I need your help. Heres my specs first.

EVGA 680i SLI MOBO
EVGA 8800GT SUPERCLOCKED version 650MHz 950Mem
2GB RAM
700W PSU
E6600 DUAL CORE
Plenty of cooling Idle = (CPU 37, CASE 28, GPU 52) Load = (CPU 43, Case 32, GPU 77)


I bought the new 8800GT card and for some reason cant get it to run at default clock anymore. It was running great until I did a full system reformat and re-install of my computer the other day. Everything installed great but now when I try to play any games like Crysis, COD4, or even run a GPU stress test, my computer screen fills up with artifacting and splotches and then locks up. This happens almost instantly when I begin a game or do the stress test. I can do normal desktop and internet things though. So I tried to underclock this card back to 600 and 900. The card seems to run fine at those clocks, lame. The closest I can get it without locking up is 640MHz and 940Memory. This is suppose to be the factory 8800GT Superclocked version and I am having to underclock it. Also keep in mind that I was even able to overclock this card to about 700MHz and 1000Memory like the SSC version without any problems before I reformatted my computer a few days ago. Yes I have all of the latest drivers for everything including bios. Does my card maybe need more power or something? I do have it plugged in too. What could be wrong? Please help.

so after you reformatted your computer you HAD to underclock it to get it to not lock up? Or did you first OVERCLOCK it and now are underclocking it, after you reformatted ? That seems odd...if you did reformat and than did a direct underclock. IF you did do a true reformat and cleaned everything..the graphic card should default to normal speed...and there shouldn't be a problem since you don't have any program to overclock it with.

I found this on another forum: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/p2911837.html

"I got my 8800GT on Wednesday (eVGA KO version), and it locked up so much I thought it was defective. Crysis would crash with under 5 minutes of game play, BF2142 would lock up after 5-10 minutes, RTHDRIBL and Supreme Commander would run without issues though.

Tried different driver versions, changing the fan speed with RivaTuner, reseating the heatsink with AS5 (which I recommend, since they used a TON of cheapo silicon compound), underclocking back to regular 8800GT speeds, reseating the card, moved it to the other PCIe 16x slot, left the case open with a fan pointing inside, and pretty much every other potential fix I could find online.

What finally fixed my problem was disabling Cool n Quiet in the BIOS. Once that was turned off, everything ran flawlessly. Crysis ran in a loop for 8 hours without a hitch. So, if you have any dynamic overclocking (or underclocking) going on for your CPU, try turning it off if you're having stability problems."

Also Try:

- Increase gfx card fan speed to 60% with RivaTuner: http://www.guru3d.com/article/article/449
- Check that your graphic card has enough AMPS on v12 line for your whole system.
- Reinstall the latest official driver (version 169.02), don't use a BETA version: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
- Remove all overclocking/gfx card moding programs
- Check heats again with another program...
- Perhaps a program is auto-overclocking it and saved those setting in BIOS, that you are not aware of? Might want to check temps/speed when you startup windows...
- Check that the graphic card is correctly plugged in and getting enough power (6 pin connector)
- Think of any OS program or update you need to get or remove that could be causing this...maybe too much cpu usage? or...you need to update something graphic related?
- Maybe it isn't graphic card related? Maybe some other hardware (HD/RAM/etc.) are defective...probably not though...

I can't think of any reason why you would be getting artifacts...unless you tried to overclock it too much for too long before you reformatted and it somehow damaged the card OR the card was defective when you received it...either way eVGA has lifetime warranty....and pretty good service...worse come to worse - just return it and get a new one from them.

Someone had lock-ups here as well, maybe this will help: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1031694534

Hey thank you so much buddy. I will try all of that good stuff. Sorry, I will be more specific too. Three days ago everything was working fine and I was using the default clocks which are 650 and 950. Then after having it for a few more days, I wanted to experiment and see if I could overclock to the SSC version which is 700 and 1000. For that one day of game play it worked with the overclocking of 700 and 1000. Everything was still fine. I actually didn't notice much of a difference at all in games with the higher clocks so I then put the clocks back to default and not really noticing a difference so I kept them at 650 and 950 default. I only had it overclocked for about 20 minutes if that. Then I forgot about the saying if its not broke then dont fix it. So just for **** and giggles, I wanted to reformat and have a bran new computer with my new card. After cleaning everything out and doing a full reformat and flashing my bios and clearing the CMOS, and then re-installing all drivers is when I started having those problems. Yes the card did go back to default at 650 and 950. That is when it would lock up until I underclocked it to 640 and 940. So I tried uping the fan speed and that seemed to work for about 2 hours and then artifacting and crash. So now I am going to play with the fan at 100% and see if that will keep it going.

