. I keep it well ventilated in this pc-v200, so I'm sure that helps. Eventually, I probably will get a 500+ Watter, because I'd like having the peace of mind (and the SATA power connectors