7900 GT Artifacts

[Eluros]

Hey, all!

So, I've enjoyed my 7900 GT ever since I purchased it in... May of 2006, I believe. It's been able everything I've thrown at it-- even Crysis, believe it or not-- with fairly decent settings, albeit an artifact here or there. However, I've found that Assassin's Creed has finally pushed it too far, and I'm barely able to play it. Plus, my artifacts have been increasing at an unacceptable rate.

1. Now, I have no idea what brand my card is, and I lost the box long ago. Is there an easy way to identify it, so I can see if it would be covered by any warranties?

2. Are artifacts a symptom of a malfunctioning card, a card that's being pushed too far, or both? I usually begin to get artifacts at around 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

Thanks, all!

 

[error8]

1. Well, generally if you loose the box, you also loose the warranty, since they can't replace it anymore. Maybe there is a sticker on the cooler or somewhere else on the card that has the brand of the card on it.

2. Artifacts are a symptom of a malfunctioning card, that usually appear when the card is overheating or it has been overclocked too far. But they can appear out of the blue, when the culprit is generally the Vram, being the weakest thing on the card, after many hours of use, it dies.

I would suggest you to try the following: reduce the clocks of both GPU and Vram and see if the artifacts are still there. 74 C is not such a high temperature, but you could try to reduce it by increasing the fan speed with riva tuner.
Also, you never said if you overclocked your card. Did you?

 

[Eluros]

Thanks, error8, for your help!

1. Well, generally if you loose the box, you also loose the warranty, since they can't replace it anymore. Maybe there is a sticker on the cooler or somewhere else on the card that has the brand of the card on it.

When I received the PC, it was before I knew how to build PC's, so I had it custom-built. I'm not sure whether it even came with the video card box... drat.

2. Artifacts are a symptom of a malfunctioning card, that usually appear when the card is overheating or it has been overclocked too far. But they can appear out of the blue, when the culprit is generally the Vram, being the weakest thing on the card, after many hours of use, it dies.

I would suggest you to try the following: reduce the clocks of both GPU and Vram and see if the artifacts are still there. 74 C is not such a high temperature, but you could try to reduce it by increasing the fan speed with riva tuner.
Also, you never said if you overclocked your card. Did you?

Nope, I don't believe I ever overclocked it. Unfortunately, it's been 2 years and I may have dabbled with it a little; I can't recall. However, I'll try increasing the fan speed with Riva Tuner. Is there a limit to how high I should push the fans? Not sure if it's bad for them to operate at too high efficiency.

Edited to fix quotes-- apparently, these forums don't like

 

[Zap]

Eluros, open up your computer and take out the card to examine it to determine a brand. Do you have your receipt/invoice?

 

[Eluros]

Greetings Zap,

Eluros, open up your computer and take out the card to examine it to determine a brand. Do you have your receipt/invoice?

Indeed, I do have my invoice still. It's hanging out in my email now, and I can absolutely print it out. The invoice is from the company (CyberPower PC) which I purchased the PC from, but if the Video Card Company will accept that, awesome!

I'll be sure to crack open my case once I get home; I work from 8-5 and live an hour away, but I can do it tonight. In the event that it's Evga/BFG/XFX (not sure if I got the last one right), I should be fine, right? I actually think it may have been an Evga card, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[error8]

You can set your fans as high as possible, maximum speed is 100% in Riva Tuner, which will translate into 3000-4000 rpm I guess, so it's not dangerous for the fan. But try decreasing the clocks first, I think that will give you a better result.

 

[Eluros]

Error8, thanks again for your help!

You can set your fans as high as possible, maximum speed is 100% in Riva Tuner, which will translate into 3000-4000 rpm I guess, so it's not dangerous for the fan. But try decreasing the clocks first, I think that will give you a better result.

1. Do you happen to know if this will void the warranty on most brands? Once I figure out what brand mine is, I'll make sure

2. Sorry for the lack of understanding, but if increasing the fan all the way can't hurt anything but lowering the clocks would decrease performance, why not try the fans first?

Thanks again! I've got to say-- I've been to several hardware forums, and this one is consistently more mature than most of the competition.

 

[JPB]

Increasing the fan speed will certainly cool the card better. But sometimes its not the cooling that makes the card artifact.

My dad had a X1800XL ( equivalent to a 7800GT ) and the fan was at 100% and still artifacts. He then underclocked the card a bit, and the artifacts went away.

At least for a while. Eventually, the card needed an RMA.

 

[will889]

A temp of 72c - 78c isn't enough heat to produce artifacting, but sometimes with those older 7900GT cards you can just set the clocks a tad higher or lower and the artifacting will reduce temporarily. With the 7900GT memory failure rate rather high (model and bios depending) if you can RMA it might be your best bet. Cyberpower has used eVGA and XFX so you may be able to get your warranty active. An RMA might get to a 7950GT or 8600GTS or better yet a much better performing 9600GT in return. You never know.

If you want to know the card brand just DL GPU-Z and run it - it should be listed under "subvendor".

GPU-Z

 

[Eluros]

Will889, that's great advice; thanks! I really appreciate it!

So, I went back and poked around in my invoices and found...
EVGA GEFORCE 7900GT 256MB X16 PCIE

Great news, eh? I have an EVGA card, so I should be good to go, even if something is wrong... or so I figured. I went onto EVGA's warranty site and found this:

http://www.evga.com/support/lifetime/default.asp

All EVGA Products purchased ON or AFTER November 1, 2006 MUST be registered within 30 days from ORIGINAL DATE OF PURCHASE to receive limited lifetime warranty. (All products not registered within 30 days will ONLY receive a 1 year limited warranty.)

