Did i get a dud ti4200? It won't overclock a mhz!!!

[Xtasy]

I just purchased a Albatron ti4200p 128mb. Of course i have hopes of overclocking it. After installing the card and installing the latest nvidia drivers, nvmax, and nvrefresh tool 2.0. The default speed is 250/500. I went straight to 300/600, 3dmark2k1 - no go. After playing around with the clocks and evn formatting the whole comp because i felt that there might be a conflict or something. After formatting and setting up the video tweaks again, i set it to 260/510, only a 10 mhz overclock on both buses. 3dmark2k1 - no go!!! What is going on? I have read reviews of this card hitting 300/590 or 320/620! This is unacceptable. I used all of these seperately rivatuner, det drivers 30.82 and 29.42, nvmax le, and nvrefresh tool and there is no difference. What could be the problem? It doesn't freeze, but displays no video and the monitor goes to suspend. It also did so in medal of honor. What should i do about this? It evn stopped at default once in 3dmark2k1. My system is a 1.6ghz P4 northwood, msi 645 ultra, agp bus = 66mhz, latest sis agp drivers installed. Thanks.

 

[Xtasy]

Should i exchange it? Or could it be just my motherboard?

 

[EdipisReks]

i doubt anyplace is going to take back a video card because it doesn't overclock well (unless the card has a guaruntee). try clearing out the drvers and reinstalled the newest WHQL drivers.

[edit: i didn't see that you had reformatted. if the card is hanging at default clocks, maybe the card is defective. you could also try updating the bios on the board. since you are having stability problems, even if it is occasional, at default speeds you could definitely RMA it. if a new one is also having problems then you know that it isn't the Video Card that is the problem. maybe the motherboard isn't supplying enough voltage to the AGP slot. what kind of powersupply do you have? that could also be an issue.]

 

[Xtasy]

Lets see, i did reformat - used the 30.82 whql certified, and also used the 29.42 whql (after uninstalling the 30.82). I have a antec smartpower 350watt psu. What surprises me is that it doesn't lock, it just displays no video and the monitor goes to suspend. My bro (who owns the card) just told me that it freezes in unreal 2k3 at default speeds. This card was retailed box and sealed, and was sitting on a short shelf on the wall in the store. It could have fell and something happened to the card. Should i simply exchange it now? I hope i don't have to be hassled with 15% restocking fee for this defective product.

 

[BigMoe]

can you up the io volts?

 

[Xtasy]

Nope, not on my 2 mobos up and running.

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

I have a 128mbyte Ti4200, that overclocks quite badly. I can not go beyond 475Mhz on the memory side (default 446). Normally you can expect at least 500 from that 4ns Samsung memory. However it shows artifacts if I go beyond 475. I can even push it to 520, with the result, that it produces black artifacts like heavy rain on the screen. Result is clear, I got a card with RAM that overclocks badly, at least I can get the core to 290Mhz.

I your case I would say, it is not normal, that overclocking the card simply results in "no signal". Given the fact, that it also makes trouble at default speed from time to time I would return it immediately.

Cheers
Speedy

 

[Peter]

Welcome to the real world. It works at stock speeds, doesn't it? That's all you paid for - anything above that is luck of draw.

 

[Soulkeeper]

that's a large overclock.....
never just throw the board in yur system and instantly do a 20% oc or whatever
go up slowly and take yur time
then see what's holding you back
and go from there

***alright nevermind, i just wanted to post and feel special***

 

[AnAndAustin]

If the card shows probs at defaults then definitely return it, if it seems faulty and you simply want an exchange for the same type of card (note the serial number or mark it so they don't give you back the same card) there should be no restocking fee. As said, if it doesn't o/c well but does work at defaults then it's tough luck as any o/c is a bonus not a guarantee. IIRC most standard Albatron cards get much closer to if not exceed 300/550 so you may either have a slightly faulty card, a slight prob with the RAM and the core (which limits their o/c'ability) or another factor such as the mobo, PSU, heat/airflow or simply a wierd incompatability. I'd try it in another PC and see if you can o/c more. As another wise man said, don't just swing that card up to 300/600 (or whatever), just because some other cards have done that, take it steadily and test thoroughly before upping the card, if you took a big jump straight off the bat then the card may be experiencing problems due to that and nothing else.

Don't forget that the default for a 4200-128MB is 250/444, the fact that the card is clocked at 250/500 means you are already getting a 13% RAM boost even at 'stock' speeds, so although 260/510 is disappointing it still gives very nice perf and will easily be within 10% of TI4400 speed.

 

[sep]

AnAndAustin (Well said).

FYI...
I got the same card from Newegg.com and I inched (5 at a time) my way up to 300/570. System is very fast and stable.

I hope you get this resolved. Good Luck!
-JC

 

[Deeko]

Umm, no it isn't a dud. If it were garunteed to run at higher speeds, it would be called a "Ti4600".

 

[Xtasy]

What surprises me is that it doesn't lock, but simply outputs no signal. I am an experienced overclocker and have never seen that in all my vga cards. I was also living on high hopes since i tinkered with friend's ti4200s, both got 300/600 off the bat. The geforce ti4200 128mb default is 250/444, but for this card i think it is 250/500, since the drivers they supplied me with are nvidia drivers w/ albatron logos probably, which would set the default clock to 250/500.

 

[Xtasy]

I also noticed that the samsung ram on the card have different markings. If you know samsung ram, it usually has a number with 2XX. I noticed that all the ones in the front are 228, while all the ones in the back of the card are 211. Could that be a defect? I have samsung ram (tcb3) and all 3 sticks have this same number throughout.

 

[Deeko]

you're scraping here.

as long as it runs at default speeds, it is not defective.