nVidia 6800 and DVI resolutions > 1280x1024 HELP!?!

divbyzero

n00b
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
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I received my BFG 6800 GT in the mail today...
great overclocker, i've reached the speeds of the 6800 ultra with little change in
temps and 100% stability.

PROBLEM. nvidia cards do not support DVI resolutions greater than 1280x1024!

I called BFG, they said that nvidia's drivers only support 1280x1024 digital. I
called nvidia, they said that it's the OEM's fault and snubbed me by telling me that
they can't help me over the phone.

I went to nvidia's site at this page:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/pg_20040406350192.html

at the bottom it says:

"Dual 400MHz RAMDACs - Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with
ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates*up to 2048x1536@85Hz.

Dual Single-Link DVI Support - Able to drive the industry's largest and highest
resolution flat-panel displays."

If it can drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays,
then why am I wondering why I can't get 1920x1200 out of my LCD? I can't even get
1600x1200 out of it. The crazy thing is that with no driver installed, I can run
the thing at 1600x1200x16@60 on Windows XP vga driver.

I've tryed the custom resolutions, I've used powerstrip to create a new profile for
my monitor, I've tested the frequencies, etc. The nvidia control panel even says
that my flat panel is capable of 1920x1200, but I'm getting stonewalled at
1280x1024.

I'm feeling cheated now as I have a Samsung 240T display and can't use my native
resolution of 1920x1200 DVI. It worked on my 9700pro and my 9800XT from ATI.

I wanted to give nvidia a try again, but now I'm left sitting here saying "WTF!"

Have any ideas?
 
hmm dual single Dvi is for wide screen LCD flat panels is it not ? like the apple series..

I feel for you, glad i know that now though because im ordering a viewsonic 201p soon combined with x800xt should look great.
 
system specs:

athlon 51fx
asus sk8v
samsung 240T
1gig corsair 3200LL
bfg 6800GT
nvidia driver 6121 (shipping version with bfg card, same result with leaked 6180)
 
I have an EVGA 6800gt and run at 1600 x 1200 on my lcd so I am not sure what your saying
 
I'm saying that my BFG 6800GT will not run at greater resolutions than 1280x1024 on an LCD panel using the DVI output. I have tested this on my system using the 6121 and 6181 drivers.

I received a callback after complaining some more about the poor performance of the DVI output from the supervisor of the Technical Support department (someone who's name sounded like "Sharman" on my voicemail) telling me that in no way does any nVidia GPU chipset resolutions beyond 1600x1200 on the DVI connector and in my case for the 6800 GT, resolutions beyond 1280x1024 are not supported. What's more, the DVI output for my particular solution only supports resolutions: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024. The rep was very specific in listing those resolutions.

I have since received a phone call from David Ash a Project Manager from BFG whom I am playing phone tag with now. I can only presume that Kyle had something to do with it since I emailed him about the problem as well.

THANKS KYLE!!! (for what it's worth. hope it get's fixed)
 
Well I am running 1600x1200 dvi out right not on an eVGA 6800 GT as I type so something does not make sense
 
I understand that. I said in my post that the max that any nvidia chip can do on the DVI is 1600x1200. I also said in my case, which is a BFG 6800GT, only 1280x1024 is available. Apparently all nvidia DVI outputs are not created equally.

I have heard from another source, though no one else will verify that the PNY 6800 cards are capable of 1920x1200. I'm looking in to this further. Something about the TSMD (I think that's what he said) chip used on the output of the card. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I'll figure it out if no one else has the info here.
 
divbyzero said:
I understand that. I said in my post that the max that any nvidia chip can do on the DVI is 1600x1200. I also said in my case, which is a BFG 6800GT, only 1280x1024 is available. Apparently all nvidia DVI outputs are not created equally.

I have heard from another source, though no one else will verify that the PNY 6800 cards are capable of 1920x1200. I'm looking in to this further. Something about the TSMD (I think that's what he said) chip used on the output of the card. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I'll figure it out if no one else has the info here.

