GeForce series 6 problems

[Sloth]

Dear all,

 

Here is the story of my attempts to play Kotor2 on my new, rather high end desktop system. I hope this will, if nothing else, bring some consolation to all the ATI users who have been struggling with the game, you are not alone.

 

Edit (I have come to realize that the problem is more general and not directly related to Kotor2)

 

Edit 02/24 It turned out to be a manufacturing problem with the card so there is really no help in the string for kotor2 specific problems.

 

First the computer specs, one Geforce 6600GT graphics card on an Asus A8N-SLI

motherboard with an Athlon64 3500+ (socket 939) processor and 1GB of ram. I started of by using the ForceWare 61.77 drivers and, now you won't be expecting this one, it worked like a charm. Resolution 1600*1200 all graphics settings maxed out, fast and smooth game play. Wish only this was the end of the story. Ok so everything went great until I had finished the tutorial and the in-flight movie to the mining base was supposed to start. Then the computer shuts down, and I don't mean a nice little crash to desktop it actually turns the power of and shuts down.

 

Ok I haven't seen this happening before but I'm not to worried, I restart the computer download the officially supported Forceware 66.93 drivers, guess I should be safe now since I'm on the officially supported list with both the chipset (GeForce 6series) and the driver. Yeah right, when I get to the game screen with the pale Sith lord (options, load, new game and so forth) about 10% of the pixels on the top half of the screen are black like the monitor was broken. Consulting Lucas Art support page I try with lowering the resolution and mix with the setting for Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering, five setting for each gives you 125 different combinations to try out so I'm busy with this for a while, bloody combinatorics. Actually after a while I find a setting that works with a res of 800x600. This lets me enjoy the game for about an hour until my dear Norton Antivirus has something so important to tell

me that it forces me back to Windows. Yes I know, my mistake, I should of course have disabled all other programs before I even though of playing the game.

I give Norton an irritated

[Sloth]

If anyone is playing the game with a GeForce6600GT and the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard please tell me what drivers and BIOS versions you are using. Also my GeForce is from Club-3D if that could make any difference.

[adrich81]

Wow - you deserve soething for having the longest post on the board...

 

The first thing with gaming is to disable everything running in the system tray before running the game. (the icons at the bottom right of the screen). These programs, particularly Norton, eat resources, so exit them before you play. (If you're paranoid about getting a virus, unplug your internet connection).

 

The problem you seem to be having in the game is monitor related. All you need to do is reset the picture on your monitor - just adjust the hoizontal and vertical position using the controls on the front of your monitor until all the picture is on screen (ie move the picture left and right - the picture is being drawn, you just don't have it all on screen).

 

Good luck, please post back if you yhave any problems.

[Sloth]

Wow - you deserve soething for having the longest post on the board...

 

The first thing with gaming is to disable everything running in the system tray before running the game. (the icons at the bottom right of the screen).  These programs, particularly Norton, eat resources, so exit them before you play.  (If you're paranoid about getting a virus, unplug your internet connection).

 

The problem you seem to be having in the game is monitor related.  All you need to do is reset the picture on your monitor - just adjust the hoizontal and vertical position using the controls on the front of your monitor until all the picture is on screen (ie move the picture left and right - the picture is being drawn, you just don't have it all on screen).

 

Good luck, please post back if you yhave any problems.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was real bored at work, that's why the post was so long. Sorry I was a bit unclear about the actual problem. It is not the top ten percent of the screen that is missing it is about 10% of the pixel rather randomly scattered that are displayed as black. Have a look at the attached picture.

Screen.bmp

[Darlock]

Do you get the same problem in other games now as well?

[AnakinSolo2002]

What PSU do you have? If your PC just turns straight off as if you home was struck my lightning and you power is severed and all lights go off... then your PSU is not conducting enough energy for your, probably overclocked, demanding PC.

 

Tell me: brand and wattage, and I'll tell you wether or not it's the PSU.

[Sloth]

What PSU do you have? If your PC just turns straight off as if you home was struck my lightning and you power is severed and all lights go off... then your PSU is not conducting enough energy for your, probably overclocked, demanding PC.

