Video Flicker with BFG 6800GT

[Worthington]

Got a problem with a new card and I'm hoping some here can lend a hand.

I just got a new BFG 6800GT (pci-ex) which is running on an LCD screen. With the card in the monitor flickers and I get some crazy pixelation (almost like artifacts from overclocking). This happens as soon as I boot the machine, even in the bios screens. The PCI-Express power is plugged into the card, so it's not that.

Also the temps seem way to high. By the time I get into windows and can look at the adapter properties they are around 58C.. and they climb strait to high 70s (this is just looking at the desktop). If I drop the resolution down to 800x600 the temps drop to about 68-70C.. still way to high.

Cooling shouldn't be an issue as I have an Artic Cooler 5 rev 2 on the card, and the waves\flickers start as soon as the machine is booted (while the card is still cool).

I'm at a loss here. All the MB power connectors are plugged in. It's a brand new installation of windows as well.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

When you say "flicker" do you mean like the screen hops or shakes ever so slightly? I had that particular problem with my original BFG 6800GT OC board when being the first of the 2 cards in SLI if I make it the second board the problem vanished.

 

[Worthington]

It wavers. Almost as if I was looking at the screen through a puddle of water. Once I get to windows where there is a color besides black then I notice the pixelation as well.

Not running sli at the moment

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Interesting...I've never seen anything like that. Hope someone can help you. Have you contacted BFG or the LCD manuf?

 

[JokerRulez]

Finally! Someone with the same problem I'm having. I feel your pain man. Here's what I've gone through:

>First: System Specs
>AMD 64 3200+
>ASUS K8VSE Deluxe mobo, 8xAGP@1.5V> 8xAGP at 1.5V, VIA chipset,
>800mhz FSB
>--bios is the second to newest. Latest bios adds new CPU support.
>--UPDATE: I flashed the bios with ASUS afudos.exe. Running most current version.
>350W power supply, 200GB SATA HD
>Viewsonic A91f+
>
>Next: The problem
>I picked up one of the Leadtek Winfast A400 GT cards based around the Nvidia
>GeForce 6800 GT chipset. Plugged it in. Card ran perfect for one day.
>Opened the case, closed the case (I swear I did nothing else while it was
>open, and I'm an IT professional so I think I know what I'm doing) now the
>card won't work right.
>What I am seeing is white "snow" in the display at the most basic VGA level.
>During power up, in the bios screen, you name it. Windows graphics fails
>utterly unless I boot in safe mode. So, the raw graphic display is not
>working right.
>
>Finally: Here is what I've done to resolve the problem.
>1. I took the graphics card out and tried it in another machine. Same
>problem. ASUS mobo, Sempron 2400+, 512MB DDR 3200.
>2. Plugged in my old AGP card (Radeon 9800 128MB) and everything was fine.
>3. Took it to a local Hardware guy I know who determined the card was bad.
>4. Shipped the card back to Newegg.com and (very quickly) received a
>replacement card. Plugged it in - same problem. Aaarrgghh.
>5. Called Leadtek tech support and left a message. Received a reply to (a)
>try the card in another machine and (b) ensure the video card is the only
>item connected to the power supply from that connector. Having already done
>'a' I tried 'b'. I swear it was better for a second, but no, still bad.
>6. Bought a brand new 450W power supply and ran the dedicated VGA power
>supply cord to the GT card. Same problem.
>7. ASUS stated their AGP slot only supports 1.5V cards, no 3.3V cards. The
>Leadtek homepage does not display this spec. However, I have found two
>posts on the internet with people using this card at 1.5V with no problems.
>UPDATE: I've done a bunch of research on this and understand AGP 1.0-3.0 better
now. This is not the problem.
>8. Flashed the bios with ASUS afudos.exe. Now running the most current bios.
>No change in performance.

I have a bit more information, as well as a couple things to try:
>1. I emailed the Leadtek people and received the following reply (I think it was
>from Taiwan):
>Dear Customer,
>
> We suggest you to adjust the value of AGP voltage to up a little
>bit scale to test.
>Or to set the FSB down a little bit.
> If no success,please direct send back to local dealer to repair or
>return.
>Thanks!
>Best regards,
>Marketing Department, Leadtek Research Inc.
>
>2. Last things I have found today (instead of working) to try are specific
>bios settings. As follows:
Go into main system BIOS.
Turn "Fast AGP Write" to OFF/Disabled
Make sure "AGP Speed" reads "4X8X" and NOT "Auto" (seems to be issue with "Auto" detect here)
Turn "AGP Apature" up as high as possible. Mine was set at 256MB, but changed it to "512MB" the highest setting possible.
Save and exit BIOS.
>
3. Finally, I have found memory to be an issue for wierd behavior like this in the past.
I'll try troubleshooting my memory by removing one stick, testing, then swapping
and trying the other. Doubt it but I should eliminate this. Also I have a third
stick of same memory to try. Who knows.

What I do know is Newegg.com wants $45 in restocking fees if I get a refund on
this card. Gheezsch.

>That's it.

What in the world is wrong? I'll update as I try other things.

Joker

 

[Worthington]

This is a PCI-express card so there isn't any agp voltage to adjust. I know it's not the Mainboard cause I went out and bought a BFG 6600 at my local bestbuy and popped it in.. works fine.

I did call BFG though. The tech there asked me a few questions (pci-express power plugged in, board bios, etc) and then determined that the card was most likely bad..

Just packaged it up to ship back to new egg.

