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View Full Version : Video games artifacting/freezing/sputtering?


GT2000
12-21-2006, 09:58 AM
These are classic signs of video card problems, more notably, heat.

I had these issues last week with Battlefield 2142. Running 2 Evga 7800gts in sli, made it a bit easier, although more time consuming, to troubleshoot. I noticed that during bf2142 sessions my video temps would go over 100c..and eventually peak at the 115c threshold that the Nvidia control panel sets. It was at that point where the game would freeze and cause me to force a reboot.

Having the 2 cards helped me troubleshoot this, I pulled one of the cards and never saw temps over 88c, this is about the temp at which the fan was kicking into overdrive and dropping the temperature back down to the low 80s (still a bit too hot for my liking but ambient temps are no good). So I threw in the other card and started to experience the same issues, temps pushing 100c+ and locking up.

So out of curiosity I logged into my Newegg account to check when I purchased the cards, and if I would still be able to RMA them.. purchase date was 1/06/06, RMA was available for replacement or repair. Score.

As of now I'm waiting on word back from Newegg on either a like replacement item or a refund of the current market value (not to exceed the original purchase price of course).

So as always, Newegg proves to be superior when it comes to customer service :), and the temperature in my room continues to be good at destroying hardware. :mad:

GT2000
12-21-2006, 05:51 PM
Good 'ol Newegg.

I was offered either a brand new EVGA 7950GT 512mb, which retails for $270, $240 after rebate, or $260 cash. I took the cash, and won't complain, the 7800gt's cost me $300 each almost a year ago.

Metallistar
12-22-2006, 07:35 AM
Score, I've had very good luck with newegg over the years. I've returned a few mobos and a couple hd's all with very little hastle.

GT2000
12-22-2006, 10:08 AM
Yeah, this makes my..5th RMA in 4 years with them. A couple of them were crapshoots with refurbed/open box mobos..you know how those go.

Metallistar
12-24-2006, 09:02 AM
been down that road, remember when epox mobos had a bad habbit of poping caps? Had to rma a few of them refurb mobos.

GT2000
12-24-2006, 09:38 PM
Yeah, I posted about one here a year or two ago.. and just recently I rebuilt a friends machine that I built a long time ago with an Epox, cracked that bitch open and what did I see, yep, ruptured caps.

GT2000
01-12-2007, 04:41 PM
I might have to recommend staying away from EVGA cards at this point, as my 2nd 7800gt out of the two purchased just over a year ago has started to exhibit the exact same problem.

Started playing the Vanguard open beta today after a horribly long download/install lastnight.. (the download is 6.5gb, and the game to install takes around a mere 17gb..)

Playing the game with my lone 7800gt I started to get artifacting, I minimized the game and opened up the nvidia control panel only to see +100c temps again..

Getting a zalman cooler in a bit, hopefully it does the trick..

GT2000
01-12-2007, 07:48 PM
Got the vf700 cu (zalman) and installed it, plus the ram sinks that it came with.. booted up to an idle of 44-46c as opposed to a high 50s c before.