rivatuner 6800gs 16p/6v

[Firestrider]

So I ordered a XFX 6800gs and got a eVGA 6800gs. I tried unlocking the extra pixel quad and the vertex pipelines and my computer successfully rebooted. When benchmarking with 3dmark03 I saw blue/green flashing artifacts. So is that the end of that or can I do some tweaks to get rid of the artifacts and keep 16/6? Should I try to exchange my eVGA for XFX?

[harlam357]

try unlocking each individually... the pipes will net much more performance than the vertex unit... really the extra vertex is next to nothing. also, not sure... but I think these newer cards might have pipes cut at the factory. your best option might be rma.

I'm not endorsing you do this... but you could mod the bios and up the core voltage... probably won't do anything but really invalidate your warranty further than you already have, and kill your core quicker. Again, I don't endorse this behavior. Forget I mentioned it. :D

[Firestrider]

I'm also getting very high temperatures 50c at idle and 72c at load! My old card 9600xt was 36c idle and 51c load. I tried 16p/5v - still get artifacts.

[harlam357]

That is a little hot... both my eVGA 6800nu cards idle in the mid-40s(one fully unlocks, the other only unlocks the vertex unit). I thought those newer gs chipsets were supposed to be more power efficient/better design = better thermals. What's you case temp like?

I would guess those are factory cut pipes... but I'm just guessing. See if the vertex shader works without artifacts.

[Firestrider]

I think the thermal probes from rivatuner are 10c too high. It says ambient temperature is 36c, while the ambient case temperature says 25c via my own temperature probe. Would touching my temp. probe to the heatsink give an accurate measure?

Ok I unlocked the extra vertex pipeline w/o artifacts.. it gives about 150 points in 3dmark03. What could be all the reasons for artifacting when unlocking the pixel pipes... too much heat, insufficient power?

[harlam357]

No, to accurately measure the core temp with a probe, it would need to be next to (but not on top of) the die. To do so with any precision, you'll need to remove the stock heatsink and replace it. Again, if you're thinking about rma'ing this card, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't go any further than the soft-mods you're doing with RivaTuner.

~150pts better in Mark03 is about right... like I said, not much is gained with just a vertex unlock. The reason the pipes are artifacting is b/c they are cut/bad/don't work = no bringing them back. I surmise that nVidia is now cutting these at the factory, unlike the older 6800nu cards that could have all the pipes left in tact and just one set(4) disable by hardware mask.

[chevro1et]

If the pipes were laser-cut, you would not be able to access them at all. Unlocked quad + artifacts = damaged pipes. The extra quad on my card did not unlock successfully, so I just OCed the snot out of it, and am quite satisfied.

Cheers.

[Firestrider]

That's a nice overclock chevro1et, is that with stock cooling on your card? And what kind of temps do you get?

[chevro1et]

Yea, that is stock cooling... temps are GROSS though... idles ~55C, full load (running rthdribl for ~20 min) is ~83C!!!! Yea, I am waiting for ncix.com to get the accelero in stock to put out the fire. Even at those grossly high temps, I do not get any heat artifacts, but that is just WAY too hot for my liking.

Cheers.

[harlam357]

OK, haven't had my hands on a card w/factory cut pipes... so I wasn't sure how they would behave. That's good to know...

[chevro1et]

OK, haven't had my hands on a card w/factory cut pipes... so I wasn't sure how they would behave. That's good to know...

Sure you have... that 7800gt in your sig has the extra quad laser cut. That is why if you use RivaTuner to attempt the extra quad unlock, there is not another quad in the hardware masking tab to unlock. :p

Cheers.