Your overclocked GT has 30 days to live.....

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ZeRo_1

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Jul 21, 2004
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....at least, thats what mine had. BFG 6800 GT has been running 410/1110 without any problems at all for the last month. Until a week ago when i started getting artifacts while running star wars galaxies with AA enabled through the driver. Ran the high-dynamic range light demo again to monitor temps and everything was still the same... nothing higher than 81C under load for over 30min.

Bumped back down to stock and scrubbed coolbits, reinstalled the 61.77's and i'm still getting arts at stock!?! and now nothing but garbage out...no post...no boot...nothing but garbage then straight to reboot. Fan on the card works fine (and no, the sticker did not come off and get stuck in the heatsink). My 465watt psu has 35amps on the 12v rail and will occasionally flux between 11.92-11.86v, but my understanding is that this isn't anything out of the ordinary (correct me if wrong). So, the only conclusion i can come to is that the card had a faulty core that progressively got worse over time. The overclock could have sped up the process a bit but its still a fairly tame overclock compared to what others are doing.

Your thoughts, opinions, advice, etc is greatly appreciated.
 
ZeRo_1 said:
....at least, thats what mine had. BFG 6800 GT has been running 410/1110 without any problems at all for the last month. Until a week ago when i started getting artifacts while running star wars galaxies with AA enabled through the driver. Ran the high-dynamic range light demo again to monitor temps and everything was still the same... nothing higher than 81C under load for over 30min.

Bumped back down to stock and scrubbed coolbits, reinstalled the 61.77's and i'm still getting arts at stock!?! and now nothing but garbage out...no post...no boot...nothing but garbage then straight to reboot. Fan on the card works fine (and no, the sticker did not come off and get stuck in the heatsink). My 465watt psu has 35amps on the 12v rail and will occasionally flux between 11.92-11.86v, but my understanding is that this isn't anything out of the ordinary (correct me if wrong). So, the only conclusion i can come to is that the card had a faulty core that progressively got worse over time. The overclock could have sped up the process a bit but its still a fairly tame overclock compared to what others are doing.

Your thoughts, opinions, advice, etc is greatly appreciated.
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Try it in someone elses machine. If it still does the same in another machine then i dunno what you can do, RMA it perhaps?

Beyond that the only thought i am hearing in my mind is "this is why GT's are GT's and Ultras are Ultras" I know it doesnt help much but perhaps people who have converted X800Pros to PEs should read this thread and take note?
 
Syphon Filter said:
Try it in someone elses machine. If it still does the same in another machine then i dunno what you can do, RMA it perhaps?

Beyond that the only thought i am hearing in my mind is "this is why GT's are GT's and Ultras are Ultras" I know it doesnt help much but perhaps people who have converted X800Pros to PEs should read this thread and take note?
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Yeah, i'm about to try it in another box. i agree with you. thx much
 
I dunno, could be a variety of things...could be the failure was inevitable, OC or not. Have you taken the card out a lot? Could have been static....so far I haven't touched mine since the install. Anyways, yours is the only case of GT failure i found so far.
 
kdog said:
I dunno, could be a variety of things...could be the failure was inevitable, OC or not. Have you taken the card out a lot? Could have been static....so far I haven't touched mine since the install. Anyways, yours is the only case of GT failure i found so far.
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i'm always super paranoid about esd so i am very careful, and no its only been removed once since the original install and i was the only one to handle it (still possible though). I also haven't seen anything else quite like this on any of the forums which is why it puzzles me. :confused:
 
Btw you are taking it rather well...I would be pissed if i lossed 400bucks. Anyways, any warrenty or anything like that on your GT? What about a step up program lol....send it back and get an Ultra.
 
kdog said:
Btw you are taking it rather well...I would be pissed if i lossed 400bucks. Anyways, any warrenty or anything like that on your GT? What about a step up program lol....send it back and get an Ultra.
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yeah, still have my nice bfg warranty. If i was positive that i killed the card from something i did then i would have second thoughts about taking advantage of the warranty, but since this case is unique i will probably hit them up for an rma (i'll be leaving those details out of my posts until the issue is resolved just in case ;) )
 
you got lucky with 30 days. mine has been at RMA longer than it ran. Broke in 6 days.
 
must be a low end PSU killin em, i had mine for about 2 weeks, i got it OC'd as far as i can get it w/o burning a hole threw the earth :)
 
Sounds alot like what my first GT did, except mine only lasted 1 day... From all the other failures I've seen, there seems to be something under the surface that we all haven't had a chance to figure out, but the overclocking seems to accelerate it. Can you take a look at the thermal pads on your ram? I took the cooler apart on my first card and I just don't like the looks of those fat chunks of bubble gum :rolleyes:

Here's where my first card died:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=782091
 
one thing i havent done yet is leave the computer on overnight, too many ppls cards diing from that, im keepin it off lol
 
you don't leave your computer on overnight? As of this post my computer has been on for 18 days 9 hours and 45 minutes (my networking tab shows me that, no I didn't sit here and time it).
 
