BFG 7900GS OC Video Artifacts

[cameron8679]

Hello,

I've recently purchased a BFG GeForce 7900GS OC video card to go with my new system. The temps (both idle and load) are pretty low but I still get some video artifacts (odd colored textures, small blocks here and there) when I am in game. I've tried 2 drivers and the artifacts are still there.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that the PSU that is reccomended is 22A on the 12V line, and my Antec True430 is 20A on the 12V line. However, reccomended also was a 350W PSU while mine is 430W. So, what matters more, the wattage or the number of amps? I've not gotten any shutdowns, slowdowns, etc. Only these few artifacts.

Anybody know what I might be able to do to solve the problem, preferrably without buying a new PSU?

 

[vois2]

I've put both the 7900GT and the 7900GS into different builds for overclocking. The two are basically the same, with the GS having a small number of pipes disabled, but which doesn't equal out to very much performance difference (in my case, with the 7900GT and 470 MHz and the GS at 500 MHz).

I found one thing to be true in both cases, which is that you need more than 400W if you plan to overclock without artifacts. I refer here to a quality 400W PSU. I do not claim that the Antec True 430 fits into that category, I am just not sure, since I don't use or review Antec PSUs.

The other factor I found is that when operating either card in the 350W to 400W PSU range, the quality of the motherboard was a MAJOR factor. It would be very interesting indeed to see your GS perform on someone else's motherboard and with the same Antec True PSU. You don't mention any details of your build so it's impossible to make more of a statement.

 

[cameron8679]

Originally posted by: vois2
I've put both the 7900GT and the 7900GS into different builds for overclocking. The two are basically the same, with the GS having a small number of pipes disabled, but which doesn't equal out to very much performance difference (in my case, with the 7900GT and 470 MHz and the GS at 500 MHz).

I found one thing to be true in both cases, which is that you need more than 400W if you plan to overclock without artifacts. I refer here to a quality 400W PSU. I do not claim that the Antec True 430 fits into that category, I am just not sure, since I don't use or review Antec PSUs.

The other factor I found is that when operating either card in the 350W to 400W PSU range, the quality of the motherboard was a MAJOR factor. It would be very interesting indeed to see your GS perform on someone else's motherboard and with the same Antec True PSU. You don't mention any details of your build so it's impossible to make more of a statement.

AMD Athlon X2 3800+ Dual Core CPU Socket AM2
BFG GeForce 7900GS OC (Factory OC'ed)
1GB Patriot DDR2 PC5300
ASRock 939Dual SATA2 With AM2 Upgrade Card
Antec True430 430 Watt PSU
Pioneer DVD-RW

As you can see, I have only 1 optical drive and no "bells and whistles" power consumption wise. And one thing I've noticed: There are absolutely no artifacts in Armed Assault, but there is a few green/pinkish textures in Red Orchestra and small artifacts in CS:S.

I'm thinking it's possibly the drivers, or it could be just something else, as was stated the idle temps is 49C and the load temp is 65C, both pretty low for a 7900GS.

Any and all help is appreciated!

EDIT: So much for no artifacts in Armed Assault. I just noticed a few while in game .

Do you think I should RMA the card, or should I just buy a new PSU? I really don't have the money for the latter.

 

[cameron8679]

Turns out my clockspeed was over-overclocked, with a default of 540Mhz, whereas it should have been factory clocked at 525. I'm going to back it down to the should-have-been default of 525 and see if the artifacts disappear.

 

[cameron8679]

Artifacts still there at 525 and 540 MHz. Though, they do take about 10 minutes to appear, and when they do appear, they are few and far between, which leads me to believe it's the PSU not being ample. I guess I'll have to get a PSU with at least 22A like was recommended. With temps on the card so low, I doubt it's artifacts from overheating.

Time to convince the parents to shell out $50 on a new PSU.

EDIT: I tried this ATi Tool thing and in the "Scan for Artifacts", I get artifacts (those yellow dots?) immediately, even if underclocking by 100Mhz!

I'm so confused. RMA the card, get new PSU? I have no idea.

 

[Modular]

I"m not sure I agree with your findings, but you could be right. It's one of 2 things...heat (even though your not too hot, the card could be defective) and power. Each of these are potentially the issue. Dropping back clocks causes the card to heat up more slowly, thus delayed artifacts, but it also puts less stress on the PSU... If I were you, I'd RMA the card first. If the problem is still there then you know it's the PSU.

 

[A554SS1N]

It could just be that BFG have overclocked the card more than it can really do, like many other dozy card makes seem to have been doing on other 7900's in the past.

 

[cameron8679]

Originally posted by: A554SS1N
It could just be that BFG have overclocked the card more than it can really do, like many other dozy card makes seem to have been doing on other 7900's in the past.

But why, then, would the artifact finder detect artifacts within seconds when the clock is underclocked by 100MHz on the memory and 25Mhz on the core? I'm submitting an RMA and I hope that will fix the problem.

 

[cameron8679]

A few hours worth of trial and error yielding the following: The core speed was too high, I reduced it to 500Mhz and left the Memory speed at 1320Mhz and I got no artifacts in ATi tool after running for 37 minutes.

I guess BFG just clocked it too high. A 90Mhz increase over stock reference speeds is a bit too high for standard cooling. It's odd that BFG even raised the clocks that high, because my last BFG product was a 6800 GT OC, and the clocks on that one were only raised by 20Mhz, not 90.

Oh well, seems the problem has been sorted. I doubt RMA'ing for a new one will yield anything better, it just seems the clock was too high for that card. At least I still have 50MHz over the stock specs.

 

[imported_blacken]

Driver set?

 

[cameron8679]

Originally posted by: blacken
Driver set?

93.81