6800GT or PSU Death?

V

Vermicious Knid

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
222
My PC began geting alot of graphical glitches (little pinkish squares poping up all over the screen, serious problems with 3d apps).

Thinking it was my overclock i reflashed it back to default (i had been running at ultra speed with a modded GT bios that gave me +.1v) It was running like that since soon after i got it last summer DD NV-68 waterblock, CPU/GPU are cooled with an EXOS-2 unit so temps never got extreme.

Problems are still there (barely noticeable in 2d but still present).

Also since this started, I've noticed the voltages on my psu have been bouncing all over the place. The 3.3v line is especially but the 12v is doing it too. so is it my psu causing the gfx card to screw up with bad volts, or did i fry the card with too much volts for too long?
 
it could be one of three things,
GFX card,
Driver,
PSU.
Your probs sound like PSU, however what is your PSU, and how much did it cost?
If it is one of those 650w for $30 then it is definately your PSU.
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Unlikely it's the driver.
Motherboard, Video Card, or PSU.

A good friend of mine had his ASUS P4C800 Deluxe develop an appetite for graphics cards. This was a weird one. Originally it started with random weird things with his Sapphire 9800Pro. They have had a few problems with those so we picked up a BFG 6800 and thought all was well. 2 weeks later it developed similar problems so we swapped in a new PSU and another 6800. 2 weeks later another dead 6800.... Swapped in an ABIT IC7 and a 6800GT and has been perfect since.
Like I mentioned above, it toasted the graphics cards, they displayed corruption in a different system....if they would boot at all.

That being said, you should look at replacing the PSU regardless. If the volts are unstable just imagine what the amps are doing..... Nothing like a $60-$80 PSU wiping out the rest of a $1500 system. Spend the extra bucks and get a high quality PSU....it's the most important part of the computer.
 
uninstall/clean drivers in SAFE mode.

then reinstall drivers again.

and see how it goes.
 
Believing the PSU to be the first thing i should investigate, I ordered an Ultra PSU because the only other psu i have on hand is a 300W Sparkle in another box, which is probly underpowered for my main rig
Ive heard alot of good, and some indifferent opinions on this one but i like the modular design and that it comes premodded (i sleeved/modded my original one myself... what a pain in the ass that was...)

I really hope it not my precious GT ... i was hoping it would hold out untill at least the next generation came out. :(
 
Graphics corruption is rarely drivers.

PSU underpower usually causes crashes or lockups, not corruption, but you should look at getting a better PSU anyways.

Most likely, it's the overvolting and modded BIOS causing the corruption unfortunately.



As for the motherboard eating video cards, might want to look at what sort of volts the AGP/PCI-E was putting out. Might be overvolting and thus killing video cards.
 
Ultra PSU, while it looks nice, is not a good one to get. It is made by one of the crappiest PSU manufactuers. Get a good brand like Antec/Enermax/PCP&C/etc...
 
Xilikon said:
Ultra PSU, while it looks nice, is not a good one to get. It is made by one of the crappiest PSU manufactuers. Get a good brand like Antec/Enermax/PCP&C/etc...
Click to expand...
OCZ is another good one, probably the best on Newegg in my opinion.
 
Update: It did turn out to be the PSU as suspected. I got the new one, installed it, and everything appeared to be be peachy again. So I reflashed and ramped the clocks back up. It has so far survived multiple hour CS:S and UT2k4 sessions without any issues.

NV better bring out the next generation befor I kill this card good :)
 
lol....even if it is not the powersupply, I hope you didn't pay 100+ bucks for that coolmax 550w psu....which has a whopping 55amps on the 5v and 22 on the 12v...haha
 
Xilikon said:
Ultra PSU, while it looks nice, is not a good one to get. It is made by one of the crappiest PSU manufactuers. Get a good brand like Antec/Enermax/PCP&C/etc...
Click to expand...

I agree, I've installed a few, and while they seem like decent quality, they're actual output isn't all that great.
 
aZn_plyR said:
lol....even if it is not the powersupply, I hope you didn't pay 100+ bucks for that coolmax 550w psu....which has a whopping 55amps on the 5v and 22 on the 12v...haha
Click to expand...

Didn't even read the thread did you? :rolleyes:

It WAS the PSU. BTW its specs were decent when I first purchased it ~2yrs ago, and put out plenty o power for all my needs, untill one day it just decided to turn to the dark side.

I'll never believe "Brand X PSU is more reliable then Brand Y" components fail, it's all a crap shoot.
 
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