8800GTX interfere's with overclock

H

holli4pirating

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 13, 2005
Messages
1,432
I was previously running my Opty 165 at or above 300x9 with both an EVGA 7900GTX and an XFX 7900GT. I then got my new XFX 8800GTX, and the system will not run games or Windows Media Player above 290x9.

All that's changed in the system is the videocard (and also the graphics drivers), and I can still run Orthos stable at 300x9, so I'm not sure what could be causing the problem. If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate it.
 
Have ya tried updating windows, uninstalling video driver and then installing lastest version?
 
I'm checking on my Windows updates right now (XP Pro), but I've tried three or four different sets of drivers for the video cards.

Edit: Windows is all up to date, except WMP11 because I prefer 9.
Another note: The computer runs just fine when idling and can game without problems at 290x9. It's just the higher FSB (memory and CPU) that cause a problem. I have not tried lowering the memory divider because I'm getting errors from the video drivers (though only at higher fsb).
 
download a program called driver cleaner pro, uninstall your video drivers, then immediately after you restart use that program to get anything that was left. install a clean copy of drivers. if that doesnt work you can try doing it with an older driver version and see if that helps.
 
I had a problem when I put a x1900XTX into my machine, my overclock dropped a bit. Dunno if it was power draw or what, but when I went from 7800GTX to x1900xtx my system would not overclock the same.
 
The only think I can think of is your PSU. Do you have? There are so many models. I'm looking for the +12V Rail specs. I'm not saying 600W is not enough but you always need to look at the +12V which gives juice to your cpu and gpu which draw the most power out of your PSU.
 
All that's changed in the system is the videocard (and also the graphics drivers), and I can still run Orthos stable at 300x9, so I'm not sure what could be causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Not sure this can be called "insight" but here is what I think.

Summary: Instant Computer Karma.

OK, lets think about that, you took out a unbelievably complicated piece of hardware that interfaces to the the rest of the system by a PCI-e bus that has at least 30 complex signals (running at insane frequencies) that interface with the CPU and Northbridge/MCH. You put in a different unbelievably complex device on the same complex buss and loaded different software as well. When you run 3D and use the new device the computer does not act exactly as it did before the change. Stuff happens my friend.

If everything where perfect it would not matter but its a complex system and not perfect. The computer Gods love us but they do like to pull our chains every now and then.

Next driver update might help or not. Without about $40K of logic analyzers and a stack of documents 2 ft high and 6 months, you will never know wtf happened. You might get lucky and find something that compensates and get you back to normal tomorrow. /shrug.

This is why you don't replace the belt that runs the water pump on your car before it fails completely, if you do, next week the radiator will start to leak.

If possible play with PCI-e voltage and freq.
 
The power supply may be the culprit.
The 8800GTX requires a lot of power...
 
Sorry, I haven't checked into the thread in a while, so let me try to respond to the various comments that have been made.

I have been using driver cleaner pro between uninstalls/installs of drivers.

Regarding the PSU, it's a dual rail PSU with 16A on one rail and 18A on the other, and a total of 600 watts. I had thought that would be sufficient power/amps, but then again, I don't know which connectors draw from which rails, but that's just because I haven't been able to find that information online.

Regarding the PCI frequency and voltage, I just started looking into that last night, but I'm not sure what to try setting the frequency to, and I didn't see where to adjust the voltage in the BIOS (not that I looked too carefully). I suppose I'll have to look into what to do with the frequency and find where to adjust the voltage, and I'll see what happens.

Thanks for the input thus far, and any future help that may come along.
 
holli4pirating said:
Sorry, I haven't checked into the thread in a while, so let me try to respond to the various comments that have been made.

I have been using driver cleaner pro between uninstalls/installs of drivers.

Regarding the PSU, it's a dual rail PSU with 16A on one rail and 18A on the other, and a total of 600 watts. I had thought that would be sufficient power/amps, but then again, I don't know which connectors draw from which rails, but that's just because I haven't been able to find that information online.

Regarding the PCI frequency and voltage, I just started looking into that last night, but I'm not sure what to try setting the frequency to, and I didn't see where to adjust the voltage in the BIOS (not that I looked too carefully). I suppose I'll have to look into what to do with the frequency and find where to adjust the voltage, and I'll see what happens.

Thanks for the input thus far, and any future help that may come along.
Click to expand...

Jack the PCIe frequency 20Mhz or so. Higher than that and you may find issues with RAID arrays. Not sure.
 
silent-circuit said:
Jack the PCIe frequency 20Mhz or so. Higher than that and you may find issues with RAID arrays. Not sure.
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not looking at my BIOS, but isn't the normal PCIe frequency 100, and wouldn't going to 200 be a huge leap?

Oh, I clearly misread your post.
 
I tried setting ht e PCi Express frequency to 110 and 120; neither resulted in stable games. I also couldn't find where to adjust the PCi voltage. If anyone knows where/how to on an Ultra-D, I'm all ears.

Any other insights would be welcome at all.
 
Another update, it seems I got the specs for the wrong power supply. I had not realized there were so many different XFinity's with 600 watts. Mine actually puts out 20A on one rail and 18A on the other.
 
holli4pirating said:
Another update, it seems I got the specs for the wrong power supply. I had not realized there were so many different XFinity's with 600 watts. Mine actually puts out 20A on one rail and 18A on the other.
Click to expand...

I'm still going to say PSU homie. 20A + 18A does not equal 38A. I would say it's time to invest on a single rail +12v PSU which has proven time and time to do a better job than dual, triple or even quad +12V rails. Just my take.
 
Regardless of the PSU you are running, if changing the graphics card results in a lower stable CPU clock, it is very likely the PSU cannot give enough current on 12V.
 
I see. Well thank you for the input. I think for the time being, I'd rather live with an OC of 2610 than spend about $100 for a new PSU, especially considering that I would not likely run higher than 2700 as a 24/7 setting. None the less, it's nice to have an idea of what's going wrong.
 
holli4pirating said:
I see. Well thank you for the input. I think for the time being, I'd rather live with an OC of 2610 than spend about $100 for a new PSU, especially considering that I would not likely run higher than 2700 as a 24/7 setting. None the less, it's nice to have an idea of what's going wrong.
Click to expand...

Or if you decide to OC your GTX your CPU OC may go lower as well...just a thought.
 
It's your PSU guaranteed. I have that same PSU and it is the center of my OC problems.
 
nicepun said:
Or if you decide to OC your GTX your CPU OC may go lower as well...just a thought.
Click to expand...

True, I hadn't thought of that yet. Then again, I also haven't thought of OCing the vid card yet since I'm only running on a 2007FP at the moment, and therefore everything runs full max.
 
Something to watch out for...

If your PSU is being pushed to its max it will degrade faster, reducing its max current output still further.
This may mean your current stable overclock becomes unstable over time and has to be reduced more.

To help prevent this make sure your PSU is kept as cool as possible.
ie make sure it has a good supply of cool air.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top