Bad news-- I didn't register, at least I don't believe so. Worse news is that I purchased the card in May of 2006, so I guess I'm really out of luck, right? No RMA for me, unless it's from CyberPower themselves.

 

[will889]

Ok, try emailing Joe Darwin and tell him your plight. Very nice gent. He'll go through a few trial and errors with you and if need be maybe see about any possible warranty. eVGA are very good about taking care of their customers.

email
darwinATevga.com

 

[s44]

Uh, no. That means after November. You were before, so that requirement shouldn't apply.

 

[will889]

Well, of course it's likely that you may not have your warranty, but see what you can do and what they might be able to do for you anyway. Just check.

 

[Eluros]

Will889, thanks again!

Ok, try emailing Joe Darwin and tell him your plight. Very nice gent. He'll go through a few trial and errors with you and if need be maybe see about any possible warranty. eVGA are very good about taking care of their customers.

email
darwinATevga.com

I really appreciate it. While I certainly don't feel entitled or expectant in regards to solving my problems, it'd certainly be great customer service. I was actually planning on getting an HD 4870 soon (major upgrade ahoy!), but if EVGA's customer service really is that stellar... It'd probably be worth sticking with a 9800+ and EVGA.

I will be sure to post an update for you guys once I receive one! As well, if you have any more thoughts/comments/feedback, I'd love to hear it.

 

[s44]

No, he DOES have it. The warranty begins by saying that anything bought after June 2005 gets lifetime coverage. It then adds some qualifications, the first of which is that if you bought it on/after November 2006, you have to register.

That means those, including the OP, who bought it between June 2005 and November 2006 have the lifetime coverage with no registration requirement.

 

[will889]

Alright then he should be set to some possible RMA action if need be =) eVGA will take care.

 

[Eluros]

s44, thanks!

No, he DOES have it. The warranty begins by saying that anything bought after June 2005 gets lifetime coverage. It then adds some qualifications, the first of which is that if you bought it on/after November 2006, you have to register.

That means those, including the OP, who bought it between June 2005 and November 2006 have the lifetime coverage with no registration requirement.

So, what do you both think... should I try to seek assistance for the card the standard way (since it ought to be covered), or go ahead and contact Mr. Joe Darwin? Whichever you advise, I'll be sure to go about it this very evening.

 

[s44]

Just call them up now.

 

[will889]

Affirmative. Ring them up and see if they can get your cards SN# registered and whatever ...

 

[Eluros]

Greetings again,

So, I contacted EVGA customer support, and I must say that I was very impressed. I gave the technician my SN Number and Parts Number and explained what was going on. They helped me register my product online (I tried, but it wouldn't take me Serial Number, so they had to do it from their end), and helped me set up an RMA number. I'll be sure to post updates when I find out how it'll work and what they do.

I was planning on purchasing a new power supply and a Radeon 4870, but this changes things... if EVGA's like this, and there's no AMD equivalent competitor... I think it may be worth the extra money to stay NVidia and get EVGA's customer service... wow. I'm pleasantly shocked.

 

[God Mode]

Yeah. ati's board partners are very crappy compared to nvidia. I've yet to hear a positive story on someone RMAing their ati card. The best bet is find a retailer like newegg with separate exchange or warranty policies.

 

[s44]

Yup. ATI made a gigantic mistake if they really did turn down EVGA's overtures.

 

[Boobs McGee]

I just started getting some artifacts with my eVGA 7900GT this past week too. I have had mine since March 06, but it had a lot of time off when I was in Iraq. So the card has not been pushed very hard at all. It was artifacting in the original Call of Duty.

I am very interested in how your RMA process goes Eluros. My past experiance with eVGA was through their step up and that went well, but I have not had to do a RMA before. I did read on their boards that one guy sent in a 7900GT KO and got back a 8800GTS 320.

 

[Zap]

'Grats on your RMA and good luck. I had an XFX 7900 GT XXX model that I had to RMA... they replaced it with an oddball 8600 GTS. I say "oddball" because XFX claims that it uses a 256-bit memory interface in forums, Newegg reviews as replies and on their product page, which is an outright lie AFAIK. Also, it REQUIRED a proprietary PCI Express 6 pin plug. I say "proprietary" because on normal ones there are three ground and three +12v. On this XFX adaptor, the center +12v is actually a +5v. Without this, no picture. XFX claims that the +5v "unlocks" the 256-bit memory bus.

Newegg reviews with XFX Manufacturer Response

Manufacturer Response:Yes this video card does use the 256 bit memory bus contrary to other manufactures using only a 128bit. One important note is that you need to use that special supplied power adapter that came with this video card as it uses power from both the 12v and 5v rail (part of the reason we are able to get 256bit memory bus)

Anyways, hopefully you luck out and get a better card from EVGA than I got from XFX.

 

[Eluros]

I just started getting some artifacts with my eVGA 7900GT this past week too. I have had mine since March 06, but it had a lot of time off when I was in Iraq. So the card has not been pushed very hard at all. It was artifacting in the original Call of Duty.

I am very interested in how your RMA process goes Eluros. My past experiance with eVGA was through their step up and that went well, but I have not had to do a RMA before. I did read on their boards that one guy sent in a 7900GT KO and got back a 8800GTS 320.

Greetings! Just to let you know, I had my RMA approved about 2 minutes ago. A roughly 56 hour wait, but that's okay. I'll be sure to let you know what product I get in response. Thanks for your service. Feel free to PM me or post if you've got any questions about my experience.