Weird Graphics Problem with PNY 6800GT

[|MaguS|]

Im having some issues with my PNY 6800GT, Its only in certain games but these games are new titles so it scares me more.

The problem is I would get horrible lines jetting out from models in games, this so far has happened in the new Medal of Honor demo and in the Everquest 2 Beta. Both are supposly SM3.0 enabled games, Farcry with the Beta SM3.0 path gives me no problems at all. I have tried various drivers with it happening in all them (from 61.72 -> 66.00). I also have the official release of DirectX9c. Im also using the latest PNY bios, rev02.

Im running the card at stock speeds currently but have tested it at 420/1100 in other games without any issue, but in these two games I get issues no matter if ats stock speeds or overclocked.

Could this be a driver issue or something much worse? I thought it could be my card overheating but during a 30min of rthdribl I have yet to see it go above 75C, on idle its around 55C.

Has anyone else seen this issue?

System Specs:
AMD64 3200
Biostar K8VHA Pro
1GB DDR400
PNY 6800GT
Sparkle 530PSU

Screnshots:
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (http://bellsouthpwp.net/T/h/TheClericBanton/images/a2j_mohpa_demo%202004-09-03%2017-10-15-23.jpg)
Everquest 2 Beta (http://theclericbanton.shackspace.com/a2j_EverQuest2%20Graphics%20Bug01.jpg)

[Subtestube]

No idea what the problem is, but as a matter of interest, anyone know if these games use shadow volumes? Because it *looks* like some of the vertices are getting projected to infinity in exactly the manner they are when shadow volumes are calculated. I can't see this being a SM 3.0 problem, as I can't imagine these games using practically the only SM 3.0 that might effect vertex projection (Vertex Texture lookup). Looks odd... have you tried turning off shadows? Though, admittedly, both those screens don't seem to show any kind of shadowing at all...

[OWA]

Yeah, I've seen some of that in the MOHPA demo. I'm overclocking my GT and haven't tried putting it back to stock to see if it goes away though. I'm using the 61.77s.

[FearMeAll]

I had the exact same thing as well and it was because of core overclocking. Lowered my overclock 5mhz and bam problem solved.
There is only one thing that causes that and that is heat on the core.

[OWA]

Yeah, it was my overclocking that was causing it. I set things back to default and now it looks great!

Edit: You're right. It's the core. I just had to drop it by 5mhz to get rid of the problem. Instead of using 405/1120 I'm now using 400/1120 and things are fine.

[|MaguS|]

Yeah for me, Im getting it at stock settings but only at 1600x1200, 1280x1024 its all ok.

[FearMeAll]

Yeah for me, Im getting it at stock settings but only at 1600x1200, 1280x1024 its all ok.
oohh..bad.
If it can't handle stock you should look at some better cooling, or contact you manufacturer.

[|MaguS|]

Hmm, PNY states on thier website that they can tell if your card has been OC'd if you RMA it. Is that possible without there being actual damage on the card? I thought OCing was software based and is reset once removed from the PC.

Also can it really be a cooling issue even if it only happens in these two games? I can play CS:S, Halo, UT2K4, Splinter Cell, FarCry and Doom 3 just fine. Should I wait for the next driver release prior to RMAing it?

Sorry for all the questions, this is the first time I have ever had any issues with hardware.

[dprimm]

I have the MOH Demo and I get no such problems with my PNY 6800GT (stock speeds).
There are 2 key words to keep in mind here, DEMO & BETA.

[scott123]

No, PNY cannot tell if a card has been overclocked. It would be based on conjecture, not fact.

[kyleb]

I have the MOH Demo and I get no such problems with my PNY 6800GT (stock speeds).
There are 2 key words to keep in mind here, DEMO & BETA.


Hah, the key words are "core" and "speed." I had the same problem with my gt at 400mhz, but at 390 it is fine.