Well, thanks for that. This is f*cking ridiculous. I just got my BFG 6800GT and can't use it on my LCD through DVI because it's widescreen at a 1280x768 resolution. The most it will allow 1024x768 (1280x1024 if I uninstall my monitor driver to plug and play which is wrong). I tried to create a custom resolution at 1280x768 (which incidentally has been natively supported by BBA 9700P, 9800, 9800P, X800P) and it doesn't work! It says it's at 1280x768 but it's actually 1280x1024 (I know this as I've tried to run the display out of spec on my ATI cards).

I can't believe this crap. Like I'm ever buying a BFG again. The first and last time. Incidentally, every driver set that I tried 61.34, 61.45, 61.71, 61.80 officially supports 1280x768 so I was stumped until I read this post. I am so pissed. I'm about to roll back to ATI, at least I don't have to play Sherlock Holmes with BBA products, they work right all the time.
 
Bar81 said:
Well, thanks for that. This is f*cking ridiculous. I just got my BFG 6800GT and can't use it on my LCD through DVI because it's widescreen at a 1280x768 resolution. The most it will allow on some drivers is 1024x768. I tried to create a custom resolution at 1280x768 (which incidentally has been natively supported by BBA 9700P, 9800, 9800P, X800P) and it doesn't work! It says it's at 1280x768 but it's actually 1280x1024 (I know this as I've tried to run the display out of spec on my ATI cards).

I can't believe this crap. Like I'm ever buying a BFG again. The first and last time. Incidentally, every driver set that I tried 61.34, 61.45, 61.71, 61.80 officially supports 1280x768 so I was stumped until I read this post. I am so pissed. I'm about to roll back to ATI, at least I don't have to play Sherlock Holmes with BBA products, they work right all the time.
Any problems you are having are not BFG's fault. BFG is using the same components as the other manufacturers, as they are not even making the cards.

Scott
 
sonyman said:
Any problems you are having are not BFG's fault. BFG is using the same components as the other manufacturers, as they are not even making the cards.

Scott


Uh, if that were the case, why can cards from EVGA an others work in this mode, yet BFG's can't. It's not a Driver issue, its a Hardware issue. Glad I read this post before buying a BFG, or I wouldn't be able to use the DVI with my Dell 2001FP LCD.
 
i just read an article on DVI output. Supposedly, it depends on the transmitter and QUALITY of filters used.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1367918,00.asp

check that link out. They say that ATI cards have better DVI out than Nvidia's. So if you want dual DVI output, a FireGL Z1(based on the Radeon 9500 core) for 175 dollars is a good deal.

Also, from that article, it says that most cards can support 1280x1024 and that's it. Due to the fact that it doesn't fully support the 165Mhz transmiter rating. (1600x1200 needs 162Mhz bandwidth)
 
In spite of the clueless couple of posts above, IT IS BFG's fault. BFG has CONFIRMED that the only supported resolutions through DVI on their 6800GT are:

640x480
800x600
1024x768
1280x1024

THAT'S IT folks! UNF*CKINGBELIEVABLE POS :rolleyes:
 
On anther note, of course BFG reassures us all that if we want to wait another month or two they'll release products that don't suck and actually support the DVI resolutions it's supposed to :rolleyes:
 
I spoke to their Project Manager, Dave Ash finally. He says they're talking to nVidia about the problem now. He seems genuinely willing to figure out how to fix the problem. Between Kyle, nVidia, and BFG let's hope they fix it.

Am I upset, hell ya. I'm still going to wait it out a bit to see how it pans out...

Thanks for the help guys, if there is more good info on the problem keep posting it here. I'll point BFG to the thread so they can read about it.
 
I've seen this problem before. The GPU core signal is "dirty" which is causing the DVI transmitter signal to be too "dirty", which is ultimately limiting the maximum resolution. When the DVI-D signal is too dirty, it does not just "fuzz-up" and swim like an analog signal, it tends to completely garble the screen.

Not a whole heck of a lot of DVI cards passed the qualifications for 1600x1200 resolution last year (The BBA 9800 being a notable exception)

The GT line of chips (pure speculation) may have been the chips that did not pass the higher speed DVI transmission specs.

However a good portion of the time, the visual garbling and resolution restrictions are due to using a cheap-ass DVI cable. Me, I hate even using a DVI to VGA adaptor on an analog CRT monitor because of the image degradation it causes.
 
