Desperate for help!!!

S

StormRoyale

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Joined
Jan 1, 2005
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I’m at my wits end, crying in front of my computer. Can ANYone please help?
I built my computer at the end of last year. Here are the specs:
Asus A8V Deluxe (replaced twice and swapped once with an Abit AV8)
eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra (Originally was BFG 6800 ultra, replaced twice; then Asus 6800 Ultra)
AMD Athlon 64 FX55
Consair XMS 1GB (2x512MB) DDR 400
2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB Serial ATA150
Enermax Noisetaker 2.0 ATX 600W PSU (replaced twice and swapped with Antec True Control 550W PSU)

During game play of EQ, City of Heroes, EQ2 or World of Warcraft, my computer will freeze and the picture becomes a pixilated mosaic. Sometimes you can tell what you’re looking at, other times it’s almost colorful static.
I’ve been having this problem since I built this computer back in December. I’ve spoken with Asus, BFG Abit and eVGA tech support. As you can read from above, I’ve replaced several components several times to no avail.
I have the newest drivers for EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. I have tried many different video drivers. Currently I am using 77.72 and used 80.40 for a bit. My video card is powered by 2 power cables from SEPARATE cables. I have 8 fans in my computer tower and now leave the side door open.
I have also edited the video card BIOS to run both 2D and 3D at 400MHz; Memory Clock at 1GHz. Power is at 1.4 and fast writes is disabled. Sideband Addressing is still enabled, cause I can’t figure out how to disable it. (Cannot do it through the Mobo’s BIOS)
The lockups happen a few times a night. CPU Temp is 44C, with GPU temps between 40 and 60C.
I’m at my wits end….. help me please! ;(

Here is a pic of what the issue looks like:

http://photos22.flickr.com/26720380_01fdbf05aa_o.jpg
 
If your CPU is idleing at 44 then it just might be overheating.

Otherwise, bad monitor?
 
I am having similar issues with my 6800 Ultra. Mine likes to freeze a lot during gameplay, but I'm not getting the mosaic that you describe. Instead, I'm seeing a lot of flickering textures... which can give you a headache if you try to play that way.

Now, I do recall seeing that mosaic when I ran my 5900 for the first time and didn't plug in the power cable, but you seem to be powering yours adequately...
 
Hmmm... It looks like the video card might be getting starved for power... but you've replaced the psu many times I see... Have you tried re-wiring your power so that the video card is on it's own power line from the psu? Just to make sure it's got ample power... which is to say, you should not just use one line from your psu splitting it off with Y connectors for the components along the way... Just saying that for the sake of it. That's a really frustrating problem. wow. Your cpu does also appear to be idling a bit high.. did you use too much thermal compound when you put the heat sink on? Too much and/or air bubbles in the compound can cause overheating... Maybe try re-doing that, and just a small super thin layer is all you need.. push the hfs _very_ gently, and turn it from side to side a couple of times to rid the compound of air bubbles. Good luck, man!!
 
how bout try the video card in another pc? I have two pcs so I can swap parts until I figure out who's being naughty. Not that I have many major issues ever but..oh and what about an APC or other power regulator? You could just have a power flux from the wall itself. last resort send me ur parts and I'll put them in my test bed.
 
Looks like a dead card to me. :eek:

There are two simple ways to isolate the card from your system. Either test another comparable card in your rig and see how it runs, or swap your current videocard into another rig and see what happens. You know what comes next...

If this doesn't resolve it, make sure the filtering/aa settings are all turned off, and the chipset drivers are up to date. Is the issue universal or isolated to a few games? Good luck.
 
StormRoyale said:
I’m at my wits end, crying in front of my computer. Can ANYone please help?
I built my computer at the end of last year. Here are the specs:
Asus A8V Deluxe (replaced twice and swapped once with an Abit AV8)
eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra (Originally was BFG 6800 ultra, replaced twice; then Asus 6800 Ultra)
AMD Athlon 64 FX55
Consair XMS 1GB (2x512MB) DDR 400
2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB Serial ATA150
Enermax Noisetaker 2.0 ATX 600W PSU (replaced twice and swapped with Antec True Control 550W PSU)

During game play of EQ, City of Heroes, EQ2 or World of Warcraft, my computer will freeze and the picture becomes a pixilated mosaic. Sometimes you can tell what you’re looking at, other times it’s almost colorful static.
I’ve been having this problem since I built this computer back in December. I’ve spoken with Asus, BFG Abit and eVGA tech support. As you can read from above, I’ve replaced several components several times to no avail.
I have the newest drivers for EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING. I have tried many different video drivers. Currently I am using 77.72 and used 80.40 for a bit. My video card is powered by 2 power cables from SEPARATE cables. I have 8 fans in my computer tower and now leave the side door open.
I have also edited the video card BIOS to run both 2D and 3D at 400MHz; Memory Clock at 1GHz. Power is at 1.4 and fast writes is disabled. Sideband Addressing is still enabled, cause I can’t figure out how to disable it. (Cannot do it through the Mobo’s BIOS)
The lockups happen a few times a night. CPU Temp is 44C, with GPU temps between 40 and 60C.
I’m at my wits end….. help me please! ;(

Here is a pic of what the issue looks like:

http://photos22.flickr.com/26720380_01fdbf05aa_o.jpg
Click to expand...

First of all, that's some sexy pic that you've got there... :p

Now, let's get into it.

1) Have you tried disconnecting all peripherals that you can when booting? ie run without fans, extra HDDs, with only a single stick of RAM. When doing this, do you still get artifacting? If yes, then we'll assume the PSU delivering the correct amount of power.
2) Have you used memtest to check if your memory is good? Make sure that you do at least 4-6 complete passes to ensure that your memory is functioning properly
3) Have you run Prime95 for more than 24 hours without getting any kinds of error? If you do get an error, you likely either have a problem with the CPU or memory; if you've already run and passes memtest86, then you're likely looking at some kind of a CPU problem.
4) I would suggest reverting to the newest official BIOS for your video card - it will eliminate the variables of manually editting your video cards' BIOS.
5) Try using the 71.89 Nvidia drivers; there have been reports that the newest sets (77.30 and 77.32) are buggy and causing problems. I was getting random crashes when I was using the 77.72s, and going to 71.89 fixed the problem.
6) Are you running a stock install of windows? If not, try a new install.
7) What are your idle and load temps for your CPU? You'll be able to ascertain this by seeing how hot your processor gets when under load by Prime95.
8) What are your idle and load temps for your GPU? You'll be able to ascertain tis by examining your GPU temps when running an intensive benchmark like Aquamark 2005.

Try that, and tell us how it goes. If you still have problems, then we can proceed from there.

 
From what the orginal post seems to indicate, the memory and cpu are the only core components which have not been replaced... so perhaps it is a memory timing issue... maybe try and relax the memory timings and see if that helps...
 
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