video card problems. anyone seen this?

andy497 · 03-29-2005, 09:10 AM

I had problems with the stability of my video card (9800pro, artifacts at stock clocks), RMAed it, and they seemed to go away. It's got decent cooling (vga silencer), but it still shows artifacts when running atitool.

Anyway, I recently upgraded my cpu/mobo, and things got much worse. The stock clocks are 378/338 ddr, but atitool won't run without errors until I drop that to around 370/300. The thing is, I play stock clocks in counterstrike source and barely notice anything. Doom3 however has "glitter" everywhere.

Apparently this is a rare occurrence? I posted this on ati/video sites and got no help.

My guess/hope is that it's a problem with my power supply, since it got worse (I think) with the upgrade to amd 64. I have a plain vanilla antec 400W psu, which I would think would be sufficient.

I may try tonight to heavily underclock the cpu clock/vcore and see if the video improves. Otherwise, an ocz modstream 520 is on the way.

Marci · 03-29-2005, 09:20 AM

I would say that PSU isn't sufficient and your description of your problem makes that all the more apparent. Upgrade the PSU to a non-Vanilla Tagan / OCZ / PCP&C / Other reputable named brand.

Simplest test... borrow a better PSU, and if that doesn't work, hang an extra 80mm fan beside the card blowing over the ram as memclocks seem to be suffering the most.... also, check contact / thermal compound used for the VGA Silencer contact against ram...

andy497 · 03-29-2005, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marci

I would say that PSU isn't sufficient and your description of your problem makes that all the more apparent. Upgrade the PSU to a non-Vanilla Tagan / OCZ / PCP&C / Other reputable named brand.

Simplest test... borrow a better PSU, and if that doesn't work, hang an extra 80mm fan beside the card blowing over the ram as memclocks seem to be suffering the most.... also, check contact / thermal compound used for the VGA Silencer contact against ram...

Yeah, the psu seems obvious, but the rail voltages are all fine (as reported in mbm5 anyway). I guess there might be ac ripple or other micro-fluctuations that I don't know about. I need to track down somebody local with a good psu I guess.

Ruiner · 03-29-2005, 02:01 PM

Doom seemed to bring out artifacts in my 9800p at lower speeds than other games. You may just have a lousy chip. I'm going to assume it runs fine in doom under stock speeds. Is it a 350 or 360 core? If the latter, what are your temps?

Try reseating your card in the agp slot and or the VGA silencer and/or swap PSU's.

Don't trust MBM for voltages.

03-29-2005, 09:10 AM	#1
andy497 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: MI Posts: 34	video card problems. anyone seen this? I had problems with the stability of my video card (9800pro, artifacts at stock clocks), RMAed it, and they seemed to go away. It's got decent cooling (vga silencer), but it still shows artifacts when running atitool. Anyway, I recently upgraded my cpu/mobo, and things got much worse. The stock clocks are 378/338 ddr, but atitool won't run without errors until I drop that to around 370/300. The thing is, I play stock clocks in counterstrike source and barely notice anything. Doom3 however has "glitter" everywhere. Apparently this is a rare occurrence? I posted this on ati/video sites and got no help. My guess/hope is that it's a problem with my power supply, since it got worse (I think) with the upgrade to amd 64. I have a plain vanilla antec 400W psu, which I would think would be sufficient. I may try tonight to heavily underclock the cpu clock/vcore and see if the video improves. Otherwise, an ocz modstream 520 is on the way. Last edited by andy497; 03-29-2005 at 12:52 PM. Reason: spelling

03-29-2005, 09:20 AM	#2
Marci Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 486	I would say that PSU isn't sufficient and your description of your problem makes that all the more apparent. Upgrade the PSU to a non-Vanilla Tagan / OCZ / PCP&C / Other reputable named brand. Simplest test... borrow a better PSU, and if that doesn't work, hang an extra 80mm fan beside the card blowing over the ram as memclocks seem to be suffering the most.... also, check contact / thermal compound used for the VGA Silencer contact against ram... __________________ www.minimotosidecars.org / www.thermochill.com / www.themusiccollective.co.uk

03-29-2005, 02:01 PM	#4
Ruiner Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Smyrna, FL Posts: 258	Doom seemed to bring out artifacts in my 9800p at lower speeds than other games. You may just have a lousy chip. I'm going to assume it runs fine in doom under stock speeds. Is it a 350 or 360 core? If the latter, what are your temps? Try reseating your card in the agp slot and or the VGA silencer and/or swap PSU's. Don't trust MBM for voltages.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)