 

Tell me: brand and wattage, and I'll tell you wether or not it's the PSU.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It has only turned the power of once but that also made me think about the power supply issue. I have not overclocked neither the cpu or the graphics card. The recommended power according to Asus are

Configuration Heavy Load Normal Load Light Load

AMD K8 939 CPU Type FX-55 3800+ 3500+

PCIe x16 Video Cards 6800Ultra x2 6800GT x2 6600GT x2

DDR DIMM Modules 4 2 2

HDD(IDE or SATA) 4 2 2

CD/DVD (IDE or SATA) 2 2 1

PCIe x1 Cards 1 0 0

PCI Cards 3 2 1

1394 Devices 1 0 0

USB Devices 6 4 3

Requied + 12V current > (25A) > (20A) > (17A)

Required wattage >= 500W >= 400W >= 350W

 

 

I have 400w and is only using one grahpic card, 2dimms, 1usb device. I do have two external firewire harddrives so I tried turning them off but the problem was still there. I would guess 400w should be pretty safe when the external harddrives are turned of and as I said it has only shut down once.

[Sloth]

Do you get the same problem in other games now as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This was the first game I tried on the computer. I get the same problem in kotor1 v1.03, I will try with some other game tonight.

[Keiran]

I don't know if u have done it or not, but here it we go.

 

Have u tried to change resolution options for your LCD monitor or update fervency to 75Hz or better, change collar set-up (what ever u got there true collar or something). This looks like your LCD is ######up.

 

Another test is to completely do a new install of your graphic card. Uninstall everything delete all folders and install it again. Don't update and try to play. Don't change settings for your car let it bee.

 

I hope that this works if u hasn’t tried this already.

[markussun]

No, I don't think this is a PSU issue at all.

 

Very rarely this happend to me, too, that a game crash (probably combined with an irrevocable DirectX API error and ensuing hardware conflict) has actually powered my whole system down. It's not a hard power-down (electrical), but rather a soft power-down initiated by the OS.

 

It only happened in extremely buggy gamecode.

 

Sloth, after viewing your screenshot, I am wondering if you have anything overclocked in your system. Is your gfx card running at default speeds? Is your system maybe overclocked?

 

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing these graphical errors. Overclocks can result in garbled gfx, as well as overheating.

 

But of course, if you're very unlucky, you might just have gotten a faulty GPU on your gfx card, which can also cause these aberrations.

 

Also, which Windows version are you using?

 

It could be driver related, depending on the OS you're using.

[Sloth]

No, I don't think this is a PSU issue at all.

 

Very rarely this happend to me, too, that a game crash (probably combined with an irrevocable DirectX API error and ensuing hardware conflict) has actually powered my whole system down. It's not a hard power-down (electrical), but rather a soft power-down initiated by the OS.

 

It only happened in extremely buggy gamecode.

 

Sloth, after viewing your screenshot, I am wondering if you have anything overclocked in your system. Is your gfx card running at default speeds? Is your system maybe overclocked?

 

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing these graphical errors. Overclocks can result in garbled gfx, as well as overheating.

 

But of course, if you're very unlucky, you might just have gotten a faulty GPU on your gfx card, which can also cause these aberrations.

 

Also, which Windows version are you using?

 

It could be driver related, depending on the OS you're using.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I have both my processor and gfx card at the default speed so no overclocking. Im using win xp sp2 tried also with win 2003 x64 same result.

 

I can for example view dvd movies and so on without any problems but maybe the GPU could still by faulty in some way since it has special functions for shadows and so on that may only be used in certain games, though I have the problem also when I disable all advanced graphics options in kotor2.

 

Is there any way to test if the gpu works correctly without replacing the graphics card?

[Darlock]

Is there any way to test if the gpu works correctly without replacing the graphics card?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hmm when someone I know fried his geforce by trying the omega drivers, it worked fine in desktop and some games worked fine like baldurs gate iirc. But when he tried to benchmark the card 3d

[AnakinSolo2002]

you still didn't say the brand of the PSU, just because it's 400watts does not mean that it'll work really well on a highend system, you get what you pay for, if you want a high quality PC you definatelly need to get a high quality PSU.

[Sloth]

you still didn't say the brand of the PSU, just because it's 400watts does not mean that it'll work really well on a highend system, you get what you pay for, if you want a high quality PC you definatelly need to get a high quality PSU.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The power supply is called i-Tee PS2 type P4 it was pretty cheap, can't remember the price though.

[swaaye]

A cheap powersupply is a univerally bad idea. I once had a 400 watt supply that came with a case. This supply literally burned out after 20 mins in a simple Athlon XP system with a GF6800.

 

Go out and buy a new supply. It's one of the most important parts of your system! The cheapest supply I'd recommend, and one that has worked great for me for over a year now, is the Thermaltake Silent Purepower 420W. Otherwise look at Antec or Enermax.

[themacman]

A cheap powersupply is a univerally bad idea. I once had a 400 watt supply that came with a case. This supply literally burned out after 20 mins in a simple Athlon XP system with a GF6800.

