My 8800 GTS story...

B

bradyapba

Gawd
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Messages
923
So my motherboard fried, and thought, well, time to go PCIe....

and built a new system, and got a evga 8800 gts.

used driver cleaner for old driver, installed card, put in the 97.44 drivers from NVidia....

and i cant play any game, or run 3dmark06 without a whole system freeze... normally between test 2 and 3 in mark06, and in any game, as so as the actual game starts, it freezes, i cant actually play any game.

So then i repeated these steps for all the 8800 drivers... same thing, no game will work, mark 06 still doesn't work.

So then, tried removing everything one thing at a time, sound card, optical drives, slave drive, memory sticks, fans, till nothing left but cpu, 1 fan, 1 hard drive, 2 sticks of ram.... still same problem....

So reinstall windows... lets start from scratch.......do the same thing with all the drivers..

AND...... same thing...nothing works.

So i think lets try

GPU stress test


And well, wont you know, it slices up that stress test like butter, turned everything up on it, and it purred like a kitten...ran it for an hour...VC got warm 70'sC, but ran like a champ... So this tells me the GPU seems to be working fine...

But i cant run any game or mark06....

So i still think its a driver issue... but have no idea.....

8-10 hours testing, and still a card that doesn't work right..... unbelievable to have to go through this with just to prove my card/driver wont work....

Guess ill RMA for another card, but i just dont think its going to make a difference.. looks like i could be out $430... time to go get a 7950GT i guess.....
 
Dr.Squeege said:
What POWER SUPPLY?
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According to his other bajillion threads the past week, an OCZ PowerStream 520w which as I recall is a less than stellar unit in any case. Other people have tried to explain this to him to no avail...

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach that man to fish and you've fed him for life, but if he won't learn to fish throw his ass into the damn lake!" :)
 
bradyapba said:
ocz powerstream 520 33v on the 12rail...
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No, it has 12v on the 12v rail. It has 33 amps on the 12v rail and that's on a good day.

This is also a more 5v oriented power supply (40amps on the 5v rail) which is why it worked well for your previous build.
 
Not sure where you get your info, but it a very good PSU. Top on the line not that long ago. OCZ makes quality PSU's. It can take 600 watts easy.

Its not the power supply. I disconnected everything else, just to make sure.

And if it was the power supply, it would not of run rthdribl for an hour straight without a problem, that taxes the GPU more than any game.

Plus others have it working with 450 and 480 PSUs. Nvidia and EVGA both have said its more than enough of a psu, and that it only needs 26A on the 12 rail.

I forgot to note I also ran memtest and prime 95 for 8 hours each over night for one, and while i was at work for the other so the memory and cpu seem fine.

I have made a lot of posts hoping someone has a fix, or experienced the same thing.
 
bradyapba said:
Not sure where you get your info, but it a very good PSU. Top on the line not that long ago. OCZ makes quality PSU's. It can take 600 watts easy.
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Top of the line? Never... but it was not the worst when it hit the shelves. It's a decent PSU especially for an older socket A rig or a mid end current gen rig. It can take 600w worth of load? Man... I'd sure like to see how you tested that. :)

bradyapba said:
Its not the power supply. I disconnected everything else, just to make sure.

And if it was the power supply, it would not of run rthdribl for an hour straight without a problem, that taxes the GPU more than any game.
Click to expand...

3 years ago, yes. Today? Hardly. Oblivion, F.E.A.R., 3DMark 06, CoH, Dark Messiah, or any other current gen game will be tons more stressful on the GPU. I still lean towards a PSU problem but if you're sure it's the GPU then return it and exchange for a new one.


bradyapba said:
Plus others have it working with 450 and 480 PSUs. Nvidia and EVGA post have said its more than enough of a psu, and that it only needs 26V on the 12 rail.

I forgot to note I also ran memtest and prime 95 for 8 hours each over night for one, and while i was at work for the other so the memory and cpu seem fine.

I have made a lot of posts hoping someone has a fix, or experienced the same thing.
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Well what can I say... possibly an incompatability with your board, although I havent read any reports of such a case. I've got an nForce 4 board and my GTS (2 of them now) work fine. Maybe your motherboard needs a BIOS update?

I still would tend to lean towards a power supply problem. That's what I'd check into first if I were you... :)
 
the bios is pretty current.....

but the more i read your explanation the more i think you may be right, looks like i need to look into some power supplies....

So on that note, any suggestions :)
 
After your mobo fried and you built a new system, did you reinstall windows or just keep the old windows from when it was working with the old mobo?
 
