BFG 6800 GT stutter problems w/ nforce 3 250 mobo

[reno4]

I just bought an Epox 8KDA3J nforce 3 250GB mobo w/ an athlon 64 3000+ as a doom3/hl2 rig... i have a bfg 6800 gt that i just got a couple of weeks ago. doom 3 and other open gl games run flawlessly, but when i load up 3dmark 2k3 or any direct3d game i get the stutter/freeze problem that other people seem to be having. the programs freeze every 3 seconds or so

I've tried disabling fastwrite to no avail... i am also running both the cpu and vid card at stock speeds now... the card works fine on my other p4 2.4b / i850e system so i know it isn't the card... i'm running the latest forceware drivers for both my card and the board and i just did a clean install of windows xp pro w/ sp2... my bios is the .15 revision, plus bfg tech support did not have any other bioses for me to try...

please help!

 

[Genx87]

I had the same problems as you. However tonight I reinstalled XP and did a couple of things.

A. Turned off Sideband addressing
B. Havent installed coolbits or overclocked
C. Reinstalling makes sure any remnants of my GF3 Ti200 are gone.

I cant tell you for certain what solved the issue but I am leaning towards 1 or 2 or a combo of them both.
However I will say that with my card being run at stock before the reinstall I also had stuttering so maybe my coolbits is whacked.

Also I am wondering if AMDs Cool 'n' Quiet didnt have something to do with it. Haven you enabled it and installed the driver for it?

 

[Rage187]

Bump for a fellow Renonite.

 

[Acanthus]

Set your AGP aperture to have as much or more memory than whats on your card, and disable fast writes.

 

[reno4]

genx87: i just tried a reformat w/ windows xp and turning off sideband addressing... still has the same problem... i havent enabled coolbits or overclocked my cpu at all .... also no cool n quiet... just installed forceware drivers and tried out 3dmark... are yu running xp with xp2?

acanthus: my agp aperture is = to my vid card ram (256mb) and fast writes is off =\

i just wonder if this is a global nforce 3 250 problem or if it's specific to my epox... kinda funny how nvidia gfx card w/ nvidia mobo is causing so many problems

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: reno4
genx87: i just tried a reformat w/ windows xp and turning off sideband addressing... still has the same problem... i havent enabled coolbits or overclocked my cpu at all .... also no cool n quiet... just installed forceware drivers and tried out 3dmark... are yu running xp with xp2?

acanthus: my agp aperture is = to my vid card ram (256mb) and fast writes is off =\

i just wonder if this is a global nforce 3 250 problem or if it's specific to my epox... kinda funny how nvidia gfx card w/ nvidia mobo is causing so many problems

Well it could also just be that your running 512MB.

 

[reno4]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: reno4
genx87: i just tried a reformat w/ windows xp and turning off sideband addressing... still has the same problem... i havent enabled coolbits or overclocked my cpu at all .... also no cool n quiet... just installed forceware drivers and tried out 3dmark... are yu running xp with xp2?

acanthus: my agp aperture is = to my vid card ram (256mb) and fast writes is off =\

i just wonder if this is a global nforce 3 250 problem or if it's specific to my epox... kinda funny how nvidia gfx card w/ nvidia mobo is causing so many problems

Well it could also just be that your running 512MB.

running 512mb of ram would cause all d3d apps to fail while doom3 and other open gl games run perfectly?

 

[Blastman]

There was a big thread about this at ?

futuremarkforum

 

[Genx87]

I am also running SP2, DX9c, and I downloaded the newest Nforce+video drivers from Nvidias website.

There is something funky going on with the GTs but I cant quite figure it out. All I know is it went away after the reinstall.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Do me a ridiculous favor and remove your Audigy and try again. Far left field theory.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Do me a ridiculous favor and remove your Audigy and try again. Far left field theory.

Actually that is an excellent suggestion :thumbsup: Creative and it's crapware have caused more than their fair share of issues over the years and they should always head the list of usual suspects when TSing.

 

[filmore crashcart]

I have almost the samely configured system you do, except I have 1 gig of 3200 ddr Kingston Value ram and I changed my Antec TruePower 380 out for a Thermaltake 420w PS (no reason, the Antec wasn't causing problems, I just happened to pickup the Thermaltake on sale.)
I had a huge amount of stutterring when I overclocked by too much but since then I've backed down on the overclock and have only encountered the periodic freezing only in Far Cry, which I think is partly the game. I have had no problems in Doom 3 or with running 3dmark03.
Enabling or disabling Fast writes doesn't seem to make a difference in stability, but I leave it off anyway. My agp aperture is set to 256.

Edit: I recently installed the Audigy 2 and it hasn't caused any problems so far.

 

[reno4]

i've tried completely removing the audigy out of the system (drivers and card) and the problem persists.... my theory was that the audigy was sending evil signals from across the room but i cant bring it to myself to toss it =\

perhaps i was unclear about the symptoms of the problem... the stuttering doesnt lend itself for actualy gameplay... rather it freezes for 3 seconds, resumes for 1, and then freezes again... kind of like a reverse stutter of normal function... this only happens for direct 3d software... in fact i have even gotten a STOP error for the nvdisplay driver due to an infinite loop? i've tried reformatting and the 61.76, 61.77, and 62.56 drivers as well as trying sp1 to see if that was it... no dice...

is there a way i can test to see if it is my particular mobo or ram that is faulty? since filmore can run 3dmark i'm leaning towards the possibility that i just need to rma my particular epox mobo...

