ATI 9800XT Red dots in certain games

[craige4u]

Hello,

I am having ATI 9800XT (256mb) graphics card and that recently I am facing Red dots in Splinter cell - Chaos theory, Also white dots in Battlefield 2(only sometimes) & doom3.

The graphics Temperature is absolutely Normal and there no sign of overheating.

Is their any way to know if powersupply is the cause of the problem?
I have recently changed by PS three months back, so these can hardly be any problem and by the way its 400W by a reputable brand.

Can anybody tellme what can be wrong?

NOTE:
1]The GPU is never ever been overclocked.
2]I tried Enable/Disable Fast Write
3]The Drivers are most recent & also tried with older versions
4]I cannot check my GPU in another comp nor I can check any other GPU in my comp. ! and this complicates the matter more!

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: craige4u
The graphics Temperature is absolutely Normal and there no sign of overheating.

what is your actual core temp? how did you measure during in-game?

 

[shilala]

It sounds like it's artifacting.
Are you oc'ing the card?

What is the "reputable" brand you mentioned?

 

[craige4u]

HEY !!

In splinter cell: Chaos Theory the problem of Red dots have been Eliminated, when from the settings I have switched from Shader 2.0 to Shader 1.1, Now I wonder why the Shader model 2.0 doesn?t work correctly in my card although the card is 2.0 compatible ?

Also, i am getting other artifacts like lines in other games like HL2, but when i lower the settings or turn off everything the games good!
The AA/AF makes no difference, i just have to turn down almost every settings !!

Now i wonder if thts a card defect ? But then defective card cant even run games in Low settings, Right ?

 

[superbooga]

There's something definately wrong with the card.

It could be overheating. The heatsink might not be properly contacting the chip.

The reason switching to 1.1 might eliminate the problem is because it greatly reduces the GPU's workload.

 

[scottws]

I have this problem with my 9800XT in games that place high stress on the card (F.E.A.R., DOOM III, HL2). It just gets worse and worse until it creates a grid-like pattern on shaded objects.

It is definately an overheating problem. I contacted ATi and they are going to RMA it at no cost to me (besides two weeks with no videocard).

In the meantime, I used ATi Tool to underclock my card a bit, which eliminates the problem.

 

[craige4u]

Well,

I am having my cpu(opened) right in front of my Air conditioner and the temps are way low !

I doubt, but please inform if this can be a problem? i have recently removed the Pin at the back by mistake while cleaning the card, but it was fairly simple and had placed the pin within seconds back into the card.

Photograph of the pin i am talkin bout is attached !
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/6636/ati5vo.jpg

 

[scottws]

Cleaning the card? While it was on? If so, I hope you were doing nothing other than spraying some compressed air, but I don't see how that would remove a pin. I don't even know what pin you are talking about.

In any case, having your case near an air conditioning vent like that won't hurt anything per se, but I wouldn't think of it as a long-term solution.

Edit: (*looks at picture*) Oh that. I think that's just a clip that holds the metal heat spreader in place. I'm not sure though, since I didn't take it off. Still, if you were going to mess with that, I would have turned off the computer and removed the power cord from the system.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: craige4u
Hello,

I am having ATI 9800XT (256mb) graphics card and that recently I am facing Red dots in ... doom3.

I had the exact same issue with a Gigiabyte 9800xt I bought right when they launched, and all was good until Doom3. Downclocking the card 10mhz on the core and the memory each solved the problem,. but I recomend RMA'ing it like I did with mine.

 

[dalearyous]

yeah i have 9800xt and recently posted about "red snow". same thing and same problem i dunno, don't care building new computer

 

[scottws]

Obviously the cooling solution on ATi's 9800XT just isn't sufficient. Seems like a pretty common problem.

 

[kylebisme]

Temps were fine on mine and when underclocking I could disable case fans and make the temps go up quite a bit without causeing the same artifacts, so at least in my case is was an issue of fault tolerance.

 

[Vonkhan]

The fan on the 9800xt is a piece of sh!t ... I switched mine out with a Zalman and now it works fine

 

[craige4u]

Well,

Can anyone tellme how can I underclock my card ? as I am totally novice about the same.

 

[kylebisme]

There are lots of options overclocking, but I prefer ATI Tray Tools for Radeons. Just go into the hardware settings in that and turn the clocks down a bit and test, when you find the speed that is artfact free then you can save a profile and have that load on startup.

 

[scottws]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
The fan on the 9800xt is a piece of sh!t ... I switched mine out with a Zalman and now it works fine

You'd think the stock solution would at least keep the card working properly at stock speeds.

 

[scottws]

Ooops, wrong thread. Sorry.

 

[craige4u]

Thanks snowman for that useful link, I would like to know if Downclocking have any negative impacts on an card OR does there any Cons with doing so and also does it impact the GPU warranty in any way ?

 

[Gstanfor]

The "pin" you refer to in the picture is a heatsink retention clip, and I'm guessing it would have some tension applied to it.

If that came off while the computer was operating, the heatsink would be unable to effectively cool the GPU and it's possible the GPU could sustain damage depending on how long it was run like it.

I have to say it seems to be an incredibly flimsy way of doing things (typical ATi).

Do you remember bumping this when cleaning the card? If so you may not be able to claim warranty repair. If it came loose by itself, thats a different scenario.

As suggested above, try underclocking the card and see if the artifacts are gone. if so, you are lucky and the card should only require replacement TIM (thermal interface material) between GPU and heatsink and the heatsink assembly clamping down correctly. If you have warranty I would not attempt this myself.

 

[scottws]

Yeah, the ATi manufactured cards carry a 3-year warranty, so I'm just RMAing mine. I just can't seem to ever get around to sending it in because I'll basically be without a PC for two weeks.