Blue Falcon said:
Top of the line? Never... but it was not the worst when it hit the shelves. It's a decent PSU especially for an older socket A rig or a mid end current gen rig. It can take 600w worth of load? Man... I'd sure like to see how you tested that. :)



3 years ago, yes. Today? Hardly. Oblivion, F.E.A.R., 3DMark 06, CoH, Dark Messiah, or any other current gen game will be tons more stressful on the GPU. I still lean towards a PSU problem but if you're sure it's the GPU then return it and exchange for a new one.




Well what can I say... possibly an incompatability with your board, although I havent read any reports of such a case. I've got an nForce 4 board and my GTS (2 of them now) work fine. Maybe your motherboard needs a BIOS update?

I still would tend to lean towards a power supply problem. That's what I'd check into first if I were you... :)
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I'm going to second you on the power supply possibility, especially if it's the green LED version... Apparently, from what I'm reading, the blue LED version is better, but both are made by Topower.
From JonnyGURU.com
Oklahoma Wolf from JonnyGURU.com said:
Any from #2 or #3 would be my suggestions... the Powerstream is an old and often flaky Topower design.

The PC P&C is OEM Seasonic - I'd look for actual Seasonic first to save a little cash.
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my 1st few attempts it was with the windows form the mobo, but i did a fresh install mid way through, and tried again. It didn't help.

time to look at some PSU's..

any suggestions on what features I should look for to solve my problem? Just a real solid 12 rail?

thanks.
 
Well I've got my current system running on an Ultra Xconnect 500w.

Yeah, the ORIGINAL one.
 
bradyapba said:
my 1st few attempts it was with the windows form the mobo, but i did a fresh install mid way through, and tried again. It didn't help.

time to look at some PSU's..

any suggestions on what features I should look for to solve my problem? Just a real solid 12 rail?

thanks.
Click to expand...
Well, you want something with good capacitors (which aren't evident from any literature, so read your reviews), low ripple, and a lot on the 12V. Most people think I'm a bit bonkers, but I do tend to like some headroom in my PSUs. I'd say look for at least 40A on the 12V.

These would be my choices for your setup:

http://deadeyedata.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_33&products_id=112

http://deadeyedata.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_33&products_id=96

http://deadeyedata.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_33&products_id=104

There are also some good units from Enermax (620W Liberty) and Corsair (620HX) that would give you what you want. :)
 
^^^listen to Gilmour, you can't go wrong with Seasonic or Corsair. Good luck with your problem! Sounds like you're on the right track.
 
mastercheeze said:
^^^listen to Gilmour, you can't go wrong with Seasonic or Corsair. Good luck with your problem! Sounds like you're on the right track.
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Silverstone PSUs are pretty good, too. Most of them (or I think all of them) are made by Enhance or Etasis, depending on the model. jonnyGURU could probably explain a million times better than I can. :)
 
thanks for the tips guys...i really do appreciate it

im leaning towards the corairs..

this is the right one, yes?



hx620

i figure might as well as spend the money... going to buy a c2d system mid/end of next summer, and this computer will become my wifes, so might as well put some nice parts in it... (and that way she cant complain i just spent another $160)

Thanks again for the suggestions.
 
bradyapba said:
thanks for the tips guys...i really do appreciate it

im leaning towards the corairs..

this is the right one, yes?



hx620

i figure might as well as spend the money... going to buy a c2d system mid/end of next summer, and this computer will become my wifes, so might as well put some nice parts in it... (and that way she cant complain i just spent another $160)

Thanks again for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

That looks fine to me. Depending on what you end up putting in that c2d system it might be fine for that, too.
 
Nice quote

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach that man to fish and you've fed him for life, but if he won't learn to fish throw his ass into the damn lake!" :)[/QUOTE]
 
Just to chime in with my own experience, I bought a "cheap" Antec SP-500 that has dual rails at 17a and 19a respective. I also have dual DVD rom drives, 3 hard drives, and a fairly highly overclocked cpu, and my voltages are rock solid. ANY "good" 480w or 500w power supply with enough amps on the 12v rail will power an 8800GTS perfectly.
 
Yeah, just read this Guru3d at

For the 8800 GTS NVIDIA recommends 400 Watts. And I concur. Here the same rule applies yet 26 AMPS on the 12 Volts rails is sufficient. Obviously with high-end systems .. a better PSU, and especially quality PSU, is always recommended.
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SPARTAN VI said:
How would an Antec NeoPower 2.0 hold an 8800GTS?

480w, dual 12v (18A and 15A).

