XFX 6800GT @ 350/900!?! Memory problem

[Ylide]

I just bought a XFX 6800GT... I had a bad surprise when checking the clock speeds... The processor is right at 350MHz, but the memory is at 900MHz! I tried to overclock it to the normal 1000MHz, but was just able to get to 941MHz. Anyone got one of these cards with the same problem? I contacted XFX support and I'm waiting for an answer... looks like a rip off. Be careful buying this card.

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[Slappy00]

strange.... are you useing a third party program to aquire these readings?

maybe somehow the readings are inaccurate, the other possibility is that the speed is infact slower

 

[fzaba]

My XFX 6800GT was also clocked with 900mhz memory. I just used Coolbits and set it to 1ghz. I even pushed it to 1.12ghz and ran 3DMark05 a few times in a row- no artifacting/problems. I am currently running at 400/1000 and it is staying cool even after playing UT2K4/Doom3 for a few (or more ) hours. Out of the box, I had a low 3DMark score and games weren't running quiet as fast as they should be; the extra 100mhz memory bump by itself makes a noticeable difference.
I bought from Buy.com for $340 shipped when they had that sale about a month ago.

I almost RMA'd my board when seeing the 900mhz memory, but since it is able, and runs stable at 1.12ghz memory if needed, I don't see the reason to return this board. But of course, your situation is different if you are stuck at 941mhz. :| Is it a heat issue, or does the utility you are using not allow anything over 941mhz?

I am running Forceware 66.72 drivers, CoolBits, and have BIOS version 5.40.02.28.04.

And BTW, XFX's support sucks. Look near the bottom of the page. :thumbsdown: You are probably better off contacting the company you bought the card from instead of dealing directly with XFX.

Hope this helps.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

thats really not on....use coolbits jus to check but thats jus not on by XFX, if u pay for something u expect to get what u pay for, not less than

 

[SourTimes]

I too have XFX GT .. mem is 900MhZ

 

[SourTimes]

Originally posted by: SourTimes
I too have XFX GT .. mem is 900MhZ

Just clocked up to 1000 .. no problems

 

[fzaba]

Originally posted by: SourTimes

Originally posted by: SourTimes
I too have XFX GT .. mem is 900MhZ

Just clocked up to 1000 .. no problems

Indeed- and you can still go over that if your specific card allows. Im just a little pissed that it was underclocked straight out of the box. :disgust: Their website says it runs at 1000mhz too... wth. What bios version do you people have? And does anyone have an XFX 6800GT that was clocked at 1000mhz memory out of the box?

 

[Ylide]

I get the same reading for memory speed from Coolbits, Rivatuner and 3DMarks05. Yesterday I upgraded my drivers to 6.6.8.1 but didn't try again to "overclock" it to 1000MHz. I just tried it this morning and it works, I even got to 1.10GHz. But what it's bugging me is that when testing the memory at new speeds, it sometime say it can't support 1GHz. There is something really weird here. Why would a company set the memory in their bios to 900MHz if it wasn't for the fact they use cheaper memory chips that is not supposed to support 1GHz? I also have one other question, check this reading from rivatuner:

$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$ffffffffff NVIDIA specific display adapter information
$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$0100000000 Graphics core : NV40 revision A1 (16x1,6vp)
$0100000001 Hardwired ID : 0045 (ROM strapped to 0045)
$0100000002 Memory bus : 256-bit
$0100000003 Memory type : DDR (RAM configuration 07)
$0100000004 Memory amount : 262144KB
$0100000005 Core clock : 351.000MHz
$0100000006 Memory clock : 501.188MHz (1002.375MHz effecti...
$0100000007 Reference clock : 27.000MHz
$010000000b HW masked units : none

Isn't this program supposed to detect DDR3 vs DDR? Can anyone confirm with me that their 6800GT with DDR3 gives a DDR reading?
By the way, I have bios 5.40.02.15.04

 

[Ylide]

By the way, anyone has ever removed the heat sinks of 900MHz XFX 6800GT? We could know for sure what type of memory they put on it. I don't want to do that yet myself, in case I'm able to get some exchange for it .

