GeForce 6800 and random freezes

[theslug]

Originally Posted by Deeko

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.

[rflair]

Originally Posted by Deeko

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]

Originally Posted by rflair

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

Same here.

[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.

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.

Update: My problem has been fixed.
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?

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...

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.