GeForce 6800 Ultra freezing!! *resolved*

[frankfan]

I would take ANY Antec PS over your Ultra X-Connect 500W. Antec makes some of the best Power Supplies...period. He doesn't need to try a different PS.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Well, if you are going by Max PC's fluke review, well, max PC is a bunch of idiots who think they are geniuses...they arent....they don't realize their PSU was faulty......sorry, I've heard bad things about True 480's shooting out fireballs (I may find out soon too, I have one)

As for my X_Connect, it was cheapest I could get with good amperage ratings, and all the reviews on it were very good. period.

Enermax is really the best way to go I think, that or PC Power & Cooling (wait, I dont wanna spend 200 on a PSU.....)

 

[yrrab436]

I'm using on board sound, and I know that uses the CPU right? Could that cause the lower scores?

It's only been one day, but so far so good. No loop crashes.

I just wish nVidia and/or the manufacturers would release an OFFICIAL updated BIOS to fix the issue.

 

[frankfan]

Originally posted by: yrrab436
I'm using on board sound, and I know that uses the CPU right? Could that cause the lower scores?

It's only been one day, but so far so good. No loop crashes.

I just wish nVidia and/or the manufacturers would release an OFFICIAL updated BIOS to fix the issue.

You're running a 6800 Ultra on a 3500+, 2GB RAM...5120 is a normal score for that setup.

I'm running a 6800 Ultra on a 3500+, 1GB RAM and get 5050.

Not sure what RampantAndroid is on about...he says he's got an almost identical setup. He's got an FX-53...I hope he scores 5300-5500...you shouldn't.

Anyways, 5100 on 3DMark05 is nothing to cry about. Hope it's still working OK. (Mine is!)

 

[X Factor]

BFG 6800 Ultra OC on a 3200+ with 1.5 gigs of RAM
3DMark05 4134


HOWEVER, will have my new 3700+ installed by the end of today so I will let you know the difference.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Well, the 3500+ is 2.4 GHz, right? If you, same speed as my FX-53, only a smaller cache. However, the onboard audio will only hurt things...onboard audio has also been know to cause lockups...

EDIT: Oops, looks like the 3500 is 2.2...the 3800 is 2.4....sorry people

 

[RampantAndroid]

X factor, your score will be lower due to a few things:

6800 GT (not as high as an Ultra)
Smaller cache on the 754s
Single channel RAM...

The ram will prob hurt you more than anything else could

 

[kreidel]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
However, the onboard audio will only hurt things...onboard audio has also been know to cause lockups...

EDIT: Oops, looks like the 3500 is 2.2...the 3800 is 2.4....sorry people

Using the onboard audio will slow your system down compared to using a plug in card? If so what would a good card be that won't hurt performance or price?

 

[RampantAndroid]

Kreidel,

What onboard audio does is this: Unlike add in pci cards, it does not have its own audio processor. Instead, it relies on the CPU to perform the tasks for it. Therefor, your CPU is now fully responsible for your audio on top of everything else.

Whereas, with an add in card, it processes its info on its own, leaving the CPU alone, allowing the CPU to focus on more impt tasks.

Perhaps with dual core processors, this won't matter, as the CPU will be able to run the sound and other stuff simultaneuously, rather then one at a time, and you would't see a drop (theoretically) This could be the same with onboard video, although they would have to resolve the issue of what ram the onboard vid would use (currently uses system ram, as opposed to the faster ram on the videocard itself...

Good cards: Creative sounblaster series (they are up to the audigy 4, I have an audigy 1, and an audigy 2 ZS...) My Audigy 2 ZS had to be RMAed, and I have yet to test my new replacement card, when I do, I'll let you know if it is an inherent prob with the card or not.

M-Audio also makes cards, but they only get mediocre reviews....

 

[X Factor]

Ok, got my new 3700+ proc. installed. First run with 3DMark 05 revealed a score of 4887. Not as high as I might have liked. I do have a 6800 Ultra OC'd by 25mhz. My mobo is socket 754 however but still. Maybe I'll run sysoftsandra and see what she says. I'd love to at least hit 5,000. This was just one test though with 27 processes running in the background.

 

[yrrab436]

Does single channel vs. dual channel RAM make that much of a difference?

The reason I have 2GB is I figured two 1GB modules in dual channel would not need an upgrade for a very long time, vs. two 512MB modules.

Dual channel RAM is sort of like RAID 0 for RAM right?

 

[RampantAndroid]

OK, most programs can only really use 512 right now....games won't truly see an advantage from 1 GB, and def not 2 GB.....ok, sure, you won't need to buy two more 512 strips like the rest of us, but then again, I doubt your mobo could handle 6 GB of ram (assuming you have 6 slots) I'm pretty sure my A8V can't, and I doubt my new MSI K8N Neo2 Plat. will either.

Dual channel vs. Single....yeah, there is a pretty big diff, not only in synthetic stuff, but also in real world like games (the gap really becomes more drastic w/ doom 3 and HL2, Far Cry, that stuff.)