 

Go out and buy a new supply. It's one of the most important parts of your system! The cheapest supply I'd recommend, and one that has worked great for me for over a year now, is the Thermaltake Silent Purepower 420W. Otherwise look at Antec or Enermax.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

that must have been a reall crap powersuply.

i have a Tagan380 and have 2 Hd's a Nvidia 6800 @ Ultra speeds with a AMD XP3000+ @2.2Ghz on Nforce2 with a Audigy 2ZS and have zero issue's.

[Sloth]

I don't know if u have done it or not, but here it we go.

 

Have u tried to change resolution options for your LCD monitor or update fervency to 75Hz or better, change collar set-up (what ever u got there true collar or something). This looks like your LCD is ######up.

 

Another test is to completely do a new install of your graphic card. Uninstall everything delete all folders and install it again. Don't update and try to play. Don't change settings for your car let it bee.

 

I hope that this works if u hasn

[sisco]

I had the same exact thing happen to my system while playing KOTR2. I have a 6600gt, athlon 64 3200, 420w power supply, etc., etc. The game ran like a champ the day I got it and I played for 3-4 hours. The next day the game crashed on start up and forced a restart for the entire system. After trying every solution given on this board with no fix I decided to call Tech support. (btw, no other games would work either, nor could I run any benchmarks just regular desktop things and the net))

 

Anyhow, tech support seemed to think that it was a bad ram chip. Sure enough, it ran like a champ again oncce I took out one of the sticks, they are sending me a new MOBO since they seem to think that the slot went bad. Anyhow, I figured the problem was solved, until 2 hours later when it started doing the same thing again. Now I was starting to think that maybe it was the video card (XFX 6600GT) I called them and they told me to try the BETA drivers.(no change) I tried an old video card, and it worked (just way too slow, an old gf4mx400) XFX told me it was a bad power supply. I called my comp tech support and told them what I was told by XFX. They said they wanted to replace the MOBO first and go from there.

 

In the mean time, I removed the one ram chip (now running only one 512 3200 400mhz) and took out all the case lighting, and removed all non essential USB devices. KOTOR 2 runs now but who knows when that may stop. It seems to me that it could very well be the power source since my problem seems to be solved when I remove as many drains to the PSU as possible.

[Sloth]

Do you get the same problem in other games now as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah I just tried Battle for middle earth and have the same problem so something is wrong with the gfx card and/or the psu it would seem.

[Sloth]

I had the same exact thing happen to my system while playing KOTR2.  I have a 6600gt, athlon 64 3200, 420w power supply, etc., etc.  The game ran like a champ the day I got it and I played for 3-4 hours.  The next day the game crashed on start up and forced a restart for the entire system.  After trying every solution given on this board with no fix I decided to call Tech support.  (btw, no other games would work either, nor could I run any benchmarks just regular desktop things and the net))

 

Anyhow, tech support seemed to think that it was a bad ram chip.  Sure enough, it ran like a champ again oncce I took out one of the sticks, they are sending me a new MOBO since they seem to think that the slot went bad.  Anyhow, I figured the problem was solved, until 2 hours later when it started doing the same thing again.  Now I was starting to think that maybe it was the video card (XFX 6600GT)  I called them and they told me to try the BETA drivers.(no change)  I tried an old video card, and it worked (just way too slow, an old gf4mx400)  XFX told me it was a bad power supply.  I called my comp tech support and told them what I was told by XFX.  They said they wanted to replace the MOBO first and go from there. 

 

In the mean time, I removed the one ram chip (now running only one 512 3200 400mhz) and took out all the case lighting, and removed all non essential USB devices.  KOTOR 2 runs now but who knows when that may stop.  It seems to me that it could very well be the power source since my problem seems to be solved when I remove as many drains to the PSU as possible.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks for the info. I just checked the specs for my psu and I have 18amps on the 12v rail, that could be a bit low. Anyone know if this could have damaged my gfx card permanently or will it work as it should again if I upgrade the power supply. I know it could be hard to know but your best guess would be appreciated.

Cheers!

