8800GT Problems

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: abumuqaatil
Advice taken
Im looking at the corsair 620W HX
thx

I had that same psu poop out in a year. You're probably saving yourself some heartache. Not to slam Thermaltake. Their Toughpower series is pretty solid

 

[philobishay]

ANY 3d game will crash on my computer now, tried changing hard drives, tried xp AND vista, tried every driver EVER, updated my bios (tried 3 different bios's) tried unplugging my sound card, tried like 10 games. Some games last hours (s.t.a.l.k.e.r), some last 25 seconds (UT2k4). Tried different displays (HD-out seems to crash faster than DVI, but inconclusive), tried various bios options with the memory, tried only one stick of 2GB memory as opposed to 2x2GB, crashes in every scenario.

all new hardware except the sound card:

OCZ gameXstream 700W psu
ASUS maximus formula Special Edition (X38)
Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 (overclocks stable, but crashes either way)
XFX 8800 GT (not overclocked for now)
4GB GSkill DDR2 800 (2x2GB) in slots A1 and B1 (1st and 3rd slot)
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum in the old PCI slot
Windows Vista 32 bit (tried xp pro)
Barracuda SATA 320.1 HD
some other SATA hd

 

[philobishay]

8800GT wonderful when it works, but crashes all the time... Should I RMA this card or does someone have any better suggestions?

 

[PhaidOut]

I have not read all the posts everywhere... But I have an EVGA KO and I didn't even go gaming until I had some testing / monitoring software was on it. A friend and I were working on the new system it is in. Went into Crysis and it hit at least 195F - that was the reading on exit - probably went higher. So, we did some researching. He set up the Riva Tuner and adjusted the fan - as many people are posting the fan only spins at one speed period. About 30% of it's max. That is obviously insufficient - even at idle. I have not surfed this entire forum yet but...

My thoughts... There is obviously a problem from what I have read elsewhere. If you note, all the reputable dealers are pulling them. None of the cards spin the fan up - no matter what brand. Even when you do max it out, it gets in my opinion dangerously hot. I picked up the best cooler I could find locally (because I wanted to use the card) and it dropped the temp significantly. Not only is there a problem with the fan speed, the heat sink itself is a joke. It blows most of the air into a "dead end" of the bracket. Yes there are little slots in the cover, but that is just poor design the air really has nowhere to go. These things should be a two slot design to get the kind of cooling they need. Another flaw in the cooling design is there are some power chips on the left hand side that really need heat sinks themselves. They just sit under the cover with no heat sinking and they get hot enough to burn you. After changing out the heat sink it runs significantly cooler as expected.

Side Note: Another thing to note is that EVGA indicates 26A on the 12 volt is required for this card to run properly - CHECK YOUR PSU. I had enough "power" according to the ratings on the 400 watt PSU in my case - but it was obviously insufficient and I improved the Power supply. When the graphics would kick in you could literally hear the fans in the case slow - Not that they are load to begin with. I had an Antec that should have done the job and I was going to put in - however I noted 4 popped capacitors before I plugged it in. HUGE issue in PSUs. I know this now from comparing notes... On Antec in particular, if you have an Antec over 1 year old, it probably has popped capacitors. If it is 2 years old it certainly does. Same applies to most PSUs. I don't know which brands actually have good ones... You don't need tons of watts. You need a PSU that supplies consistent power and IMHO has a good efficiency rating. My system maxed out was pulling well under 300 watts (275 gaming) - not SLI... But even SLI 500 watts should be more then enough PSU if it is quality - it comes down to the amps for your rails and do you have enough.

 

[jonks]

My KO runs fine. CoD4 for 4 hours, no problems. Crysis demo, ditto. Hasn't crashed on anything yet. Guess I'm just lucky.

Where'd you hear all reputable dealers are pulling them?

Here's an article from Nov 8: http://www.hardocp.com/news.ht...xoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=

Only 15 RMAs total from BFGTech, EVGA, and XFX.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: philobishay
8800GT wonderful when it works, but crashes all the time... Should I RMA this card or does someone have any better suggestions?

That's a hell of a system you've put together. Are you using stock intel heatsink? Have you insured heatsink is seated properly? How's case airflow?

Testing system stability is the first step. Have you run memtest and orthos? Are you applying proper voltage to cpu and memory? Confirm system stability using all stock settings. Confirm temps. Asus boards can be memory sensitive. Does it like your memory? Have you tried moving it to 2nd and 4th slots? Any buzz in Asus forums?

I asked about case because you know your Quad runs hot. Stock cooler, not too good for overclocking. Case needs plently of exaust. If you've already burned in system and confirmed stability, temps, etc, then good job. If not, well, you know what to do...

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: PhaidOut

A friend and I were working on the new system it is in. Went into Crysis and it hit at least 195F -

My thoughts... There is obviously a problem from what I have read elsewhere. If you note, all the reputable dealers are pulling them. None of the cards spin the fan up - no matter what brand. Even when you do max it out, it gets in my opinion dangerously hot. I picked up the best cooler I could find locally (because I wanted to use the card) and it dropped the temp significantly. Not only is there a problem with the fan speed, the heat sink itself is a joke. It blows most of the air into a "dead end" of the bracket. Yes there are little slots in the cover, but that is just poor design the air really has nowhere to go. These things should be a two slot design to get the kind of cooling they need. Another flaw in the cooling design is there are some power chips on the left hand side that really need heat sinks themselves. They just sit under the cover with no heat sinking and they get hot enough to burn you. After changing out the heat sink it runs significantly cooler as expected.

The heatsink is certainly not the best design. You've made a good observation about the exaust area. I posted two options for alternative cooling. Check it out.

Cheap prices have created a surge of new Quad and graphics cards owners. Hotter components call for better case cooling. I read where one guy tried to run a Q6600 in a micro ATX case with one 80mm fan. That's simply piss poor planning. As harsh as that sounds, it's gotta be said.

Before one points to a component and calls it junk, evaluate the soundness of the build. It's a system of components, with cooling and power being as important as the speed of your cpu, gpu, and memory.

It's hard to buy a component from big manufacturers these days that's utter crap. It failing or not working properly is more likely a result of poor component selection for the applicaiton or improper use.