Specs: http://www.antec.com/specs/Neo480_spe.html
Click to expand...
They don't give the total output of the 12V section, so I had to find a review of it. Looks like it puts out 32A total 12V. I'd probably go a bit higher, just to be on the safe side. My Silverstone ST50EF-Plus does 36A on the 12V, 18A on each rail, and it's actually additive. If you're looking to get an 8800GTS and overclock it, definitely get something that may seem a bit overkill because OCing will cause higher current draw.
 
chiming in late here...

A hard system freeze is usually not a power supply issue in my experience.. that would just randomly reboot the machine. well, from what I have seen.. a hard lockup like that is usually something (cpu/mem/gpu) clocked beyond it's ability.. do you have any OC settings on the mobo you can restore to default? you say this is a new system, so did you run it with any other video card before the GTS? Have you run Orthos to validate your cpu/mem/mobo is ok? I would make sure the cpu/mem settings are sane before spending any money on new hardware by stress testing them with Orthos or Prime95.. then if they pass, focus on the card and/or psu again.. your card might be marginal... you could try downclocking it and run the tests again.. if things are still running badly then perhaps it's new psu time.. but I would not launch on that 1st thing given those symptoms.. well, just my $0.02.
 
I have Ultra X Finity 500 Watts PSU. Which is running,


MSI 975X Powerup Edition Motherboard.
2 X 160GB SATAII Hard Drives in RAID 0
1 X 200GB ATA-133 Maxtor drive.
16X Lighton DVD Writer.
18X Samsung DVD Wrtier.
8800GTS @ 700/2000 Mhz.
Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 3ghz.
ATI HDTV Wonder.
Swiftech 12v Water Pump.
12" Neon Light.
4 x 120mm fans.
Sunbeam Fan Controller.
Floppy.


with out any problem or what so ever.
 
GilmourD said:
They don't give the total output of the 12V section, so I had to find a review of it. Looks like it puts out 32A total 12V. I'd probably go a bit higher, just to be on the safe side. My Silverstone ST50EF-Plus does 36A on the 12V, 18A on each rail, and it's actually additive. If you're looking to get an 8800GTS and overclock it, definitely get something that may seem a bit overkill because OCing will cause higher current draw.
Click to expand...

I think I'll coast it with my Neopower. No use in dumping another $120+ for another 3A (I believe it totals 33A on my 12v) and a hypothetical OC gain. I appreciate the advice though.
 
Let us know if a PSU works bradyapba.

I am willing to bet money that it is not a PSU problem.
 
XboxodX said:
After your mobo fried and you built a new system, did you reinstall windows or just keep the old windows from when it was working with the old mobo?
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was wondering.
 
revenant said:
chiming in late here...

A hard system freeze is usually not a power supply issue in my experience.. that would just randomly reboot the machine. well, from what I have seen.. a hard lockup like that is usually something (cpu/mem/gpu) clocked beyond it's ability.. do you have any OC settings on the mobo you can restore to default? you say this is a new system, so did you run it with any other video card before the GTS? Have you run Orthos to validate your cpu/mem/mobo is ok? I would make sure the cpu/mem settings are sane before spending any money on new hardware by stress testing them with Orthos or Prime95.. then if they pass, focus on the card and/or psu again.. your card might be marginal... you could try downclocking it and run the tests again.. if things are still running badly then perhaps it's new psu time.. but I would not launch on that 1st thing given those symptoms.. well, just my $0.02.
Click to expand...


Whats up revavant... glad to see you chiming in here :)

Nothing is OC'ed. Its stock. Stock CPU (brand new CPU FX-55), and the VC is stock...

I didn't run it with any other VC( i really wish i could, that would help explain some things) but everyone i know locally, all have AGP still.

This is my 1st PCIe card, so i didn't have anything else to test with.

I have not run orthos, i have run prime95 (passed for 8 hours) and mem86 (passed 10 hours, made 18 passes) and the card ran rthdribl for ands hour last night before i went to bed.

I will try orthos later tonight.

My "system" doesn't require a ton, i dont have a lot in it. 2 DVD drives, MSI motherboard, 1 IDE HD, 1 SATA drive, 3 120 fans on a vantec fan controller, 1 uv light, sound blaster aud. II, and a fax modem...and of course the 8800GTS. So besides the 8800, not excatly a lot of power draw there.

Ill give orthos a run, and downclock the VC, and see if it makes a difference.

It could be RMA time, and a new PSU to see....I may play around some more over the weekend, and if i cant get any better results, guess ill try the new PSU, and RMA the card.