ZeRo_1 said:
nothing higher than 81C
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that is hot as a mofo, i dont know that much about nvidia cards but 81C will kill an athlon after 30 days probably too
 
I have had my BFG 6800 GT OC running nonstop for 2 weeks at the clock speeds in my sig...not even a random reboot or artifact yet...granted when not gaming its at stock clocks...but it boots into doom with no probs and have restarted it maybe 3 times in the last 2 weeks and that was only for driver change. Only thing I have done thus far is remove the g00p from the thick ass tims they so wonderfully supplied.....rotflmao....and applied some AS5 to the ram and core....just waiting for my NV Silencer 5 to arrive (anyday now) then will remove the 100 pound copper boat anchor they gave me for free......rotflmao again......boat anchor......I crack myself up.....lol bout all its g00d for though.

Anywho....good luck wif ur GT d00d......RMA that turd.....seems you got the over ripe apple from the fruit stand, and that sucks biguns!!!

Just the luck of the draw though I guess.....can happen to any of us at anytime!!!!
 
FLECOM said:
that is hot as a mofo, i dont know that much about nvidia cards but 81C will kill an athlon after 30 days probably too
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That is normal for a 6800GT especially one that is overclocked.

Some people get into the 90's and the temp throttling only kicks in at 120
 
mine has been running 435/1170, 24/7 for about 45 days now.hell, i've even hit 96c running the rthdribl demo overnight. i'm not really worried at this point.
 
Thx for all of the feedback guys. Its really appreciated. I'm fairly convinced that the particular card i got is just a low quality sample. I have it running in windows again and even gamed for a bit. I found that its really not liking AA and AF. I bought this card to take advantage of the extra eye candy and features so i'll be starting the rma process soon....i think i'll buy a new psu too just in case :D i currently have an enermax 465w that originally cost about $100 a year ago and all of the voltages appear to be stable, but....i think i'll just upgrade it for good measure. Any recommendations on a psu? I'm thinking about the newer 600 watt enermax with 2 separate 12v rails, selling for $150 at newegg :cool:
 
Jeez. Don't like to hear about 6800GT failures or performance degradation. Just got my NV5 cooler. I'll have to remember to save the little thermal pads from the memory, just in case I have to slap them back on for a RMA. :p
 
ZeRo_1 said:
i think i'll buy a new psu too just in case :D i currently have an enermax 465w that originally cost about $100 a year ago and all of the voltages appear to be stable, but....i think i'll just upgrade it for good measure. Any recommendations on a psu? I'm thinking about the newer 600 watt enermax with 2 separate 12v rails, selling for $150 at newegg :cool:
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I'm a fan of high wattage name-brand power supplies, but truthfully the Enermax 465w should be more than adequate (e.g. I doubt that was the source of your GT's failure).

But like I said, if it makes you happy, definitely upgrade. I've been admiring those dual 12v rail Enermaxs myself :D
 
ZeRo_1 said:
Your thoughts, opinions, advice, etc is greatly appreciated.
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Anytime you OC something you run the risk of shortening the life of the device even if its running at cool temps because its running over spec.
 
I've been running the specs below for 2 1/2 months now and its still going strong, actually im starting to get better OC's heh
 
I run my GT and a loaded case with a Vantec Stealth 520. That thing doesn't back down from anything. Plus it has the 24 pin mobo header for when I decide to move to a PCI-e mobo. They are getting pretty cheap too. The only thing that it's missing is SATA leads.
 
Mine has been running great since 28 July at 410/1100. I run it hard too, but I have a real good PSU (Antec TruePower 380W) and good cooling.

But its a PNY, so I guess it was a good specimen. It is now running with an NV Silencer 5 and AC5 (runs GREAT) at the same speed.

Oh well, guess I got lucky.
 
Been OCing the card for almost 3 months and nothing bad has happened so far. I think you just got a bad card in the first place.
 
On day 70 now, and 2 weeks ago I increased the core speed from 400MHz to 418MHz. :D
 
Syphon Filter said:
I'd get an Antec TruePower, I run a 550W but a 480 or even a 380 would be fine i think.
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I run an Antec Truepower 430 without problems or issues so far.
 
