Artifact problem with 6800 GT

[Krombus]

Hi,
After installing the cooler I began to see artifacts and game began to crash, etc. No problem in 2D or windows. the temp. is OK. I think I did some damage to the card but I don't know how.. I replaced the old cooler with the zalman (I did everything as instructed and cleaned the chip with q tips + alcohol.) When applying the new paste though, some of it got to the nearby little thingys. I tried to clean it with alcohol as best as i could. Can this be the source of the problem? I placed the stock cooler again and its still a no go.

Is there anyway to fix this?

Thanks.

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

probably, but switch it out for another card and see if it works, then you can tell if it is the damamged components.

 

[Munky]

Did you use arctic silver or the white paste that comes with the zalman. AS might be slightly conductive, and that would mess up the card if you got it on the little metal things in the gpu. I never use AS on my cards for that reason. Also, did you install the ramsinks? I think ddr3 memory (the kind you have) doesnt need heatsinks, and it might be worse if you installed them.

 

[Marsumane]

Did you test out the card before you tried to modify it or did u just install the new cooler and then found it to not be working?

 

[Greenman]

I'd guess the heat sink wasn't seated well, and the gpu overheated.