GeForce 9800GT crash

[Grimlok]

Morning all,

I'm afraid I haven't had my head in pc tech since I bought a co-processor chip for my 386sx, so I'm what you'd call El-N00b at all this.

Problem

Summary - I Bought a GeForce 9800GT to replace my duff 7600. The first hurdle was the lack of PCI-E power plug from my PSU, so I nipped out and got one of them. This powered the card and things seemed fine to begin with -> games like WoW, Stronghold, etc all run fine. But games like HalfLife2, Warhammer AoR, etc (ie. more modern games) crash, making the screen look like a bad game of tetris, and only a reboot sorts the problem. After a bit of sniffing I realised that the 355W PSU I bought wasn't up to the job of providing the 550w recommended needs of the card. So I nipped out a bought a 1000w PSU (to be sure). This hasn't made any difference - the more recent games still crash between 1 and 3 mins of starting them. Just to clarify, all my other pc activities are fine with no issues.

Spec - Relatively low-end PC, intel dual core something or other chip + 2 gig RAM + 9800GT, 1000W PSU

Symptoms - The more recent 3-D accelerated games cause the pc to crash, leaving a part-game-part-black block effect which requires a reboot to solve. Other 3-D games run fine.

Attempted Solutions -
1. Bought a higher power PSU (now 1000w), not solved it
2. Updated the drivers (many times), not solved it
3. Uninstalled + reupdated my drivers, not solved it
4. Updated my directx drivers, currently 10, not solved it
5. Downloaded RivaTuner, checked temps+speeds, all fine, not solved it
6. Checked everything is physically ok in my box, all clear + dust-free, not solved it
7. Cried, keyboard got wet, not solved it

Pretty much at the end of my tether with this now, and I really need advice. I was reading on one of the other posts on this forum that the old 7600 drivers might be interfering somehow, but I have no idea how to find+remove them :/ The only other thing I can think of is to call the supplier and tell them it's faulty...?

 

[MundoDragon]

Although your new power supply meets the wattage requirements of the card, make sure it meets the amperage requirements as well. I couldn't see a 1000w PSU not providing the required amperage on the 12 volt rail, but you never know. First check there and post back and let us know if it meets those requirements or not, then we'll go from there. Also, make sure the card is firmly seated in its slot. A partially seated card could lead to the graphics card 'misbehaving'. Another thing to check would be the consistent power of the PSU, although it is listed as a super high 1000w, that is usually not consistent power. Again, I couldn't see a 1000w PSU supplying any less than at bare minimum 800w of consistent power, but again, you never know. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

EDIT: As for the old drivers, yes, although unlikely, they could interfere. I seem to recall a driver remover that removes old Nvidia drivers, but as to the name/location of this, I can't remember. Maybe try searching for 'Nvidia driver remover' or something like so in your favorite search engine.

 

[Grimlok]

Hey, thanks for answering

Just been over the PSU specs - seems to spit out 900w @ up to 20A on the 12v rail(s). It does have a low-amp 12v rail @0.5A, but I don't have it jacked into that. Not entirely sure what the card needs wrt amps. Dunno how to measure if the PSU's output is consistent or not either :/

The card is seated properly - I took it out, cleared some dust etc, and put it back. Still no joy

Yeah, I found a soft called Driver Cleaner Pro, that cleared out a load of old driver files from the Windows directory. Hasn't solved the problem unfortunately :/

Thanks for your continued patience

 

[Yami]

Unfortunately the 9800GT requires 26A as minimum (on a 12V rail), and you'd be better off having more than that for the startup surge. How many 12v rails does your 1000W have? Assuming at least two, it should run fine since they'll bridge.

 

[patonb]

Man at 1000W its gotta have atleast 3 rails.... Even the cheapest on tiger ha 6 20A

Use drivecleaner to remove the nvidia drivers for the gpu.

Download Driver Cleaner Professional 1.5 Free - Improved version of Driver Cleaner

the 7 and 9 series don't share alot in commen at all, and misilanious files could be screwing you up

 

[Grimlok]

Edit: 4 x 20A rails + 1 x 0.5A

I imagine 'bridging' is combining 2 rails? or something? Need some elaboration on that one I'm afraid

Thanks for the link Pat - got it

 

[Thilly]

Not sure if it was mentioned already, but a very common cause of graphic "artifacting" (the tetris effect you described) or crashing is heat. If you have an older case with poor circulation (due to bad wire management, lack of fans, etc) it's possible this new power-hungry video card is getting too hot. You wouldn't have had to worry about it as much with the 7600gt, but now it is possibly an issue. Try opening the side of the case and running a game that way. If it works better then it's a heat issue.

As stated before make sure you wipe old drivers and install new ones, as well.

 

[Grimlok]

My comp is currently open all the time so I can access the innards easily ^^ Based on what Riva was saying the GPU is running within normal temperatures (about 55degrees continuous). I may be reading it completely wrong ofc =

 

[patonb]

Whats the temp under load. 55 is good btw, just ensure load isn't high

d/l atitool
ATITool - Overclocking utility for ATI and NVIDIA cards

And run the artifact test and check temps at load.

edit.......

Heres a newer page
ATi Tool 0.27 b2 download from Guru3D.com

 

[Grimlok]

Cheers for the link, Pat

Installed + ran Avitool -> Riva reckoned the GPU was running at about 70 degrees with that artifact thingy running. I think the chip takes up to 105 degrees?