 

[filmore crashcart]

Out of curiosity, what bios version is on your Mb?

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: reno4
i've tried completely removing the audigy out of the system (drivers and card) and the problem persists.... my theory was that the audigy was sending evil signals from across the room but i cant bring it to myself to toss it =\

perhaps i was unclear about the symptoms of the problem... the stuttering doesnt lend itself for actualy gameplay... rather it freezes for 3 seconds, resumes for 1, and then freezes again... kind of like a reverse stutter of normal function... this only happens for direct 3d software... in fact i have even gotten a STOP error for the nvdisplay driver due to an infinite loop? i've tried reformatting and the 61.76, 61.77, and 62.56 drivers as well as trying sp1 to see if that was it... no dice...

is there a way i can test to see if it is my particular mobo or ram that is faulty? since filmore can run 3dmark i'm leaning towards the possibility that i just need to rma my particular epox mobo...

Creative drivers do not uninstall properly, ever. Even when the hardware isnt on the PC.

Format is the only solution to removing creatives POS drivers without registry ghosts and the like screwing with things. (i know you may not want to do this, just stating that in my experience creative drivers are TERRIBLE)

 

[reno4]

Originally posted by: filmore crashcart
Out of curiosity, what bios version is on your Mb?

the 7/16 version...

acanthus: i've tried reformatting with the audigy out and this still happens.... =\

update: just tried reflashing back to the 7/09 bios to see if that made a difference... it didnt

 

[Link]

Try modding the bios if you dare. got to mvtech.net and download OmniExtremeEdit. Also get the nvflash 5.08.
Using the nvflash in the DOS mode (make a boot floppy), you can extract the bios from you card (nvflash -b save.rom)
After you save the bios, boot to XP and run the OminExtremeEdit. There you can raise the voltage to GPU. Raise the voltage to 3D by 0.01V, making it 1.4V. Save the modded bios on another file name such as newbios.rom. Again DOS boot and run nvflash (nvflash newbios.rom)
When it's done, reboot and play some games.

 

[reno4]

Originally posted by: Link
Try modding the bios if you dare. got to mvtech.net and download OmniExtremeEdit. Also get the nvflash 5.08.
Using the nvflash in the DOS mode (make a boot floppy), you can extract the bios from you card (nvflash -b save.rom)
After you save the bios, boot to XP and run the OminExtremeEdit. There you can raise the voltage to GPU. Raise the voltage to 3D by 0.01V, making it 1.4V. Save the modded bios on another file name such as newbios.rom. Again DOS boot and run nvflash (nvflash newbios.rom)
When it's done, reboot and play some games.

thanks for the tip, link, but i'd prefer not to muck around with the bios of my $425 video card =] besides, theres really no reason why the card should not work out of the box with an nforce 3 chipset

in other news, i have called epox tech support and been given 2 bios revisions to try out one from 7/28 and one from 8/12, both did not fix the problem...

i also tried putting in an old gf2 pro in the system and that did the trick, so it's definitely something with the nforce 3 chipset and the gefoce 6800 GT

no pci cards are in the system now...

at this point i've about almost given up trying to get these two to work, would going to a via k8t800 pro based mobo fix the problems ?

 

[BFG10K]

I had a few pauses too and while I wait for MSI to release a new BIOS for my card I updated my motherboard BIOS, updated my chipset drivers, got DX 9.0c and got the 65.62 drivers. That combo has dramatically reduced the problem and since then I've only had it once in SOF2.

 

[poppyq]

I just picked up a 6800GT today and I'm getting a very similar problem. Not quite stuttering, but I'm getting "blips" through my speakers when sound is playing. I have an Audigy Platinum Ex that I haven't tried removing yet. This has also caused my games to either crash (World of Warcraft) or just completely bluescreen the system (DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL) <-- that error I reinstalled newest nforce/video drivers and the problem still persists. I used drivercleaner to remove my ati files after uninstalling it.

AMD 64 3200+
Giga-Byte K8NS-PRO
1gb (2x512) Corsair XMS
BFG Geforce 6800 GT

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: reno4
[so it's definitely something with the nforce 3 chipset and the gefoce 6800 GT

there's a flaw in your theory as i had none of those issues with a GT and NF3 chipset.

 

[BFG10K]

Oh, I suppose I should mention that flashing my card to nVidia's latest reference BIOS and using the 61.77 drivers have cured my issues.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Man after reading that thread at futuremark and this one of course, Im not alone! I really cant stand this stuttery mess! My frame rates in doom 3 will be awesome, but its just so damn jerky.

 

[sparhawk6]

Any solutions to this? I've tried all these suggestions and I've had no luck. I have a DFI Nforce 3 board and the BFG 6800GT.

 

[Laza]

I have the same problems.

Sometimes the games freeze for like 3 seconds without anything happening, the sound just keeps looping or makes an annoying prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt sound. Sometimes the computer recovers from this, sometimes it crashes and I have to reset it. I tried several driver versions, the official 61.77 seem to be less prone to this problem than the newer ones (although it is much slower). Can't think of a solution to this other than newer drivers or BIOS updates to the GF card.

Gfx card: PNY 6800GT AGP 256MB

Specs: A7N8X deluxe (nforce2) Athlon XP 2100+ 1GB HyperX DDR433
350W HEC PSU (same probs with a 300W PSU), 2 HDD's + 2 CD/DVD drives