GeForce 6800 and random freezes

[theslug]

I found this thread over a year ago and for 6 months I checked it religiously and not a single thing helped. I then put up with it for a few more months then ditched it all for 7800GT based system. This thread will probably still be active when it is a full 2 YEARS old and still no fix. Seriously guys , this fault must lie in the hardware and cant be fixed otherwise it would have been fixed long ago, Nvidia arent intested in the slightest. I recently started using my 6800GT with a media center I built , first thing I did was replace the nforce3 board with the Via chipset Asus K8V-SE and its been rock solid. I recommened anyone with this problem to try and get a refund for the board or bite the bullet and buy a new one.

I might look into that option as well, purchasing a via board. I'd rather not have to replace the video card since it was expensive and very difficult to get at the time it came out. I have yet to hear of anyone who switched to a via board have the same issue as when they had the nf3.

Needless to say I'm not experiencing the freeze issue anymore that I described earlier here (12-14-05 post), which I think may have been heat related. I improved the airflow in my case, and the problem seems to have gone away for WoW anyway. However, I still get freezes in the new star wars RTS demo, and upon checking my temps, they were around 81. I reduced some graphical features, bringing my temps to the mid 70s, and the freezing stopped. Don't know what the WoW issue is though, which I described in another thread here (http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63542).

[rflair]

On another note, I wonder if we will see the same problem with nforce3 and the 7800GS agp card, if we do I wonder if Nvidia will do anything about it this time round?


Problems gone!!!!!! 7800GS works great with FW and NF3.

[Demanufakture]

Problems gone!!!!!! 7800GS works great with FW and NF3.

Same here.(nana2)

[Optimummind]

Wow, I can't believe this thread still exists and people are still having problems with this issue. Let me share about my experiences.

First of all, I never experienced any stuttering or hitching problems. Maybe I just got lucky with my hardware setup or maybe it's because what I did with my card the first day I got it home (June, 2004)--I flashed my 6800GT with a 6800 Ultra BIOS.

First of all, here is my setup:
(1) WinXP SP2
(2) Intel Prescott 2.8E@3.3ghz
(3) 2x512mb DDR400
(4) BFG 6800GT
(5) Abit IS7 865PE mobo

When I flashed my BIOS back in June of 2004, I didn't have a program like NiBiTor to help me out. Instead, I had to open a hex editor and manually edit the BIOS file myself. I downloaded a Ultra BIOS and changed the 2D, 2D/3D, adn 3D clock speeds to 420mhz for the core and 1100mhz for the memory.

I also set the voltages for all 3 modes to 1.4 V.

This was done on the first day I bought the card and I've never had any problems whatsoever with any of the drivers (I'm currently using 83.60). I've never had to turn off FastWrite, change my AGP Aperture size in the BIOS, mess around with PCI latency settings, etc.

So, if you are adventurous and daring, I recommend flashing the BIOS to set the voltage levels all the same.

Of course, you should first make sure that you have decent cooling for the core and the memory. Or, you could just change the voltage levels and leave the clock speeds alone at the GT level.

[betterdan]

Already tried that a while back Optimummind and it slowed the freezing up some but it still happens. I think we have exhausted all tricks to get this thing working right and only a new motherboard or card will work. If I ever get off my lazy ass I'll replace the motherboard.

[betterdan]

Update: My problem has been fixed. (nana2)
I am now the proud owner of a 6800 Ultra and that has fixed all my freeze up problems. My computer has never ran this stable and fast since I got it over a year ago. My 3dmark 03 score (yea I know I should get with the times but I still use 03) went from 11290 with the stock clocks on the 6800 Gt to 13188 with stock clocks on the 6800 Ultra WOOHOO! I can also enable Fast Writes now with 0 problems.
This motherboard just did not like 6800 Gt cards because I tried both of the ones I had plus all the numerous tricks in this thread. Thank God that's over with.
Thanks to you know who. ;)

[theslug]

Betterdan, so did you basically just update the BIOS to that of a 6800 ultra and that fixed it? If so what bios version?

[betterdan]

Nope I now have an actual 6800 Ultra. The bios on it is 05.40.02.15.07 and it was changed to put the 2d and 3d clocks to the same speed and the 2d and 3d voltages both are set to 1.4 with no throttle voltage (I don't know if this is normal or not). I guess you could try to set a 6800GT up with this same bios version and it may work. Let me know if you try it, I'm curious.

[joshua7]

My 6800GT was also stable at 1.4v, but that isn't a solution...

[betterdan]

It wasn't the solution for me either joshua, that's why I got the 6800U.

[Ka0s]

Ive been searching this topic..has anyone had problems with a geforce 6800 GS and a gigabyte board combo? specifically GA-K8NS nforce3 250 chipset

[joshua7]

Personally no, but I think there is no problem with the 7800gs.

