BFG 8800 GT OC Revisions

[gpse]

Hey guys,
I bought a BFG 800 GT 512 OC sbout 3 weeks ago however today I exchanged it for another one because my old one would hang in games after playing for 45 mins or so. The new one I got looks different that my old one:

New:
-Dark green, almost turquoise color PCB
-Small white 2 pin connector near SLI connector
-Metal bracket is plain metal with no label
-One DVI connector is black, the other white

Old:
-Light green PCB, same green as most PCI cards
-Sticker that showed what bios was installed
-Metal bracket was almost black with a label for each DVI connector "1" and "2"

anyone know the differences? or know which one is "newer"

 

[AVP]

Is the fan bigger?

 

[John]

Post a GPU-Z screenshot.

 

[gpse]

the fan is the same size

 

[AeXStrider]

I think the number of fan blades is like 3 more, and of course the bios is supposed to turn the fan up at lower gpu temps.

My evga KO , original revision with the bios update still chokes in ut3 after like 25 min and of course in crysis' boss battle or inside the carrier turns to a slide show.

Siigh ... Was thinking of jsut adding a better cooling system onto the card itself, but as I already added an extra fan blowing fresh air onto the vga and a slot cooler sucking hot air out, I think I have to rma it. No games for like a week .
Somewhere along the line I heard the new revisions are by a completely different manufacturer which I probablly why yours is cosmetically different.

 

[gpse]

I think it is by a different manufacturer, just with the BFG bios loaded. Anyways I was playing Lord of the Rings Online for an hour and it crashed again my temps are 72*c under load. The error message was "ntfs.sys" which caused the BSOD, but I think it's the video card overheating. Also if I get a RMA from BFG is it new or refurbed?

 

[John]

FYI, 72C under load with the stock cooler is not hot. In addition, before you start blaming the video card you should test for stability.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1901991&enterthread=y

If you want a new card then I suggest that you return it to the place of purchase. Otherwise you are most likely going to get a refurb from BFG. It really should not matter since the whole goal is to get a functioning device, and BFG has a lifetime warranty. However make sure the part is truly defective before you RMA anything.

 

[gpse]

I'll test for stability now, the problem is I got this new video card and installed Vista x64 at the same time, so I dunno what is to blame.

 

[John]

Vista

 

[gpse]

LOL well i ran ORTHOS and it causes the BSOD!
The thing is, I am not overclocked or anything.

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Intel DP965LT
Intel E6600
4GB DDR2 @800Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8volts
BFG 8800 GT 512MB OC
500GB Seagate 7200.11 AHCI
SB X-Fi XtremeGamer

everything is upto date: latest bios, all windows updates, etc.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

so your new card is giving u bsod's right off the bat and u didn't do anything to it? RMA IT!

but r u sure ur bsod isn't due to anything else? ram/cpu/mb problem?

 

[LordGestle]

gpse,
Who makes and what model is your PSU? Same question regarding your memory.
Could be your system memory is at fault. I believe Vista comes with memory diagnostic on the CD. I would recommend running that first. If that is not available run memtest.

 

[gpse]

well I think it is the memory!!!
I changed the settings to:
667mhz 4-4-4-12 timings and running ORTHOS for 45minutes without a crash yet.
When I was back at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 it would crash after 20 mins in ORTHOS.
I have a ULTRA 500watt PSU.
Is there a big performance difference from running at 667mhz vs. 800mhz? I figure since I'm running 4-4-4-12 instead of 5-5-5-15 that performance should be the same.

 

[BassBomb]

Hey

What voltage is your Ram supposed to run at?

If its OCZ chances are you are supposed to run at 2.1V rather than 1.8. I had huge problems in Windows, Booting, Posting when my ram was defaulted to 1.8V by my motherboard.

I had to boot in with older DDR ram, up the voltage to 2.1V, then replace the ram and reboot.

I'd check that out.

 

[gpse]

since I have an Intel mobo I can't change ram voltage, however the ram is PATRIOT and is suppose to be able to run at 1.8v

 

[Grinja]

Which motherboard do you have exactly?