This is why i buy ATI usually, the built by ATI stuff guarantees its built according to spec...

Thank you guys for those post though cause i was going to order a GT til i got my radeon but now i am not. They should post that the max res for DVI is 1280 XXXX on their website... wonder how many other people with LCD are having the same problem.
 
Have you tried using an DVI to DB15 adaptor? I don't know if the quality of the analog would be much different. Just an idea...
 
FlyinBrian said:
This is why i buy ATI usually, the built by ATI stuff guarantees its built according to spec...

Thank you guys for those post though cause i was going to order a GT til i got my radeon but now i am not. They should post that the max res for DVI is 1280 XXXX on their website... wonder how many other people with LCD are having the same problem.

Exactly, check this out:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1367918,00.asp
 
If necessary, Nvidia could run to SGI for a clean transmitter (They will probably have to if they want a Quadro 6800). But as mentioned in the Extremetech article, SGI says that NVidia was to blame for a poor digital signal to start with at least in the 5900 lineup, and their transmitter can only do so much to compensate for it.

Adding an SGI transmitter would also add a fair chunk of cost to the board, and make it a little bit larger.

What has a lot of people stumped is why some cards are so dirty, interference like that is usually a PCB issue and not a core design issue.
 
Have used it with the analog connection. There is no comparison to DVI. The quality of the analog output to the LCD display is horrific.

I am using it in that fashion for the time being, but it really hurts my eyes. I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping that they come up with a solution to the problem.
 
Sorry but this is blatantly WRONG.

I'm on a BFG 6800 GT OC RIGHT NOW with my 2001fp (1600x1200)

It works fine, hell it even works better than my old setup like this.
 
You might want to tell BFG that. I'll take their word over yours every day of the week and .... If it does in fact support 1600x1200 it seems idiotic that they would tell us it doesn't. What you're saying makes NO sense.
 
For reference :

Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Athlon XP-M at 2.5 Ghz.
BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC (running at 400/1100)
Windows XP SP2 (RC2)

Nvidia drivers 61.71

This setup works perfectly fine at 1600x1200 over the DVI input.
 
Unfortunately, even if it does work I wouldn't (and won't) trust the card's DVI quality at that resolution given the extremetech article. Even if it runs at 1600x1200, since BFG only made/spec'd it to support up to 1280x1024 the quality at that resolution due to the low bandwidth will not be good. That extremetech DVI article ended my little daliance with nvidia. BBA thank you very much.
 
Take a look at my desktop.

http://www.mccsemi.com/images/desktop.jpg

(442k image, 1600x1200 JPG)

Take note of the Display Properties :

Dell 2001FP (Digital) on NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT.



I got in on the best buy deal for a 6800 GT OC for $299.

Bestbuy honored it, and shipped it to my door last night and I've been playing with this card ever since.
 
Either I got a special BFG 6800 GT or this is just complete bunk.

The DVI is perfectly fine on my setup. Hell it's super clear right now with no artifacts whatsoever and it's even solved the DVI problem I had with my previous 5900 Ultra.
 
Well, my display said 1280x768 and it wasn't so I wouldn't put all your stock in what display settings say.

Again, even if you're right the quality at that resolution will be poor so what are you really gaining. If I had that high of a display res I would INSIST on the highest quality image. Right now, the BFG 6800GT is not going to deliver that according to their own tech team.
 
Dude it's fine.

I don't know what else to possibly tell you. I see no scaling at all with my LCD at this res and it's running perfectly fine at its native 1600x1200 res with no problems at all.

I've ran Far Cry at 1600x1200 with no problems, EQ at that res with no problems, UT2004 at that res with no problems, Thief at that res with no problems.

IQ is perfect, with no degredation whatsoever.
 
I came from a 5900 Ultra DVI setup to this new setup.

I see nothing wrong with 1600x1200 at all. It picks up right where my old 5900 Ultra left off and then some.
 
If you're happy more power to you. I'm just telling you what BFG told me and my experience as well as telling you to read the extremetech article. Just because you think it's clear doesn't mean a thing (and don't take that the wrong way but everyone has a different opinion of clear.)
 
