7900GTX bluescreening/artifacting in 3DMark06

[Chaos_Being]

Well, looks like I just ran into a MAJOR stumbling block with my new build.

First of all, a quick rundown of my components- Opty 165, MSI K8N Diamond Plus, 2gb G.Skill pc4000, Silverstone Zeus 560w, and finally, an XFX Geforce 7900gtx factory overclocked to 665mhz core (from 650,) and 1.63ghz memory (from 1.6ghz.) Everything else is still at stock speeds.

I played an evening of WoW on it last night just fine. Today I decided to run 3Dmark 06 and a few other benchmarks at stock to get a baseline of comparison for when I start overclocking. All of the tests completed successfully until I got to "Deep Freeze." The first time, it locked up around frame 1400, bluescreened, and rebooted. I found this error message in the event viewer:

"The driver nv4_disp for the display device \Device\Video0 got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates a problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly. Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates."

I was running the newest certified driver at the time. So, I went to Nvidia.com and downloaded the latest beta driver, ran driver cleaner in safe mode, rebooted, and installed the beta drivers. I ran 3Dmark 06 again and it locked up again on the same test, at about the same time- except this time, instead of bluescreening after it locked, the screen started flashing an artifacted combo of the 3D mark screen and my desktop.

Oh, and the molex connector on the motherboard that helps to power the video cards is plugged in.

Are there any other drivers that I can try, or ANYTHING else I can try before I have to consider an RMA? The only other thing I can think of is to try downclocking it to stock speeds and try the test again, as I know from reading that I'm not the only person with a messed up factory overclocked 7900 series card :(

[Rattle]

try mobo drivers 6.70 work for me

try other video drivers also

those xfx overclocked 7900gt/gtx are the biggest POS ever released, even eVGA has bad card with the 7900 series, rma it for a x1900 and dont look back.

[Martel]

Check guru3d.com for other drivers. A friend has a 7900GT had similar problems, turned out to be a ram problem. Try underclocking the ram on your vidcard see if the problem persists.

[Chaos_Being]

Well, I installed Coolbits and downclocked it to stock refrence speeds for the gpu and memory- and Deep Freeze still gives me artifact hell.

Rattle- mobo drivers? Are you talking about nforce chipset drivers, or something more specfic to my motherboard?
Edit: Ok I'm assuming that you mean chipset drivers, as I see 6.70 for the nforce 4 chipset. I have the x16 chipset, which is at driver version 6.85.

I'll look for other video drivers too, but it doesn't seem like I can go back in time much, as they don't say that they support the 7900 series.

I'm willing to give anything a try, but I'm starting to think its RMA time. I got the card from Zipzoomfly, and at the time it said "exchange for the same product only." Of course, now they're not in stock.

[seer33]

I had a similar issue, the crashing to desktop w/ artifacting and flashing of a black screen...It was plaguing me for about 2 weeks, and then it went away..and now my card runs all 3dmarks just fine even overclocked a lot... (700/870) What I did was set the card to speeds wellll below stock..like 600/750...applied settings at startup and rebooted with the loose settings. From there I ran the test and it ran fine. So I upped the clocks to stock with coolbits, they ran fine, and finally started to overclock the card and it ran fine.I think the issue has to do with the autodetect timings in the coolbits panel..also uninstall atitool if you have that..it was also giving me issues. Try that, and AVOID autodetect at all costs. Maybe it will work for you, let me know

[Chaos_Being]

Weeeeeel...

I tried downclocking to 600/700 and it still artifacts and locks up in "Deep Freeze," and although it does eventually give me a 3d mark score, I have to hard reset to regain control in windows.

Looks like my card is F'ed up!

Now I just need to decide if I want to try to RMA it back through Zipzoomfly for either a direct replacement (although as I said, they are out of stock...) or just say the hell with it and try to get them to exchange it for a x1900 series card. The only thing that would suck about that is it would kind of kill the whole reason for getting an SLI board- I wanted to do SLI eventually. My other option would be trying to RMA it directly through XFX in the hopes that I might get a pre-tested card. Suggestions?

[seer33]

Hmm. I'd contact XFX...mopst of the companies have an advanced rma option where they send you the new card, tested first. I'd definitely call too. I guess I never expeirecned the deep freezing issue so I consider myself lucky.

[Zebbo]

Increase PCI-E frequency and try what it does for you

[seer33]

oh yah, i alos forgot to mention that..set pci-e freq to 105 in bios...thats the sweet spot.

[Chaos_Being]

I tried that, setting my PCI-Express frequency to 105 (well 104.something was the closest option) caused my pc to not load windows. I could hear my hard drive spin down and it would just sit at the windows loading screen.

I'm tired of screwing around, the card is getting RMA'ed. I think I'm just going to try to do it through ZZF, with the thought of if the replacement doesn't work as well, perhaps I can force them to give me a refund or the option to get an ATI card instead. Although I may try calling them tomorrow and just trying to see if they'll let me do a refund/exhange for a x1900xt(x) right off the bat rather than doing a normal online RMA. (We'll see though, as it did say "non-refundable, exchange for defective units only" when I purchased the card.)

Its either that or roll the dice and RMA for another 7900gtx, in the hopes of getting one that works and being able to run SLI eventually. I'll see how I feel after I sleep on it, I guess.

I ordinarily prefer Nvidia, and I'd like to use my SLI board for you know, SLI eventually, but at the moment I'm pretty angry and fed up.

[Spoudazo]

I had to RMA my first 7900gtx.

But, now I have a new one (had it about 2-3 weeks) and it runs great :) I'm using 84.56 drivers, excellent IQ :D

[Chaos_Being]

I'm glad to hear it worked out for you :)

I'm waiting for ZZF's office to open, I'll find out what my options are in a few hours.