I have OCZ platinum Ram rated 4-4-4-15 1.9v-2.1v.
I intially had 2 x 1gb installed and the voltage was set to auto. When I added another 2 sticks (4x1gb) I started getting errors in Orthos.

I manually set the voltage to 1.95 and problem went away.

Cheers.

 

[gpse]

I have a intel dp965lt, there are no settings for voltage on it

 

[taltamir]

try memtest.org ... I don't know of ANY (EVER made) DDR800 5-5-5-15 ram that is rated to run at 1.8 volts (despite 1.8 being the standard for DDR2). Now some CAN... but its not RATED for it.. its either rated for 5-5-5-18 on 1.8volts. Or its rate for 5-5-5-12 (or 15) or 4-4-4-12 (or 15) for 2.0 or 2.1 volts. (a rare few are rated for 1.9 or 2.2 even)

Check your ram's EXACT model number online to see the true rating. Either slow it down to 5-5-5-18 or up the voltage to the required level.

If you cant, consider new ram.

 

[gpse]

I tried 800mhz @ 5-5-5-18 but still crashes, so right now I'm at 667mhz @ 4-4-4-12.
Everything seems stable at these settings however will I loose performace running like this?

 

[redlinez33]

probably not

 

[rgallant]

Originally posted by: gpse
I tried 800mhz @ 5-5-5-18 but still crashes, so right now I'm at 667mhz @ 4-4-4-12.
Everything seems stable at these settings however will I loose performace running like this?

When I went From 2 gigs to-4 gigs running at 900 4-4-4-12-5 @900 I had to bump the voltage from 2.1 to 2.2 max is 2.3
Take note i know you do not have OCZ but on thier forums the techs say the voltage is STATED for 2 gigs not 4 and that more voltage will be needed for 4gigs ,lowering speed is the same as bumping up the voltage ,if thats what you want to do ,never had a Intel board but are you saying the voltage can't be bumped up ?

 

[gpse]

Originally posted by: rgallant

Originally posted by: gpse
I tried 800mhz @ 5-5-5-18 but still crashes, so right now I'm at 667mhz @ 4-4-4-12.
Everything seems stable at these settings however will I loose performace running like this?

When I went From 2 gigs to-4 gigs running at 900 4-4-4-12-5 @900 I had to bump the voltage from 2.1 to 2.2 max is 2.3
Take note i know you do not have OCZ but on thier forums the techs say the voltage is STATED for 2 gigs not 4 and that more voltage will be needed for 4gigs ,lowering speed is the same as bumping up the voltage ,if thats what you want to do ,never had a Intel board but are you saying the voltage can't be bumped up ?

thats right there are no adjustments for voltage, only speed (533,667,800), memory timing, and "CPC OVERRIDE"

 

[sutahz]

Set CPC OVERRIDE to off (sets 2T vice 1T)
E6600 cpu, 266FSB, not overclocking. Set your ram to 533, it'll run 1:1 w/ the FSB. Can tighten up timings if your heart so desires.

 

[gpse]

Originally posted by: sutahz
Set CPC OVERRIDE to off (sets 2T vice 1T)
E6600 cpu, 266FSB, not overclocking. Set your ram to 533, it'll run 1:1 w/ the FSB. Can tighten up timings if your heart so desires.

so this will give me best performace?

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: gpse
LOL well i ran ORTHOS and it causes the BSOD!
The thing is, I am not overclocked or anything.

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Intel DP965LT
Intel E6600
4GB DDR2 @800Mhz 5-5-5-15 1.8volts
BFG 8800 GT 512MB OC
500GB Seagate 7200.11 AHCI
SB X-Fi XtremeGamer

everything is upto date: latest bios, all windows updates, etc.

It might be the factory overclock on the card itself,my Leadtek 7800GT OC will freeze in some games at random ,this was in both XP and Vista x64,I had to reduce the factory overclock by 10mhz(so technically still overclocked but no factory OC spec),been rock stable now for over a year.

As already meantioned running memtest86+ is a good idea too.