Factory OC'ed 7800GTs artifacts

Veech

Member
Oct 17, 2005
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I have decided to get a 7800GT and was considering getting one that was factory overclocked such as the BFG for $375.

But after searching the forum, it seems that the 7800GT's were having problems with artifacts, especially those that were overclocked. I haven't seen a recent post regarding this trend, have recent bios flashes and driver updates corrected this problem or are you folks still seeing it?

thanks

Veech
 

sep

Platinum Member
Aug 1, 2001
2,553
0
76
I don?t see BFG 7800GT posts that have problems. I think evga has some problems that are corrected with a bios update?no big deal.

Yes, I own a BFG 7800GT OC and love it. No Artifacts here!
 

VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
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I'm waiting for my RMA to arrive today. Took Two weeks and I had to pay for shipping both ways. That freakin sucked. Probably not worth getting them OC'd anyway. It's not like it's by much. 50 extra MHz in the core and 25 Extra in the memory, which is negligible. The 50Mhz is what a 12% increase, F that. Just get a regular one and be done with it. I order the only Leadtek one that was listed and thought it was a regular beforehand. Should've given it a closer look, because I wouldn't have spent the money for a Factory OC'd version.
 

exar333

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2004
8,518
8
91
Originally posted by: VIAN
I'm waiting for my RMA to arrive today. Took Two weeks and I had to pay for shipping both ways. That freakin sucked. Probably not worth getting them OC'd anyway. It's not like it's by much. 50 extra MHz in the core and 25 Extra in the memory, which is negligible. The 50Mhz is what a 12% increase, F that. Just get a regular one and be done with it. I order the only Leadtek one that was listed and thought it was a regular beforehand. Should've given it a closer look, because I wouldn't have spent the money for a Factory OC'd version.

your a fool....a 12% increase out the box and you are complaining? Boy, it sure sucks when a company overclocks a piece of hardware and then warranties that HW for that overclock....they sure are pulling a number on us...go buy a factory Geforce 4 MX and play MDK...enjoy...quit trolling
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
I have a Chaintech 7800GT... non OC'd at all (stock I mean) and it runs awesome... problem free :D
 

Veech

Member
Oct 17, 2005
44
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0
mostly encouraging responses so far. Seems that anyone who has had problmes has had them fixed either with a bios update or by RMA.

Keep posting folks...

Has anyone run two 7800GT's OC'ed in SLI?
 

Budarow

Golden Member
Dec 16, 2001
1,917
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Originally posted by: ExarKun333
Originally posted by: VIAN
I'm waiting for my RMA to arrive today. Took Two weeks and I had to pay for shipping both ways. That freakin sucked. Probably not worth getting them OC'd anyway. It's not like it's by much. 50 extra MHz in the core and 25 Extra in the memory, which is negligible. The 50Mhz is what a 12% increase, F that. Just get a regular one and be done with it. I order the only Leadtek one that was listed and thought it was a regular beforehand. Should've given it a closer look, because I wouldn't have spent the money for a Factory OC'd version.

your a fool....a 12% increase out the box and you are complaining? Boy, it sure sucks when a company overclocks a piece of hardware and then warranties that HW for that overclock....they sure are pulling a number on us...go buy a factory Geforce 4 MX and play MDK...enjoy...quit trolling

ExarKun333, with insulting remarks such as yours, I'd say you were the troll not VIAN. And I'd say a 50MHz bump on the core IS negligible (i.e, ~4-6 FPS increase at best). For the "extra" performance, VIAN AND myself are paying for it now. My EVGA 7800GT comes clocked on the high end (for a 7800GT) and I've had to send back TWO RMA'd cards. The first due to artifacts (at EVGA's stock speed) and the second card which arrived USED AND with bad RAM chips (or some other defect). At $12-$15 to ship each way PLUS a 2-4 weeks down time waiting for replacement cards, I don't consider a 5 FPS increase worth the trouble.
 

VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
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your a fool....a 12% increase out the box and you are complaining?
12% isn't a lot. It's something, but not much. And I was comparing the price. I've seen OC's that were about 50 bucks more than the regular, and that is BS. I don't think it's worth it. If it was about 25 bucks then, it's not bad.

But still, WTF are you talking about, it's not like they OC it for free. Their's a premium to it.

I remember that I OC'd my 9700 Pro by like 20% and it played smoother, but it wasn't much more powerful. And it wasn't worth the time or the money.