Thanks for the ideas though.

 

[JokerRulez]

I hope it works out for you. I RMA'd my card and the next one I recieved had the same problem. Ergo, it isn't the card that is the problem. The card works fine, it just doesn't work fine in MY system. The question is ... why?

For the record, I tried the AGP settings as well as underclocking everything no more than half way (and various other settings through the scale) and saw no improvement. I'm troubleshooting it from a memory angle tonight now that family has gone home and we have our house back.

Hope you have success. Keep us posted.

Joker

 

[Worthington]

Will do. If the new card fixes it I'll let you know (Should be here tomorrow).

 

[JokerRulez]

Wow.

Excellent link HERE that was placed in a similar thread. It really applies to all video cards although it is dealing with a 6600 GT by way of example.

Good advice.

Joker

 

[JokerRulez]

Well, I took the card to a friend's house who had a computer with a completely different chipset in his motherboard and tried it there. Same problem.

Bad card.

So, when I ordered the card from Newegg I got the card shipped from California. When I returned the first one I sent it to California but my replacement card was shipped from New Jersey. When I got this (second attempt) card it looked to have been previously opened. A piece of tape was obviously opened on the card static case itself. Newegg sent me a replacement card that was from their 'refurbished' lot of cards?

It's all junk.

I'm completing the RMA for refund, giving Newegg their godblasted 15% restocking fee and getting the frick out of it. No upgrade for me for a while. Not til I cool off.

From my personal experience with Leadtek, they suck.

Joker

 

[JokerRulez]

On Saturday I went to Best Buy and picked up a BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC and it works fine. Happy gaming all weekend (although I'm going to underclock it back to stock to help prevent heating issues).

You know how it is, if you have a bad experience with, say a Ford car then you never want a Ford car again. I am never purchasing a Leadtek product again.

Luck all,

Joker

PS Oh, I sent an email complaint to Newegg.com about their supposed 'Restocking Fee' for a defective product and they are giving me a full refund stating "...since we do not restock defective products...". Very cool.

 

[imported_IdleHand]

Originally posted by: Worthington
Will do. If the new card fixes it I'll let you know (Should be here tomorrow).

Hi, did the new card display the same problem? Please reply with feedback.

I built my brand new computer over the weekend with a very similar spec to yours. The first time I booted up, the pixelated distortion was immediately noticeable in the BIOS menu, pretty much exactly as you described above.

Last night after installing WinXP SP2 the problem was still present. Installing latest video and chipset drivers from nVidia made the problem go away briefly, but it reappeared when I increased my resolution from 640x480 to 1280x1024. I downloaded the latest BIOS from DFI and flashed my motherboard, but that didn't help.

I have a 480w SLi compliant PSU, and the card's idle temperature in Windows is 57degrees. There is nothing else I can think of now other than to email BFG and RMA the card.

Is there a known solution to this yet? I have read through most of the BFG problem threads on this forum, but would rather not have to return the card if possible. I haven't even played or tested any games yet.

 

[Worthington]

Damn, I meant to sorry.

Yes, the new card did exactly the same thing. Called BFG again but they didn't have much of a solution. However a guy over at dfi-streets was having exactly the same problem (and I mean exactly). He also called BFG a few times and finally was told that this was becoming a known issue with the 6800GT. There is some kind of power routing issue on the cards that cause issues when trying to display 1600x1200 on some LCDs. Wish they had told me that earlier. So both cards are going back and I have an eVGA on it's way. Supposedly they don't have any issues.

 

[imported_IdleHand]

thanks for the reply, that is bad news indeed. doesn't seem to be limited to resolutions of 1600x1200 if it is already noticeable in the bios screen.

 

[Worthington]

The monitors native resolution is 1600x1200 (Viewsonic VP201b), the bios is getting displayed at that res as well.

 

[imported_IdleHand]

Ah ok, I have a 19" Sony X-Brite LCD, native res is 1280x1024. The strange thing is that the artifacts go away on my Windows desktop, or at least become less noticeable if I run at 800x600.

 

[Xed]

I picked up a pci-e bfg 6800gt to go with my new rig and had the exact same problem at first. Switched dvi ports and everything works fine now. The working port also has no problems at 1920x1200 like my agp one does.

 

[imported_IdleHand]

hey Xed, i tried switching DVI ports but the monitor registered no input. are both ports enabled by default?

another concern i had was a red LED on the underside of the card that is lit up. is that normal?

 

[imported_IdleHand]

just spoke to BFG tech support and they don't admit to any wider spread problem, thought that may only be their "official comment" for now. they must test on DFI motherboards though....

 

[Worthington]

Huh, strange.

Angus (the guy at Dfi-streets with the same problem) said he got someone on his 3rd or so call that knew about the issue.

I tried switching ports as well, and PCI-E slots but no go. Using an empty wall socket helped a lot for the span of one boot. After a reboot a few hours later it was back. The 600w UPS didn't help either.

waiting for Fed-Ex anxiously. Let you know in a few hours.

 

[Worthington]

eVga is in and running perfectly. No flickers or artifacting from the minute I put it in.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

For those of you with the flickering screen with the BFG cards is it the model that has 1-VGA and 1-DVI interface or the model with 2 DVI interfaces?

I have 2 BFG boards and the one with the VGA and DVI is the flickering one.

 

[Xed]

mine is dual dvi

 

[Worthington]

Mine was Dual DVI

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

OK rules out a commonality.