My friend has an extra ocz 520, so i may take that, and try to just run the card on the one PSU all by itsself, and use my PSU on the rest of the of system, and see if that helps.
 
ok - sounds good.. yeah, downclocking the card would be a good test.. try gpu core speed, then memory, or both if either of those don't work.. perhaps you can borrow your friend's psu to see if that does the trick also? that would be better than buying a new one from a store only to find out it didn't fix anything.. anyways.. let us know what happens!
 
J3RK said:
This is exactly what I was wondering.
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yes, i didn't the 1st day or two.But now that drive isn't even the system at the moment, its a brand new drive with its 1st install ever of windows on it. It hasn't fixed my issue unfortunately.
 
fyi - edited my post above.. try and borrow that other psu to test your system with it if you can.. even if downclocking does fix things, it decreases power demand on the video card, thus it could tip the sacles for the psu to work well enough to power things.. so just keep that in mind.. so if downclocking fixes things, it might be a good idea to test the other psu on your system with default clocks.. just to rule out the psu issue.
 
revenant said:
fyi - edited my post above.. try and borrow that other psu to test your system with it if you can.. even if downclocking does fix things, it decreases power demand on the video card, thus it could tip the sacles for the psu to work well enough to power things.. so just keep that in mind.. so if downclocking fixes things, it might be a good idea to test the other psu on your system with default clocks.. just to rule out the psu issue.
Click to expand...


thanks again rev..... good info.. i hope to get the PSU over the weekend, he lives about and hour away, so i may not get it til the weekend, but thats good info to have.

thanks!
 
someone at work here has a 6600GT PCIe they aren't using... so i am going to get that to test..

Let say, after testing and installing, it works fine. What would that tell me?
 
well, it will basically only validate that your system sans 8800GTS is ok....which is good, but the large decrease in power needs on the 6600 won't help with the possible psu issue.. better to test the 8800GTS in a machine at work if you can, then you can see if it behaves the same way there. :)
 
revenant said:
well, it will basically only validate that your system sans 8800GTS is ok....which is good, but the large decrease in power needs on the 6600 won't help with the possible psu issue.. better to test the 8800GTS in a machine at work if you can, then you can see if it behaves the same way there. :)
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thanks rev you answer is perfect... i wasn't sure it would prove anything beyond that...

its their 'personal' card, not a work card... i was telling my problem and they volunteered their extra card..

no place to test the GTS at work, all integrated dell desktops, no pcie slots...
 
SPARTAN VI said:
How would an Antec NeoPower 2.0 hold an 8800GTS?

480w, dual 12v (18A and 15A).

Specs: http://www.antec.com/specs/Neo480_spe.html
Click to expand...

A corsair rep said:
My estimates for +12V rail usage:

8800GTS - 12A-13A max
E6300OCd to 3GHz - 8-10A max
Memory - insignificant
HD - 2-3A max
DVD - insignificant
fans - insignificant

I'd say your real-world usage will be 25-29A on the +12V rail, and even that will be under full load.
Click to expand...

So any ATX 2.0/2.2 PSU, with at least 15-16A on the 12V1 rail should be sufficient, basically.

As I understand, in the ATX 2.0 standard, there is a dedicated 12V rail for your PCI-e connector, and another channel for the CPU and other stuff etc.

I myself run my system on the Corsair HX520, which has 3 12V rails @ 18A each, with a max load of 40A on the total 12V.
 
Amazing. Someone with the exact same story as me! I just put together a new computer for myself... here's what's inside.

Intel E6400 Core 2 Duo
Intel D975XBX
2GB PNY DDR2 667
evga Geforce 8800 GTS
OCZ GameXStream 600W
320gb wd sata
ide dvd burner

All parts fresh. Just put it together about two weeks ago, and have been having identical problems. Started off believing that it was an onboard sound issue. Went out and picked up a X-Fi card. Didn't fix it. Ran memtest for 8 hours, no problems. Really, the EXACT same story as yours. Basically it's came down to the video card for me. I RMA'd mine already with evga, the new one is on the way. I'm not really sold that the actual card is the issue though. It really almost seems like a driver issue to me.
 
SPARTAN VI said:
I think I'll coast it with my Neopower. No use in dumping another $120+ for another 3A (I believe it totals 33A on my 12v) and a hypothetical OC gain. I appreciate the advice though.
Click to expand...

Slightly off topic , sorry OP!

Spartan, you have not had any issues with the Neopower with the 8800GTS so far thats great news to me. I recently picked up a new monitor and while my 7800GTX is cranking out some nice graphics for me with todays games, im looking to pickup a G80 very soon. I think i might need to get a slightly stronger PSU though since it looks like i run a few more components than you do but like you im going to try it first!


And good luck OP, sucks having all that anticipation only to have it bite you in the ass!
 
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