At $12-$15 to ship each way PLUS a 2-4 weeks down time waiting for replacement cards, I don't consider a 5 FPS increase worth the trouble.
This is another issue. Why are these factory overclocks going wrong? They probably have less yields and some that get out are probably not as stable as they could be.

I just got my card today, we'll see how it goes.
 

vikingblade

Senior member
Sep 20, 2005
292
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0
this is the exact reason ive been holding off buying the 7800gt. i do not feel like pulling a card out of my comp and rma back n forth, paying shipping, and even worse.. what do i do while waiting for my new card.. i need my computer. so, i gotta buy a 2nd back up card just in case it needs to go back.. gimme a break. quality control should be wayyy better on a $350+ piece of hardware.

anyways, ive been trying to determine if the primary rma issue with the 7800gt's is with the evga's or all, or only the oc'd cards... like most out here, id love to get the fastest, best performing card my money can buy. however, not if im likely to get a bad card or have to flash the bios or test this and adjust that, and worry and stress.

so... anyone know which 7800gt is the most stable/reliable-least likely to need a return?? ill trade a few frames to save me the aggravation. and, i understand anything can be defective... but, the 7800gt has been plagued with problems and returns.
 

rahzel

Member
Jul 21, 2005
94
0
0
the majority of problematic 7800 GT's was with the EVGA cards. Reason is because they were the only ones with a geometric delta clock of 40mhz. EVGA cards are clocked at 445/1070, the geometric clock adds another 40mhz in 3D applications. Most EVGA 7800 GT owners couldnt handle their core at 485 so they were getting artifacts.

EVGA released a BIOS update for both the regular 7800 GT and the CO version, removing the geo delta clock. Their newer stock will probably include the new Rev.2 BIOS.

Even considering the EVGA 7800 GT's are the most problematic, id still consider them to be the best choice for 7800 GT. IMO, they have the best customer service, the step-up program and like BFG, they also have a lifetime warranty. BFG would be my second choice.
 

vikingblade

Senior member
Sep 20, 2005
292
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0
Thanks Rahzel. yeah, weve discussed this before. i was still worried, since ive read a few people who flashed to new bios and still had problems. however, i suppose those may just be a bad card.

you had artifacting with your evga that the new bios fixed right?? still no trouble?

any idea if the 7800gtx had artifacting/bios issues as well. ive mostly heard of it with the GT.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
3,002
126
I don't like it when OEMs take it upon themselves to factory overclock the cards. As far as I'm concerned those cards are running out of spec and I flash the BIOS with nVidia's reference version to get things back to normal.
 

aldamon

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
3,280
0
76
Originally posted by: BFG10K
I don't like it when OEMs take it upon themselves to factory overclock the cards. As far as I'm concerned those cards are running out of spec and I flash the BIOS with nVidia's reference version to get things back to normal.

That makes no sense whatsoever.
 

rahzel

Member
Jul 21, 2005
94
0
0
Originally posted by: BFG10K
Enjoy your stock speeds.
Thanks, I will.

And you enjoy your 50 MHz overclock which adds a glorious 17 extra points to 3DMark scores.

depends what you overclock. The nVidia 7 series cards have key overclocking points that give you noticable boosts.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=190717

if what youre saying is what i think youre saying, i somewhat agree with you. Overclocking videocards doesnt give you that much of a performance boost in actual gaming performance. Benchmarks like 3dmark05 and 3dmark03 are GPU intensive, so the smallest tweak to your videocard will change your score. 300 points in 3dmark05 translates to like 2fps in actual games.
 

rahzel

Member
Jul 21, 2005
94
0
0
Originally posted by: vikingblade
Thanks Rahzel. yeah, weve discussed this before. i was still worried, since ive read a few people who flashed to new bios and still had problems. however, i suppose those may just be a bad card.

you had artifacting with your evga that the new bios fixed right?? still no trouble?

any idea if the 7800gtx had artifacting/bios issues as well. ive mostly heard of it with the GT.

yes. still no trouble.

i thought i answered you already.
 

TraumaRN

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2005
6,893
63
91
Hmm the only game I've noticed an issue with is Age of Empires 3, I get a few artifacts maybe once every 20-30 minutes....they are just kinda random.....maybe just cuz the game isnt fully optimized yet(even tho the game has "The way it's meant to be played" Nvidia tag:p) But yea no probs with artifacts on my albatron card and look at my OC in sig....I was expecting artifact hell but no problems yet :)

EDIT: The stock speeds on the albatron cards are 400/1000