"flashing my bios and clearing the CMOS"

just hope you did that right...those can be dangerous if done wrong - at least for me (i personally don't touch them) lol. Best of luck.

Thanks for the concern, but yes I have done that many times in the past and am very familiar with how to do it. This sucks man, I tried those things and still lockups. I am now having to underclock it at 640 and 940 with fan up to 80% to run consistantly stable. Somethings not right. Oh hey... I dont have that option "Cool and Quiet" in my bios which is what that guy recommended to do and worked for him. Also how do I check to see if my card is getting enough AMPS?

well do you have a link of your power supply - like from newegg or something? You just need to see how many AMPS are on the 12v line (~28amps is a good amount)....however, your PSU is 700W - which means it probably more than enough amps...so its probably not the problem. I have an eVGA 8800GT superclocked....on stock...60% fan speed...47C idle....57 on Load...never had an issue with this card. just plug and play for me. If you can't figure out what is wrong within like...3 days...just RMA it and get a new one from eVGA w/ the warranty.

BTW: My PSU is an Antec Earthwatt 430W with like ~25 amps on 12v line..it only cost me $29...so Unless your PSU is defective, not working right, or a BAD brand/quality - I don't think it is the issue.

90% chance this is due to your CPU Bios being fubared. Many comapnies have released new BIOS in just the last month to handle the 8800 GT drivers.

Also, try downclocking your memory on the GT to 900.

Well you don't have cool n quiet because you don't have an AMD rig
You need to look for EIST (or speedstep) and C1E instead.

Knowing the brand and model of your PSU would be handy too so we can see what it's like.

Downclocking should not be necessary to run the card stable, it is sold at a guaranteed factory overclock and if it can't run at those speeds then it is quite likely that it is a "bad" chip, or is not receiving enough power. It is possible that your PSU could be dying at a bad time too, though it is unlikely it is still something worth considering.

If all else fails, you can always RMA

Thanks, I will look for those things in my bios. The bran of PSU I am using is OCZ GamerXStream 700W. Heres the exact PSU on newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] OCZ%2b700w

Does that PSU put out enough power for my EVGA 8800GT Superclocked @ 650MHz and 950Mem?

I have the latest drivers and have tried 196.02, 169.09 and still no good. I currently have it underclocked to 600 and 900. This sucks, because I am noticing a major downgrade in game play especially for Crysis, but it seems to be staying stable for about 30minutes or so. What else do you think is going on?

It outputs enough for 2.5 8800GTs

I have a feeling that you should RMA that card, it's either overheating, it's faulty, or your PSU is dying. Hopefully it's not the latter.

Ok, so this is how cool EVGA is. I called them and they already have another card in the mail cross shipping completely free of charge and paid shipping both ways. Its good to see the big guys caring for the little consumers all the way to the end. So I am going to see if its the card when it arrives. I hope so and all this mess is over. I also called OCZ and they are ready to ship out a new PSU free of charge too. Two great companies.

Wow... I need to move to the US, they wouldn't pay shipping to australia.

Hey Randomizer. Help me out with that Eist or Speed step and C1E. I will look to see what they are set at and get back to you real shortly, but what should I change them too or can you give me any tips right away?

YAY! LUCK YOU! You are getting new free hardware w/o shipping - thats really nice! no need to worry now!

Anything relating to "disable"

If it doesn't fix the problem you might as well re-enable them because they save power.

Ok Randomizer I checked my bios and this is what I have. First of all my mobo is the EVGA 680i SLI. I want to give you all my stats in the section of bios.

Limit CPUID MAx Val: Disabled
Intel Speedstep: Disabled
CPU Thermal Control: Disabled
C1E enhanced halt state: Enabled
Execute Disable Bit: Enabled
Virtulization Technology: Enabled

Also, my CPU Voltage is 1.28v and CPU FSB is 1.20V.

Please let me know if I should change any of those bios settings to possibly solve this issue. Thanks

Just a thought but your card is already overclocked by the factory and then you overclocked it even more and ran it for at least a day like that...
Did you know that if you overclock (or overvolt) hardware too hard you can permanently damage it? especially if you didn't think about improving its cooling too before you did it. Sometimes damage can be just that it won't work at such a high frequency any more...