I was running fine with my EVGA GT at 400/1100 for 2 months when my kid called me at work and told me the "screen" had little "white dots" all over it when he was in the middle of playing Shrek 2 and it locked-up. Needless to say, I was trying very hard not to freak. Flew home a few hours later to find the Windows Desktop corrupted as well. Took a deep-breath, and said to myself, this is Karma, for spending $400.00 you don't have. Luckily on re-boot everything was fine. I had been playing Doom III quite a bit without issue, and the card goes south playing Shrek 2, go figure.

Anyway, dropped Overlclock down to 390/1.05 and everything has been fine since. I also threw a 480W Antec Neopower into system yesterday, trying to work up the nerve to push her up again.
 
Me too. But I also think you should really cut the new overclockers some slack though. Everyone needs to start somewhere, right kidz?

Oh, forgot to mention the Antec Neopower is really a great Power Supply. Dual 12V Rails and sold as rock. Measured all rails with a multimeter and they're all within a nice tight 3% Tolerance. Nice. Just tried 410/1120 on my GT , no artifacting, and she ain't even breathing heavy yet. Will push for more. Hell, it was only $400.00
 
M1dknight said:
That is normal for a 6800GT especially one that is overclocked.

Some people get into the 90's and the temp throttling only kicks in at 120
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Im getting at the highest 60c with my GT running at 400/1.1/4xAA/4xAF with Far Cry setting at "very high" and Doom 3 at its highest settings. I have never had a problem with arts,crashes, high temps or stutters. Not sure whats going on. I have had mine running higher but always OC for 3 months now. Could be a problem un-related to video card?
 
I bought my eVGA 6800GT about a month or more ago and experienced artifacts all over the screen. This has only happened twice, but the funny part was that these showed up while a screen saver was on and not during anything stressful. I restarted the computer (artifacts were there during shutdown) and after that it was fine. It was an unusual patter of different colored squares covering the screen, not the artifacts you get from overheating (flickering white dots). Mine is overclocked @ 400/1100, temps 55C/80C load, played games for hours on occasion without crashing, other times, after I exit from playing a game for a few minutes it will freeze...go figure. I've been an avid overclocker for 7 years now and have never had issues like I do with this GT. Anyone have similar issues?
 
honestjohn said:
Me too. But I also think you should really cut the new overclockers some slack though. Everyone needs to start somewhere, right kidz?
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yikes! :mad: .."too many "underexpercenced" people overclocking..."? that's under experienced too....many illiterate people in here? (pssssssssst, hooked on phonics!) people gotta start somewhere as you did. give them some advice and a break.

...your welcome oc'ing noob's. spread the empathy!
 
Another update: I've had this card now for 2 months and since Day One, it has been overclocked. Well, it's still alive!! (crosses fingers) :p

Currently, it's clocked to 430/1151. It's being cooled by its own waterloop using a 86 Chevy Chevette heatercore and the max load is 56 C and idle core is 49-51 C. Idle ambient is 31-33 C.
 
agar said:
I bought my eVGA 6800GT about a month or more ago and experienced artifacts all over the screen. This has only happened twice, but the funny part was that these showed up while a screen saver was on and not during anything stressful. I restarted the computer (artifacts were there during shutdown) and after that it was fine. It was an unusual patter of different colored squares covering the screen, not the artifacts you get from overheating (flickering white dots). Mine is overclocked @ 400/1100, temps 55C/80C load, played games for hours on occasion without crashing, other times, after I exit from playing a game for a few minutes it will freeze...go figure. I've been an avid overclocker for 7 years now and have never had issues like I do with this GT. Anyone have similar issues?
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RMA that pig...it has probs!
 
agar said:
I bought my eVGA 6800GT about a month or more ago and experienced artifacts all over the screen. This has only happened twice, but the funny part was that these showed up while a screen saver was on and not during anything stressful. I restarted the computer (artifacts were there during shutdown) and after that it was fine. It was an unusual patter of different colored squares covering the screen, not the artifacts you get from overheating (flickering white dots). Mine is overclocked @ 400/1100, temps 55C/80C load, played games for hours on occasion without crashing, other times, after I exit from playing a game for a few minutes it will freeze...go figure. I've been an avid overclocker for 7 years now and have never had issues like I do with this GT. Anyone have similar issues?
Click to expand...

CRAP...thats happened to me too. But it was after I took the card out and then put it back in. I blamed it on not seating the card in the AGP slot right. Took it out again and made sure it was all the way in and its been fine ever since. I hope it doesnt crap out on me!
 
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