 

[SourTimes]

Originally posted by: Ylide
I get the same reading for memory speed from Coolbits, Rivatuner and 3DMarks05. Yesterday I upgraded my drivers to 6.6.8.1 but didn't try again to "overclock" it to 1000MHz. I just tried it this morning and it works, I even got to 1.10GHz. But what it's bugging me is that when testing the memory at new speeds, it sometime say it can't support 1GHz. There is something really weird here. Why would a company set the memory in their bios to 900MHz if it wasn't for the fact they use cheaper memory chips that is not supposed to support 1GHz? I also have one other question, check this reading from rivatuner:

$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$ffffffffff NVIDIA specific display adapter information
$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$0100000000 Graphics core : NV40 revision A1 (16x1,6vp)
$0100000001 Hardwired ID : 0045 (ROM strapped to 0045)
$0100000002 Memory bus : 256-bit
$0100000003 Memory type : DDR (RAM configuration 07)
$0100000004 Memory amount : 262144KB
$0100000005 Core clock : 351.000MHz
$0100000006 Memory clock : 501.188MHz (1002.375MHz effecti...
$0100000007 Reference clock : 27.000MHz
$010000000b HW masked units : none

Isn't this program supposed to detect DDR3 vs DDR? Can anyone confirm with me that their 6800GT with DDR3 gives a DDR reading?
By the way, I have bios 5.40.02.15.04

here is my reading from the same program.

$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$ffffffffff NVIDIA specific display adapter information
$ffffffffff ---------------------------------------------------
$0100000000 Graphics core : NV40 revision A1 (16x1,6vp)
$0100000001 Hardwired ID : 0045 (ROM strapped to 0045)
$0100000002 Memory bus : 256-bit
$0100000003 Memory type : DDR (RAM configuration 07)
$0100000004 Memory amount : 262144KB
$0100000005 Core clock : 351.000MHz
$0100000006 Memory clock : 501.188MHz (1002.375MHz effecti...
$0100000007 Reference clock : 27.000MHz
$010000000b HW masked units : none

 

[SourTimes]

btw i do not see the big deal it clocks up to 1000 so its fine, and rest assured the memory is not ddr2 running at 500

 

[fzaba]

If it wasn't using DDR3 memory I don't think I could have gotten 5196 3Dmarks when temporarily overclocked to 400/1120 with an A64 3000+ @ stock.

 

[Regs]

XFX's come underclocked. It's the same offering as EVGA's, except EVGA set theirs to 1 Ghz. My memory tops outs around 1.3 GHz when over clocked.

 

[Dasterdly]

My Xfx 6800GT 256mb w Doom3 combo came set at 350/1000.

 

[Goi]

My XFX 6800GT also came with me set at 350/1000. I have it running now at 415/1150. I'm only getting <4500 on 3dmark05 though, with 66.81 drivers and a A64 2.56GHz system.

 

[Ylide]

I got an answer from support:

>[Support - 12/10/2004 12:35:34] Hi, the difference between the clocks purely depends on manufacturers BIOS release and does not reflect >on the capability of the product. At the moment, all the 6800GT`s on the market are the same basic hardware spec. Indeed, the original >clocks speeds are not so crucial as they are designed to be adjustable with the coolbits supplied. Surprised your memory clock only goes to >941 though, and would normally suggest a hardware limitation. Can recommend BIOS `optimal` defaults and ensure good case ventilation. If >possible, use a dedicated power lead to the card and avoid a Y-splitter. Please ensure you have up-to-date mainboard BIOS and drivers >installed before the graphics drivers. Regards Tony

I have an Intel D865PERLK mobo with latest BIOS, Pentium 4 3.20E (Prescott), 1Gig DDR400, WD Raptor 36.7Gigs HDDand a 430W Antec TruePower Power supply... and yes my card is connected with a dedicated power lead and the inside of my case is never higher than 42oC.