[Ka0s]

Well i cannot afford the 7800GS that is why im looking at the 6800GS

[d2thez]

It has been ages and I don't have this combo or problem any more, but I may have stumbled across some info and solution. Looking through the release notes of the 91.45 drivers I found this:

AGP and PCI-E Programs May Hang With AMD K7 and
K8 Processors
• Issue
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 and Windows XP systems using AMD K7 and
K8 processors can hang when an AGP or PCI-E program is used.
• Root Cause
There is a known problem with Microsoft® Windows® 2000 and Windows
XP systems using AMD K7 and K8 CPUs that results in the Microsoft
operating system allocating overlapping 4M cached pages with 4k writecombined
pages. This condition results in undefined behavior and data
corruption, and is explicitly disallowed by the AMD CPU manual.
This problem can affect any device driver in the system that allocates writecombined
system memory, but is usually most easily reproduced with
graphics drivers since graphics drivers generally make heavy use of writecombined
system memory for performance reasons.
• Resolution
Microsoft has a knowledge base article on the issue, the text of which is
unfortunately quite outdated. While the article only mentions Windows
2000, AGP, and K7, both the root cause and resolution also apply to
Windows 2000 or WindowsXP, AGP or PCI-E, and AMD K7 or K8. The
article can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/?id=270715.
The issue is resolved by applying an operating system registry key as
described in the referenced article that instructs the Microsoft operating
system to not use the 4M pages, thus avoiding the conflict.
The registry key is automatically applied by installation of the latest NVIDIA
nForce platform driver package (including 4.57 SMBUS or later). It is
imperative for the package to be installed or for the registry key to be applied
before the NVIDIA graphics driver or any other device drivers are installed.
The registry key takes effect only after an operating system reboot.

I think it is worth a try to all of you still experiencing this combo and problem!!

[Treason]

Wow, nVidia may have found the problem. I'm still on a 3200+ Winchester and 6800GT AGP.

[Sex_packets]

with the new 91.45 the problem is completely gone.

[Azadaleou]

I wrote the BBB about this problem back last sept. After months of talks with Nvidia around Jan 2006 they replaced my nforce3 and geforce 6800 with a Nforce4 sli and Geforce 6800 gs. I was one happy panda^___^.

[Dismal]

Damn, I was problem free for a LONG time. I was running on the 84.21 drivers with no problems. Very recently, though, my MSI K8N Neo Platinum crapped out on me. I had to find a replacement. I stupidly thought "what the hell, the nVidia nForce3 / 6800 DirectX studdering problem is long gone. A thing of the past. I'll just get another nForce 3 board". Big mistake. I bought an Asus K8N-E motherboard with the nForce3 250GB chipset. I loaded up the same graphics drivers I was having good luck with before, thinking the studdering problem was always a driver issue that nVidia has resolved.

Long story short, the problem's back. I'm running the latest chipset & video drivers (but my "rock solid" 84.21 drivers didn't do any good either). I also just updated to the latest BIOS. DirectX games are now unplayable again. Damn. I should have bought a different chipset. What the hell causes this problem, though? It can't be drivers. I'm running the exact same setup before, software and driver-wise. My motherboard's just by a different manufacturer now. Same chipset.

Update: Just tried a fresh install of XP SP2 with all new drivers... still studders. It boggles my mind as to why this problem still exists on some boards.

Yet another update: I believe I'm in the clear again. I read somewhere in this thread that even though you disable fastwrites in the bios (which I did on the new board), they still can be enabled within the drivers. That was news to me. I downloaded RivaTuner again, disabled its LockDangerSettings value so I could edit the AGP stuff, forced fastwrites to off (the status in RivaTuner said they were on) and rebooted. Did some testing in Call of Duty 2 and FEAR: Extraction Point. No Studdering! Thank God I didn't have to buy 2 motherboards for the same system within a 2 week time span. I suppose I could have just as easily edited this post and removed all traces of these ramblings, but I'll leave it up in the off chance that someone stumbles through here with the same problem I was having. Woo!

[dddirk]

My GeForce 6800 gt is having large amounts of artifacts and snow, with random full system shutdowns and stuttering. My graphics card is running at 106c at all times even with proper fans. I've got the card set at 256 apprature (which I believe to be normal for my card and dropping the apprature to 64 didnt seem to do anything). I bought this computer second hand from a friend and it was over clocked when I got it.
I have reset my bios to default settings and formated my computer yet I'm still having the same problem, and I cant seem to get the temprature down.
What is a normal temp for my card to be running at?
Is there any possibilities that this thing is still over clocked? how could I tell.
any ideas? I'm unable to even run games from 2002 on lowest settings without my system rebooting. Any help would be amazing.
I'm desperate here.

[Blakhart]

Hi
I would run riva and see if it shows the card as being oc'd. Then I would find out how it is being oc'd, either by driver or vid card bios hack. If it runs too long at too high a temp permanent damage may occurr. The card may be bad.