Like RAID 0.....hmmm, not really. Not from my understanding. Yes, it treats them as one, and it is sort of like RAID 0 for ram. However, SATA is still limited to 150 MB/s whether in RAID 0 or not. Dual Chanel ram however, is not. It doubles the data rate, to 6.4 GB/s I think. So, as time goes on, dual will go from gaming to fully mainstream, as that extra bandwidth will be needed (as DDR2 has shown, that faster speeds don't accomplish that much....mayube DDR3 will do better)

 

[RampantAndroid]

http://www.tech-dreams.com/rev.../120/memtach-large.JPG

EDIT: Link seems bad, so here is the link to the review it can be found in:

http://www.tech-dreams.com/reviews.php?id=120&pg=0

 

[imported_Elmo]

Hey guys,

I got my BFG 6800 Ultra OC along with some other stuff, namely a A64 3500+ and MSU K8N Neo2 Platinum. All very pretty, with watercooling and whatnot. But when I first got it to boot up, everything was going great UNTIL I decided to benchmark. I started up Aquamark 3, and on the menu I was getting artifacts! I've tried a few things mentioned here, and now I don't get artifacts, instead it seems to hang for a bit, work for a short period of time, then hang again and continues like that. Everything else works like a charm, EXCEPT for any games/benchmarking.

So, I tried to set the 2d/3d values to the same, but when I opened up RivaTuner, I found that the core/mem clocks were 454/1179!! And that is not overclocked by me! I thought maybe that was why it was screwing up, so I tried to lower the values... but I can't. Even with Coolbits I get an error saying the test failed, and I should lower the values.

I have an Aspire Turbo Case 500w PSU, and I have never had a problem with it. I'm considering a flash... but I am a little hesitant to do so.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Well,, lets see, you say you got a BFG 6800 Ultra OC.....wait, doesnt that mean it'll be overclocked by BFG, above the 400/1100 425/1100?????????? What did you think you'd get?

Sure, drop the speeds to 425 core (2d and 3d) and 1100 mem...........but next time, try to figure out what you are buying?

Do the Bios edit thing.....get nvflash, omniextreme edit, and do the steps posted by frankfan (except, look at my note about how to make a startup disc)

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Well,, lets see, you say you got a BFG 6800 Ultra OC.....wait, doesnt that mean it'll be overclocked by BFG, above the 400/1100 425/1100?????????? What did you think you'd get?

Sure, drop the speeds to 425 core (2d and 3d) and 1100 mem...........but next time, try to figure out what you are buying?
)

WTF are you talking about? The BFG Ultra OC is supposed to come clocked @ 425/1100 ...seem every company is coming stock at that speed now but the original 6800 specs were 400/1100.


Next time why dont you have a clue what you are talking about before you open your trap.






Elmo, something is wrong..was the card used or brand new? Take it back and exchange it.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: yrrab436
It's so nice to see I'm not alone. I play EverQuest lots and the only other person in my guild with a 6800 has this problem. He has an ASUS, and I have a PNY. 6800 Ultra 256MB

The card is at 58C, the CPU at 38 and motherboard at 33 currently. the CPU does go up when I do more intensive things, but I've never seen the graphics card say it's very high. However, I doubt it's a heat issue since it only occurs while zoning or tabbing out. By going into windowed mode in Everquest so I could see the driver's temperature gauge, and spinning around with the mouse as fast as I could, I was able to raise the temperature quickly to 65C, and then is very very slowly rose up to 67, I could get it to 68 but it would quickly drop back down again. I'm not sure if that's normal temperature, but I still do not think the crashes are temperature related, especially since tabbing causes it just as often as zoning does.

It sounds like the same issue. When I zone (change areas in the game) the loading screen shows and then a breif moment after my character appears in zone the screen will lock up... after a few seconds it will either:

A) Totally go blank. (very very rare)
B) Continue normally. (sort of rare)
C) Continue with severe graphics corruption. (Naked characters, polygons stretched all over, general corruption "grate" effect)
D) Get caught in a loop. I'll hear the EQ music then it will stop for a few seconds, and then continue, and then stop, until finally I get a BSOD with graphics card loop or a drop into 16 color mode and a popup saying the graphics driver stopped working right.

I should have contacted PNY, but looking at this thread it looks like that wouldn't do much good. I will do that though since it's obvious that should have been the first thing to do. I was just terrified I was responsible for static damage or some such.

I don't know the slightest thing about looking for an updated bios, or modifying it myself. I'll have to read this entire thread eventually but I don't have time now.

It also happens to me in the Doom 3 demo, and when I scroll really fast on a web page with many graphics, such as a screenshot thread and such. This is extremely frustrating indeed. Everything runs so quickly and then BAM it stops and it's time to pray "pleeeeease don't get stuck in a loop."

hehe

Edit:
Okay I found RivaTuner. There's a bunch of mumbo jumbo I don't understand but I clicked on Customize, then System Settings, and told the overclock tab to detect the card's settings.

It shows:
standard 2D: 400
low power 2D: 425
performance 3d: 425

Do I understand correctly, that many people fix this issue by changing standard 2d to 425?

Yes try setting standard to 425 as well.


BTW I have had the same issue as you have but all are solved. My card is an eVGA BTW.