[ElricM]

I'm having much the same problems with an XFX overclocked 7900gtx, and tried the same things as you have with pretty much the same results. ZZF web site says they want all of the original packaging for an RMA, which I don't have, so I've been talking to XFX, but haven't gotten them to ship me a new one yet. They are still suggesting my Seasonic 600W power supply isn't big enough to power one 7900GTX.

[Rattle]

yeah the xfx overclocked cards have been documented to be crap but they are trying to make you think its your psu... nice

[Chaos_Being]

Oh that's great, I hope I don't have to deal directly with XFX.

Anyways, I'm RMA'ing my card through Zipzoomfly, I figured it was worth a shot since it seems that XFX has been taking a while from everyone's reports (ElricM's story just verified my belief that I am doing the right thing.) I have my fingers crossed that I get a good one, as I am stuck with it- ZZF will not give me a refund or let me exchange it for a different item. Suffice to say, in the future I will not be purchasing any products labeled as "Non-refundable. Exchange for defective units only" from ZZF, I'll get any such parts from Newegg instead, even if they are more expensive. At this point I'd rather have a x1900xtx (and I am kicking myself for not buying one first,) but I don't have that option unless I plunk down another ~$500 out of pocket and then try to sell the replacement 7900gtx on Ebay. I'm not very happy at the moment, that will escalate to "pissed" if the replacement card is a dud too.

I need to think long and hard about whether or not I want to even give the replacement card a chance, or whether I should, like I said, try to sell it in its unopened box on Ebay. I'm sure I'd eat some loss, but at this point I already am through having to pay for shipping & return shipping.

[Spoudazo]

Yeah, next time I'd buy from Newegg, and specifically, buy from eVGA, as their warranty service is unmatched, and they have the 3-month step-up program :)

[Chaos_Being]

You're right, and I'm learning an expensive and frustrating lesson. The current plan for me now is to sell the replacement card (in its unopened retail packaging) on Ebay to get some of my money back, and then I'm buying an x1900xt or xtx. Seeing as how I'm getting stuck with the shipping charges whether I RMA it through ZZF or XFX, I am unwilling to gamble on another card on the chance that the 2nd card will also be a dud and require another RMA.

Then if I decide that I want to try running dual cards later (which I do,) I'll have to buy a new motherboard too. Yay! I thought about getting a refund for my current mobo and buying a crossfire board, but I also bought it from ZZF, and its also a non-refundable, exchange only for defective item :rolleyes:

[ElricM]

I'm currently discussing cross shipping and prepaid shipping with XFX, but don't know if I'll succeed. I've pointed out that there competitor is doing it...

[Spoudazo]

I'm currently discussing cross shipping and prepaid shipping with XFX, but don't know if I'll succeed. I've pointed out that there competitor is doing it...

I'm sure if your argumentation is up to par, you'll see the wonderful nature of our free market. :cool:

[Kilyin]

XFX Geforce 7900gtx factory overclocked to 665mhz core (from 650,) and 1.63ghz memory (from 1.6ghz.)

Same exact card, same exact problem. I just shipped mine back to Newegg for a replacement. Figured that would be quicker than dealing with XFX, who've yet to respond to my trouble ticket. The card was perfect for a couple of days. Ran alot cooler than my old AGP 6800GS (which is still going strong, shoulda stuck w/ BFG), so heat wasn't an issue.

Then for no apparent reason it began to display the symptoms. Blue screens, artifacting, hard locking, video signal loss, all kinds of fun stuff. I tried several Nvidia drivers, no luck. It wouldn't even finish a run of 3dmark05, let alone 3dmark06.

[bobthemoo]

'm using 84.56 drivers, excellent IQ


are they the BETA ones? i could find them anywhere.....

[chevro1et]

are they the BETA ones? i could find them anywhere.....
here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1385

[Kilyin]

Well, my XFX 7900GTX was out of stock when Newegg received my RMA'd card, so they're giving me a full refund. While I wait for the credit to go through, I need to decide on a new video card. I'm not sure if I should stick with Nvidia (I've been using nvidia cards since they've been around, but this incident has made me rethink that stance), or go with an ATI x1900xtx.

[siresword]

i've heard all about faulty 7900 cards
i'm currently in line waiting to step up from my 7800gtx to a 7900gtx SC, but now that everybody has problems (especially freezing @ "Deep Freeze" in 3dmark06, in addition to not being able to play your games), do you think its worth it ? People all over the place have been having all kinds of problems with their cards, but i also heard that you could get ram-sinks and the cards would stop artifacting

[Kilyin]

I really don't think heat is/was the issue.

My 7900GTX had a gigantic heatsink/fan and monitoring with Rivatuner it always ran cool. Besides, I could cold boot the machine after it sat for a few hours and still have the problems. It's not just artifacting, we're talking BSOD, losing video signal intermittently, lockups, etc.

Not to mention, if it were a heat issue, the card wouldn't have ran perfectly for two days (including chewing through Deep Freeze without a hitch). When the card went "bad" it wasn't under any stress. The machine had been idling all day, and I fired up 3dmark05, went to take a dump and came back to a blue screen.

[Chaos_Being]

Well, my replacement 7900gtx is due to arrive on Wednesday, and I'm still planning to sell it and buy a x1900xt instead. I only wish I could have gotten a refund, that would have saved me a lot of headaches. I was actually hoping that I would be able to talk ZZF into it since my card appeared to be out of stock on their website (and it is still not listed,) but the lady on the phone insisted it was in stock. I guess I'm either getting a brand new card of another brand, or someone else's RMA'ed XFX card- it had better be the former or there's going to be hell to pay.

[Spoudazo]

Why don't you just sell it and get this? :D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130023