[AnakinSolo2002]

I had the same exact thing happen to my system while playing KOTR2.  I have a 6600gt, athlon 64 3200, 420w power supply, etc., etc.  The game ran like a champ the day I got it and I played for 3-4 hours.  The next day the game crashed on start up and forced a restart for the entire system.  After trying every solution given on this board with no fix I decided to call Tech support.  (btw, no other games would work either, nor could I run any benchmarks just regular desktop things and the net))

 

Anyhow, tech support seemed to think that it was a bad ram chip.  Sure enough, it ran like a champ again oncce I took out one of the sticks, they are sending me a new MOBO since they seem to think that the slot went bad.  Anyhow, I figured the problem was solved, until 2 hours later when it started doing the same thing again.  Now I was starting to think that maybe it was the video card (XFX 6600GT)  I called them and they told me to try the BETA drivers.(no change)  I tried an old video card, and it worked (just way too slow, an old gf4mx400)  XFX told me it was a bad power supply.  I called my comp tech support and told them what I was told by XFX.  They said they wanted to replace the MOBO first and go from there. 

 

In the mean time, I removed the one ram chip (now running only one 512 3200 400mhz) and took out all the case lighting, and removed all non essential USB devices.  KOTOR 2 runs now but who knows when that may stop.  It seems to me that it could very well be the power source since my problem seems to be solved when I remove as many drains to the PSU as possible.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks for the info. I just checked the specs for my psu and I have 18amps on the 12v rail, that could be a bit low. Anyone know if this could have damaged my gfx card permanently or will it work as it should again if I upgrade the power supply. I know it could be hard to know but your best guess would be appreciated.

Cheers!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

buy a new PSU before you fry everything, when the power shuts off it is a bad sign, if it continues to do this during one of the power suges your hard drive could even be wiped, so please get a new one, something like Thermaltake, and atleast a 420W one. They even sell these in Best Buy now.

[Sloth]

buy a new PSU before you fry everything, when the power shuts off it is a bad sign, if it continues to do this during one of the power suges your hard drive could even be wiped, so please get a new one, something like Thermaltake, and atleast a 420W one. They even sell these in Best Buy now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Im running on a Antec Neopower 480W PSU now. Unfortunately I have the same problem with the game, but the problem is with all games and also in 3d Mark 2005. I get really bad fps from 3d mark 2005 so I guess a got a bad gfx card from club 3d, I

[markussun]

Sloth,

 

I have some interesting news for you. The screen artifacts you captured in your BMP... I have just reproduced them by chance. The black dots you see there follow exactly the polygonal edges of the scene geometry. It's like seeing the wireframe of the scene as an overlay.

 

Now, this happened simply by chance when I mistakingly ALT-tabbed out of the game and it then had restore the rasterizer/framebuffer.

 

The game is pretty unstable when doing that, so I wasn't surprised. But the fact that it happened to me might be interesting for you, because it tells you:

 

1. It's not your PSU (although changing to a good one is always desirable)

2. Your GPU is not damaged (very unlikely)

3. It's very likely a driver/API problem

 

I'm asserting this, because my GF6800GT runs flawlessly in all games, and still I could reproduce these artifacts, which points to a software<-->hardware conflict.

 

I know this isn't much help, but I thought you may find this interesting.

[adrich81]

Here's a few things you could try:

 

Update your motherboard drivers.

Try a more recent driver. 61.77 is an old driver and support for the 6600 is dodgy at best. Even 66.93 would be a better bet., but I'd recommend this driver (it's the best I've seen to date and will certainly support your card.

 

I'm not sure how clued up you are with updating drivers, but just in case here's a quick guide:

 

You need to download DriverCleaner Pro first (here)

 

1. Download the driver (and your chipset drivers if they aren't installed)

2. Uninstall your graphics driver.

3. Boot into safe mode, selecting no when it asks if you want to install a driver.

4. Run driver cleaner (it's pretty self explanatory, only seleect the Nvidia oprion (not nvidia stereo, wdm or nforce)

5. Reboot.

6. Say no to install a new driver.

7.. Run the setup file for the driver you downloaded.

 

This should give you a clean starting point. If the problems persist try booting with only 1 stick of ram. It could be your card is defective. For one reason or another a lot of 6600gts have problems, so you might want to contact the manufacturer.

 

Post back if this doesn't help.

[GMan2]

I'm running the same MOBO with a XFX GeForce 6800GT...but I'm not having any issues like you are.

The first thing...Is your card in the correct PCI slot on the MOBO? Your card should be in the blue slot & not the black one. Do you have the SLI chip (on the MOBO) set for only a single card? Do you have the SLI option enabled or disabled in your BIOS?

I noticed on my 6800 card that a MINIMUM of 500W power supply is needed for PCI Express cards. (I know you stated you own a 6600, but I'd definitely be looking at a stronger power supply.) Also, do you have all the power connections on the MOBO connected. There are 3 that you should have connected. Then there is a power connection on the graphics card itself that you need to connect.

 

Hope that helps some!