The point is it works fine. Until you find more people that share the same problem you have I'm more inclined to believe it is an isolated incident to your PC only.
 
EekTheKat said:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1367918,00.asp

Is dated Oct 2003

The 6800 GT for all intents and purposes DID NOT EXIST back then.

Did you even READ the article. You're not understanding the point I'm making. The article proves that nvidia's (and ati's for that matter) board partners have a long history of using substandard parts/poor design resulting in poor DVI quality. Thus, it is much more likely than not that the DVI quality is substandard on the BFG. Also, did you notice how bandwidth is related to DVI quality? The less bandwidth the poorer the quality. If the bandwidth is only for up to 1280x1024 there is NO WAY the quality will be good at 1600x1200. YOU may find the quality acceptable but that doesn't mean it is. Do you get it now?
 
EekTheKat said:
The point is it works fine. Until you find more people that share the same problem you have I'm more inclined to believe it is an isolated incident to your PC only.

No, *you* think it works fine. Good for you. BFG tells me otherwise. Until you somehow know more than the makers of the card themselves I'll not be inclined to believe you :rolleyes:
 
Okay dude believe whatever you want.

There are users of 6800 GT right now that runs at 1600x1200 just fine.

I'm one of them. and I own a BFG 6800 GT OC.

The article you posted is dated. Hell I've even read it months ago before it got dragged into this conversation.

Note in that article the reference 5900 Ultra passes that test. Early adopters of Nvidia cards typically receive a board built NOT by the brand themselves.

Basically the GT's that are out right now are basically reference boards with a sticker slapped on top of it.

I'm willing to bet the BFG site where it states the DVI limitation has NOT been updated to reflect the newer 6800 series.

The 6800 GT isn't even tested in that article specifically, it's testing a previous generation of cards by now. You posted about a BFG 6800GT not supporting 1600x1200 via DVI, and here you have an end user with that exact setup telling you that it works fine.
 
Jesus, I can't make it any clearer. BEFORE you respond, *please* READ my posts.

I'm still trying to figure out why BFG would say that their boards are limited if they're not. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP, BFG techs and supervisors acknowledge the limitation. Why would they do that if there isn't one? What, are they trying to NOT sell their cards?

Also, if they are really reference design then why can't I run 1280x768 which is a supported resolution in EVERY driver that I've tried (they're listed above for your reference) I even went so far as to do a full Win2k clean install to make sure it wasn't my setup. In contrast, the ATI cards work fine at that resolution.
 
I too am limited to 1280x1024 via DVI on my brand new BFG GeForce 6800 GT. Have a Sharp LC-37G4U that runs 1368x768. Here's my thread on the Envy Forums.

Anyways, everything above 1280x1024 is automatically windowed into a Virtual Desktop. I have to scroll around to see everything. I'm pretty bummed since I thought I'd be able to get this to work out of the box. Heck my old Radeon 8500 could run at 1368x768 no sweat!

Edit: I called BFG Tech on the telephone today and they said that 1600x1200 was the max for the 6800 GT Series. Strange how they would tell you it was only 1280x1024. Anyways, 1280x768 works for me (enabled via custom resolution tab), but I want 1368x768 without pan & scan.
 
JGene said:
I too am limited to 1280x1024 via DVI on my brand new BFG GeForce 6800 GT. Have a Sharp LC-37G4U that runs 1368x768. Here's my thread on the Envy Forums.

Anyways, everything above 1280x1024 is automatically windowed into a Virtual Desktop. I have to scroll around to see everything. I'm pretty bummed since I thought I'd be able to get this to work out of the box. Heck my old Radeon 8500 could run at 1368x768 no sweat!

Edit: I called BFG Tech on the telephone today and they said that 1600x1200 was the max for the 6800 GT Series. Strange how they would tell you it was only 1280x1024. Anyways, 1280x768 works for me (enabled via custom resolution tab), but I want 1368x768 without pan & scan.

Custom resolution tab? You mean making a custom profile with the nvidia drivers?

Maybe they changed their mind already after all the complaints :p

Edit: Did you see if 1368x768 is a supported resolution by the drivers, iirc it's not?

Edit2: Did you check out the option in the drivers where it shows the various stretch/configuration modes available?
 
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