Bad speci-mem

[Amdk6II]

Recently I bought a gf2mx to give my K6II some power (don't laugh)
I figured that I was better of with buying a bit more expensive mx, so I got a gainward Golden sample with 5.5 ns memory + twinview and tvout.

I have read alot reviews and most of them being very positive, and some even call it the fastest mx there is.

Sadly it's not working well at all, while alot people can overclock it way beyond the 'enchanced settings' (200mhz core and 210mhz memory)

I can't even reach it.

I get artifacts while webbrowsing or playing computer games at 174mhz memory already!
While 5.5 ns memory official rating is 183mhz, and that it should not have a problem reaching 210mhz atleast.

I do have warranty on the card, but I replaced the stock hsf with a blue orb and I lost 1 plastic pin from the stock hsf.
What is the trouble then ?
Most people swap the stock hsf asap to be more on the safe side(or more even for ocing heh)
Now the company where I bought it from is refusing to replace it (while I did not mod the card and it's a fabrication error)

I also emailed Gainward USA and Germany(Europe) but both get no reply.

So is there any other option to get my card running correctly at enchanced settings ?
I didn't paid more money (which I don't have alot already ) to get a card that should run faster but can't even work at a setting a normal gf2mx would be able to reach.

Anyone experienced the same problem ?

Btw I tried both Gainward drivers and Nvidia, I am on the 3rd place at Madonions Orb on 3dmark2k1 with only 1 Radeon 8500 and 1 gf3 above me in my class.

my config :

Amdk6-2 450@450
Epox mvp3g-2 100mhz fsb
Gf2 Gainward GS TwinView Tvout (should have bought a Radeon 7200)
160 megs cas2 sdram

Win2k Sp2

 

[Rand]

In theory 5.5ns Rated DDR SDRAM should be good for 181MHz.
Of course that's purely theoretical and MANY other things besides it's rating impacts that attainable clockspeed, among which is voltage, PCB quality, trace lengths, etc etc etc.

Just because it's 5.5ns rated definitely does not mean you are in any way guaranteed that it will run at 181MHz, or anywhere near that... it merely gives you a better chance at hitting that speed then a card with lower rated RAM.
It seems you were simply unlucky and your board doesnt want to clock the memory beyond 174MHz, just because it's 5.5ns rated RAM is in no way a guarantee that it was going to hit 181MHz or higher.
The ratec clockspeed of the GF2 MX400 is 200/166 that's all your 'guaranteed' to be capable of on the standard MX400 board.

The rating of the RAM is never a valid determinator of potential overclockability, it will merely give you a vague hint of it's capabilities.

That said, Gainward usually guarantees their 'GoldenSample' cards will overclock to at least some extent, and if your card won't do what they've guaranteed it to be capable of then you have a valid complain and reason to RMA it to Gainward.
But- if you've already changed the HSF etc then you've likely voided warranty on it.



<< I also emailed Gainward USA and Germany(Europe) but both get no reply. >>


Gainward tech support is virtually non existent... good luck.
And their RMA practices are extremely poor.
Too bad, because their cards are usually quite nice.

 

[Amdk6II]

With other words, I'm screwed

 

[Amdk6II]

I have been reading some things about volt modding, I know that more volts helps to 'clear out' paths.
Maybe I can get that memory running at 210mhz + after that ?

If I lost my warranty why not mod it ?
Only how do I mod the card, and can it be reversed ?

 

[Amdk6II]

It's alright now, I got a reply from Gainward that they will replace my videocard even though it was modded a bit (new hsf)
Since there was a fabrication error b4 I modded it ^_^

Unlike the crappy store where I got the card from which refuses to replace it because they say that Gainward won't replace it
(and told that the questions I asked where 2 hard for them 2 awnser)

So I will never buy at that shop again !

Gainward service gets an A+ from me, altough I had to w8 alot days.