[Wolverine690]

Well about 5 weeks ago I starting having Artifacting freezing etc in games, (WoW, Oblivion, Tomb Raider Legend etc), so I emailed Giga-byte and went through all their stupid ideas which I had already tried.

So I got an RMA and sent in my card. Never heard a thing from them, checked on their RMA site no emails nothing. So last week I called to check in on it. They guy there first off sounded like a call center person not knowning a graphics card from a stapler & didn't speak much english to boot, said they'd been running it through vigerous tests and it is working fine. I was like BS. So the guy said they run it through more tests. this was wednesday of last week.

Today I get my card back, and it is my card not a replacement. So I pop it in and test it out. Low and behold it's still over heating like a mother. It started out with 68c/154F I was like wtf. So I put on a Box fan I have that puts out A LOT of air and opened the side panel and let it go for a few mins.

Well it's been about an hour and the temp is sitting at about 58C/136F. And it isnt' even a hot day. It's maybe about 69-70F inside. My CPU was before the Box fan was 27C-30C/80F-86F. So I know I'm getting good cooling. For gods sake I have 5 high CFM fans blowing, 3 intake and 2 exhaust.

Customer service over at gig-byte is just horrendous. I've never had any probs with this card until now, it may get a bit warmer here this summer b/c of not having AC here but as I said it isn't that hot right now.

Anyhow anyone have any recommendations? b/c I really doubt a new cooler or even water cooling will help I think this card is toast and giga-byte is just dicking me around, and I'm ****ed off as hell, I've gone 5 weeks without my card using a old POS card to get by and not bing able to play Oblivion or some of my other games b/c of it and WoW runs like crap with this backup card.

Anyhow I have a Giga-Byte GV-N68T256DH-N 6800GT AGP card. I am going to call them again and ask to speak with a supervisor and see if they'll replace it, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Drinkyoghurt]

did you clock it back to stock speeds to see what happens?

[Wolverine690]

Originally Posted by Drinkyoghurt

did you clock it back to stock speeds to see what happens?

it was never OC'd but I did clock it back as far as it would go below stock speeds and still made virtually no difference. I don't OC anymore and have never OC'd this card.

[Drinkyoghurt]

try another psu and see if that works. and also try replacing the card with another one, if the other card works then its the cards prob, if not then its ur psu

[Wolverine690]

Originally Posted by Drinkyoghurt

try another psu and see if that works. and also try replacing the card with another one, if the other card works then its the cards prob, if not then its ur psu

already been through this...guess should have listed everything I've tried...I've tried the 6800 in 2 other machines & have been using my FX 5600 Ultra in it while the 6800 has been away and it works fine though it not as good a card and won't run some games but runs WoW good enough to play. I have also tried a friends 6800 Ultra in it and it worked fine as well and temps where great.

So I know It's not my PSU, case or anything else of mine.

[ScottinIndy]

seems like you may have to try aftermarket cooling, SVC has been selling the silencer 5 rev 2 for $14 bucks. I know you probably have warranty concerns, However it also appears Gigabyte isn't doing alot to rectify your problems.

[Wolverine690]

Originally Posted by ScottinIndy

seems like you may have to try aftermarket cooling, SVC has been selling the silencer 5 rev 2 for $14 bucks. I know you probably have warranty concerns, However it also appears Gigabyte isn't doing alot to rectify your problems.

Will it really help though? I mean if I had box fan blowing in there and it didn't lower the temp much at all??

I guess if giga-byte falls short again like I think they will I guess I'll give it a try. this is just so fustrating and ****ing me off.

[ScottinIndy]

I sure can't speak with any knowledge on Gigabytes 68gt, I can tell you that getting aftermarket cooling on the Xfx 68gt that is currently in my wife's rig made a big difference. Xfx's heatsink/fan combo was pure garbage imo. So it really depends on the quality of your current H.S/fan combo. Overall though it seems that over the time period when everyone was using the 68 series cards that the folks that went with aftermarket cooling (Zalman and the Silencers being the most popular) had a pretty good drop in temps, Especially load temps. I know on the Xfx it idled in the 57-58° range and loaded in the mid 70's with the stock cooler, Once I installed the Zalman vf700cu the idle temp is now 48-49° and it loads in the low 60's. Also worth considering is that many of the card makers used some really thick thermal goop on their GPU's, Cleaning that stuff off and using something like AS5 or ceramique can make a pretty big difference as well. I have had 2 68 series cards, The Xfx and a leadtek, Both slopped on thermal goop, So that may be worth checking as well.

[Wolverine690]

Originally Posted by ScottinIndy

I sure can't speak with any knowledge on Gigabytes 68gt, I can tell you that getting aftermarket cooling on the Xfx 68gt that is currently in my wife's rig made a big difference. Xfx's heatsink/fan combo was pure garbage imo. So it really depends on the quality of your current H.S/fan combo. Overall though it seems that over the time period when everyone was using the 68 series cards that the folks that went with aftermarket cooling (Zalman and the Silencers being the most popular) had a pretty good drop in temps, Especially load temps. I know on the Xfx it idled in the 57-58° range and loaded in the mid 70's with the stock cooler, Once I installed the Zalman vf700cu the idle temp is now 48-49° and it loads in the low 60's. Also worth considering is that many of the card makers used some really thick thermal goop on their GPU's, Cleaning that stuff off and using something like AS5 or ceramique can make a pretty big difference as well. I have had 2 68 series cards, The Xfx and a leadtek, Both slopped on thermal goop, So that may be worth checking as well.

Alrighty after I give giga-byte one last chance I'll give this a try and see if this does me any good. thanks. And yeah I realize usually stock HSF's are usually crapy but from what I read about these cards at the time they where good...I mean damn the damn things weight like a pound.lol If you haven't seen them go check them out on giga-bytes website.

[chevro1et]

Well, with all the messing around that you have done, and the options you have explored, it sounds to me like the cooler is not making good contact with the core. Like ScottInIndy mentioned, maybe pull the stock cooler, clean and apply fresh thermal paste, and maybe blow the heatsink out with some can of compressed air to remove any dust buildup in the fins.

[Wolverine690]

Originally Posted by chevro1et

Well, with all the messing around that you have done, and the options you have explored, it sounds to me like the cooler is not making good contact with the core. Like ScottInIndy mentioned, maybe pull the stock cooler, clean and apply fresh thermal paste, and maybe blow the heatsink out with some can of compressed air to remove any dust buildup in the fins.

Yeah it cool be with the HSF that's on there I can't tell if it's not sitting correctly anymore. It looks ok but looks can be diseaving.

I've ordered some Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound & a ARCTIC COOLING AVC-NV5R3 NV Silencer Rev.3 from newegg should be here by friday I hope and will give it a try. I hope it works at least to get me buy till I can sell my other pc & old hardware.

Well I've used Giga-Byte hardware for a while and while their stuff is pretty decent their customer service is VERY LACKING. I don't think they have qualified people answering the phones. I mean come on the guy who I talked to didn't know what a Video/graphics card was till I explained it to him, he thought I was talking about a motherboard till I explained it. Besides that 5 F'ing weeks to get an RMA'd card back and told it is perfectly fine after extensive tests? WTF they must have been testing it in a freaking Frig. So I will caution others on Giga-Byte Products...be warn if something goes wrong you maybe in for one hell of a ride.