[FearMeAll]

I wonder if those VGA silencers work really well at cooling the card. I know after taking apart my BFG6800GT that I think the current cooling solution really sucks. There is only one flimsy little fan cranking around plastic looking heatspreaders.
I've googled and can't find a VGA silencer anywheres. They are as hard to get as 6800s themselves.
I really want to run at ultra speeds badly and I know just a little more cooling will make it do that. I hate being now 15mhz off on the core and core speed seems to be very important on these new cards.

[|MaguS|]

Could the overheating be due to my ambient temps and not my core? It hits about between 50C-55C during gaming due to ****ty case (new case on the way).

[Lorrac]

I have the exact same problem at stock settings. I tried underclocking by a few mhz and the problem remains. I'm going to call PNY tomorrow and see if they have any information on it. Worst case, I'll take it back where I bought it and exchange it for another one.

[Subtestube]

Hang on, is that 50-55 degrees your motherboard temp? MAN that's hot... I mean... even under strain mine doesn't get far above 25ish on the Mobo... then again, maybe my ol' trusty P4B actually runs quite cool. Do you have any case fans?

[mustrum]

As allready mentioned: It's too high temperature or too high clock. The effect you mentioned is too hot memory chips. I get that if i OC my memory too high (on the graphics card).
Get some better cooling.

[Subtestube]

And air out your case! I mean... maybe even run the computer with an open box - I've an acquaintance who has to do that to prevent artifacts & other probs. If the cooling on the card is good but the heat can't get out of the case, the card can't cool nearly as effectively.

[|MaguS|]

Im not gonna RMA it till I get my new case, if that solves the problem then Im happen but if not, PNY better replace this thing... Wish I could take it back to Compusa but I have had this thing for over two months already and this is the only games it happens in, was playing Vampire the Masquerade for 4 hours last nite with no issue.

[SH0DAN]

I rma'd a PNY ti4400 last summer,and it was overclocked to 345/620.I had no probs with the exchange.

[Lorrac]

I went back and exchanged my PNY 6800 GT, and the new one seems to have the same issues, leading me to believe that its not an issue with the hardware on the card itself. Just to make sure I'm having the same problem as everyone else, when you run the Dawn demo, does it look like she has flesh colored lines flickering behind her from her shoulders? That's the issue I'm having.

[|MaguS|]

Downloading dawn right now, you got a screenshot of what I should be looking for?

What scares me is that not many are coming out stating they have this issue with MoH, actually your the only other person I know who is also having such issue.

[|MaguS|]

No issues with dawn at all, didn't run it long though, Only acouple mins.

[Lorrac]

Hmm, if you're not having any problems with Dawn, then we may have different issues. My problem happens every time I run it, and even when I try underclocking the card. I don't believe my problems are related to card temperature either. I also have the same problem when running 3dMark2k3 in the troll game demo. It runs normally except the fire on the woman's sword streaks off to the side in weird ways. I'll keep looking into the issue and will let you know if I figure it out, but it looks like we may be having different problems, actually.

[grahamjenks]

Its not the card.

Its the MB i think.

I have a 6800GT had EXACTLY these problems and got the card replaced - it still happened. Interestingly i have a biostar k8vha pro so that would seem to be common denominator. The cooling thing is just wrong. Mine doesnt get above 60 even at max load. (see my next point as to why i think its not cooling!)

Interestingly this doesnt happen to me with drivers before 61.72 (msi's own version) but with all ones after this. (If it was cooling why on earth would later drivers make the problem appear) I thinking its some kind of driver conflict with the relevent video drivers , the mb drivers (AGP controller per chance), the card bios and quite possibly some feature of DirectX 9.0c.

I've got my card nice and cool (its in a Antec Sonata II case with the 120mm fan runnnig full speed - a zalman cooler on the cpu at full speed , and the adjustable fan controller at full speed on the gpu itself - its doesnt get hot by normal standards even runnnig FEAR at top whack)

[grahamjenks]

I've tired a suggested fix of using Microsoft AGP driver instead of VIA AGP controller and the problem remains.

Back to the drawing board