I was able once to put it manually 500/1000MHz, but 80% of the time with coolbits2, I always just go to about 940MHz with having the test fail. If I do a autodetect overclock, I also only get to 936-951MHz.

My opinion is, these days the availability of DDR3 is not that good. XFX test their cards and if the memory is faulty at 1000MHz and can run just slightly lower than 1000MHz, they mod the BIOS to 900MHz and they get one more "good" card on the market. Maybe I'm wrong, you tell me!

 

[Algere]

Could explain the reasoning behind this article.

 

[psychogmv]

I also bought a XFX Geforce 6800GT and it came with 900Mhz of memory. I think this becaming a standard. I read on nvnews forums that Leadtek is also providing GTs with 900Mhz memory.
I´m bumping it to 1000Mhz with no problems. I could do 1100Mhz easily without artifacting, but I hadn´t enough time to test it yet.

 

[SourTimes]

Originally posted by: psychogmv
I also bought a XFX Geforce 6800GT and it came with 900Mhz of memory. I think this becaming a standard. I read on nvnews forums that Leadtek is also providing GTs with 900Mhz memory.
I´m bumping it to 1000Mhz with no problems. I could do 1100Mhz easily without artifacting, but I hadn´t enough time to test it yet.

This is my response to my first contact with XFX support:

Dear customer:

what software did u run for testing?
Please provide the spec of your PC.

Sincerely,

XFX VGA Technical Support

Because we can not stimulate all the trouble-shoot in e-mails, in your best
interest, please contact our tech support by phone.
U.S. customer: You can reach us by our 24-hour hotline: (800)880-3225


Irregardless of this, I replied explaining how I determined this. What I find odd is no aknowledgement of this, when obviously this has been an intentional choice on XFX's part.

 

[Algere]

Forgot to mention earlier that I'm somewhat glad this thread was posted (Thanks OP and following :thumbsup: ). If this wasn't posted I would've went for the XFX 6800 GT as well.

Obviously not glad since this card exhibits this problem.

 

[SourTimes]

It's a disgrace as far as I'm concerned. I plan on RMAing it now, and I am going to put a SMALL mark somwhere on the card, just to see if I get the same card back with a bios flash to the 1000 memory or a new card :evil:

 

[fzaba]

Originally posted by: SourTimes
It's a disgrace as far as I'm concerned. I plan on RMAing it now, and I am going to put a SMALL mark somwhere on the card, just to see if I get the same card back with a bios flash to the 1000 memory or a new card :evil:

lol NICE. I already took note of my RMA'd card's serial number.

 

[Algere]

Looks like XFX isn't the only manufacturer to release a 900 MHz (memory) clocked GT.

 

[psychogmv]

I just removed the heatsink and the memory part number is K4J55323QF-0020, which is, according to samsung website, GDDR3 with 2.0ns. So for me it is just a problem in the BIOS, nothing more. Thank god.

 

[Ylide]

Originally posted by: psychogmv
I just removed the heatsink and the memory part number is K4J55323QF-0020, which is, according to samsung website, GDDR3 with 2.0ns. So for me it is just a problem in the BIOS, nothing more. Thank god.

Thanks, I wanted to know if someone had checked the chips. But don't get too excited, the thing is that even if it's the right memory, it doesn't mean it has passed all the tests at 1000MHz, so maybe that's why they downclocked it to 900MHz, to be sure you don't get any strange behavior of the card.

Maybe you already read the whole thread, but mine doesn't go over 941MHz. Could you give me that info: Try the "Detect optimal frequencies" in the "Performance (3D)" setting of the "Clock Frequency Settings" tab from nvidia coolbits mod and tell what the program finds as a "safe" frequency for your memory. Technically, it should go higher than 1000MHz since you're overclocking 2.0 ns memory. I would really appreciate this info.

Thanks