Make sure fastwrites and sideband addressing are off after that just experiment with drivers
and settings in EQ2 ..I found that "balanced" and 1600x1200 is pushing it.

Also 2gb of ram help in EQ2 , I was running a 6800 Vanilla with 2gbs of ram and it ran better than my Ultra and 1gb of ram. But I am not getting 2gbs of ram again until 1gb sticks come down in price a bit.

EQ2 is fairly new and a pretty graphic intensive game and I am sure Nvidia is working on better drivers to help this game out. Just hang tight, Nvidia is well know for working magic with their drivers.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Well, you see, I went by what NUMEROUS people had said in these forums: it was clocked above the 425...

if the ultra OCs are supposed to come at 425/1100, then maybe your bios is corrupt and the tuners can't read it (possible) or the card may just have been RMAed by someone else, and BFG (as most companies do) didn't even check it, just repackaged it and sent it out. Try flashing it to see if you can drop the speeds. If you call BFG, I'm sure they'll offer you help (unlike companies like Asus).

As for bent valve....well, lets see, I may have had a wrong clue, but at least I had one, so I think you can go shove it up your a$$

 

[Dinan]

I'm experiencing the freezing problems with my XFX 6800 Ultra and I've tried the card on two computers and I'm not sure if the problem is the card itself or maybe the PSU on both computers aren't enough. Anyways, I wanted to try turning off AGP Fastwrites but I can't find it in the BIOS... nor can I find the AGP Aperture Size setting. Although, I can find the AGP Auto/8X/4X and set it to 8X, but I still get the freezes.

My system:
AMD 64 3400
Gigabyte K8NS Pro (Nforce3 250)
2x 512mb Crucial PC3200
XFX Geforce 6800 Ultra (Used to be ATI X800 Pro)

With my X800 I never got these freezes and I only upgraded a few days ago and I can't figure out how to fix this problem for the life of me! Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[X Factor]

Turning "Write Combining" off in Advanced Display Settings (along with the switch from Auto to 8x in Bios) worked for me. My card was already set with 2D and 3D settings adjusted right, or so it seems.

 

[Dinan]

Where do you turn off "Write Combining"? I don't see it anywhere in the Advanced Display settings. I've also tried RivaTuner and when I try to change the AGP transfer rate/AGP sideband addressing/AGP fastwrites they're greyed out and I can't change them. They're at 8x, on, and on, respectively.

 

[RampantAndroid]

OK people, I don't wanna sound like a dickhead, but I think that if you would go through this forum, you'd find all of this has been said already. This is becoming redundant...you may have to get into the advanced Bios settings (alt+F1 sometimes while in Bios)...

How many times have I said that, 2 or 3 at least. I'm sure if you skim this thread, you'll find multiple possible solutions.

 

[ph03n1x]

Well I just realized that if I use Single Channel DDR configuation my problem goes away. I bought this RAM because I actually thought it would work as Dual Channel but maybe I misunderstood. I thought it just had to be a matched pair of DDR400. Is there something more special about it? It was working, just not reliably I guess. Or should it be working fine?

This is my RAM

 

[frankfan]

Originally posted by: ph03n1x

Well I just realized that if I use Single Channel DDR configuation my problem goes away. I bought this RAM because I actually thought it would work as Dual Channel but maybe I misunderstood. I thought it just had to be a matched pair of DDR400. Is there something more special about it? It was working, just not reliably I guess. Or should it be working fine?

This is my RAM

You shouldn't have to run that RAM single channel. Have you tried backing off the timing? On my Kingston (also using a Neo 2 Plat) I'm running 2-3-10-3 1T You may need to go 2.5-3-10-3 1T (or slower)
Give it a shot. You lose a lot of performance running single channel.

 

[st1x]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
OK people, I don't wanna sound like a dickhead, but I think that if you would go through this forum, you'd find all of this has been said already. This is becoming redundant...you may have to get into the advanced Bios settings (alt+F1 sometimes while in Bios)...

How many times have I said that, 2 or 3 at least. I'm sure if you skim this thread, you'll find multiple possible solutions.

Hi,

I recently discovered the same problem, and just read through this whole thread...
Must say u guys come up with some good solutions...And without you I'd probably have thrown my card out of the window by now.

I bought an XFX 6800 ultra and am experiencing the same issues, although my frequency's are at the right values, i still get freezes.

I tried to follow the turning of fast writes etc thing...Only my motherboard DOESN'T have that option

And RampantAndroid it's not cuz i havn't been into the advanced settings, because on my mobo : p4p800 deluxe you don't have to press anything like shift + f2 to get into them....THEY'RE JUST THERE, the AGP apature i CAN change, but the max value i get is 256 ?

I tried flashing my bios to the latest version to see if maybe these options weren't yet available but no luck...

Really wondering now what the solution for me could be ?


PS: after reading this forum i'm still not quite sure if i should use the Y-splitter or not ?

my specs are


P4 Prescott 2.8ghz
ASUS p4p800 deluxe
512 DIMM DDR 3200 400
XFX 6800 ultra
SB 5.1
400W zalman silent psu 380W combined power
very cool case, can't remember what brand tho