Geforce 280 GTX Serious Glitching Issues

Hi everyone,

Recently i purchased an EVGA Geforce 280 GTX, as well as several power supplies for my existing system.

I had several issues with my power supplies, until finally purchasing a Corsair HX 1000W PSU, which seems to be runnign stabally... though i am still having some problems with my geforce 280 card... albeit less frequently than before.

Everything works perfectly for a few hours, until suddenly while playing a game, the game would suggenly lock up (screen freeze) for around 5-10 seconds, then unfreeze; but with highly reduced FPS (60 -> 20 ish) as well as severe graphical glitches. I have noticed this problem in the two games i play the most, World of Warcraft and Crysis. Tabbing into windows prompts a freeze for around 10 seconds, as does tabbing back into the game - but when i do tab back into the game, the glitching textures have been corrected (in WoW), or are still present (in Crysis). Text in crysis is also extremely garbled.

This is fixed by ending the process int ask manager, however alt tabbing to and from windows during games still prompts freezes until the system is restarted. I was sometimes presented with an error upon restarting, stating that i had a "stop error", which is related to either the video hardware or drivers.. but doesn't go into any useful detail.

Previous thread related to these problems: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/foru [...] ashes-help

Screenshots of the glitching:

WoW:
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166 [...] 952no6.jpg (harder to notice for non woW players, but textures are completely messed up on various models in this picture, FPS dropped from over 100 down to 19 etc.)

Crysis:
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107 [...] ailar2.jpg (texture stretched across sceen, garbled text)
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221 [...] actpc3.jpg (notice glithcing blue light and glows, as well as garbled text)

Current System Specs:

Intel core 2 Duo E6600 @2.4 ghz (factory default)
Asus Commando Motherboard (Bios 1703) http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] odelmenu=1
Corsair Dominator RAM PC6400 DDRII800 (4x1gb)
Corsair HX 1000W PSU http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143019
EVGA Geforce 280 GTX http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147809

I am currently running driver version 177.41, though i have experienced this problem on other driver versions while i was testing the other power supplies mentioned in my previous post (which turned out to be faulty). I also experienced the problem a lot more frequently whilr nTune was installed, though i failed to uninstall this before switching from my 8800 ultra to 280 GTX.

I'm going to try running a newer driver version, but i'm honestly out of ideas... does this sound like a software, or hardware problem? I'm worried the card might be faulty, and i'm running out of time to RMA it

I would greatly appreciate any help with identifying the problem.

Thanks in advance,

-Zal

A quick edit to the notes for one of the images:

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221 [...] actpc3.jpg (notice glithcing blue light and glows, as well as garbled text. There are also squares all over the screen (artifacts?) that were moving aorund randomly at the time.)

The glitching in WoW occurs when the card is only around 55 degrees.. and it doesnt seem to peak over 75 in crysis.

Exactly the same error is happening with my 8800gs. Using 175.19. My temps are also below 60.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Last night i encountered some more odd, and previously unseen glitching: http://img145.imageshack.us/img145 [...] tchpl0.jpg

I also noticed something rather strange in Crysis. I don't know if this is an intended effect... but when i approach objects in the far distance such as rocks, they appear to "pixelate" in.... It's hard to describe, but rather than fading in, or just appearing (i think this is what has happened in the past), they pixelate in. This seems to happen with Rocks most of the time.

Note: I was worried that the graphics card may not have been sitting in the PCI-E slot perfectly, as my case was slightly bent. Last night, i bent it back into shape and re-inserted the card, as well as replacing one of my HDD Sata cables to a shorter one (previous one had too much loose cable). It was ayt that point that i noticed the "pixeling in" rocks in crysis, as well as the new glitching shown in the image above. I have taken the card out and re-inserted it several times since them to make sure i hadn't botched it up in any way, but the problem persists.


Approx. Temperatues:

Idle windows: 40-45 degrees
WoW after 2 hours: 55 - 60 degrees
Crysis 1920x1200 2xAA high quality all after 2 hours: 75 - 80 degrees

Readings taken using Speedfan (though only active for 2 mins, as for some reason after having them active and in a game for aorund 10 mins, the system bluescreens )

I began to expect a hardware fault on the card (based on no proffessional experience), and so have opened an RMA, for which i have 28 days to contact Ebuyer for a replacement card. If this is a driver issue, i will test some other driver versions first..

Since the nvidia site shows driver version 177.41 as the "latest release", is anyone able to recommend a newer, hopefully more stable and polished driver version?

Thanks for the help.

Certain objects in game always do this "pixelate in". No worries there. Sometimes theres in game settings that help with this. It appears that the glitch is shadowing your control panel, not clearing the old pixels. Thats not typical. It has to be a driver or installation problem. Have you reinstalled Crysis? This looks like a conflict of some sort, just narrowing it down is the problem. Id reinstall Crysis, and wipe all old drivers using driver sweeper, then redownload and try again.

The problem is most likeley with your videocard that might be a bit defective, however as a previous poster said with an overheating problem, it might not only be your videocard, other critical parts of your computer may be overheating, do you have a big and very very well ventilated case. I really dont know what to tell you, I have never heard of this happening and it never happened to me, so I suggest you RMA it cause you have nothing to lose if you do.

I uninstalled Driver version 177.41, rebooted, used driver sweeper to remove all files, and reinstalled 177.92 - problem persisted.

I uninstalled crysis, reinstalled, and patched to 1.1. Although the game is noticeably running faster, the problem still persists. I have not had any system freezing glitches as mentioned in my OP, but the AA bug remains.

I'm using an antec 900 case, front and side fans blowing in, top and rear fans blowing out.

As far as temperatures go:

Crysis 30 mins+

Case: 35 Degrees
CPU: 34 Degrees
Gfx card: 75 - 80 degrees
Memory: unknown, but given the fact that it has its own triple cooling fan bracket, im pretty sure that it isnt overheating.

I'm going to RMA the card, and test the new one before sending the old one back, but if anyone else has any suggestions, please do post them.

@Jaydeejohn: it is a legit copy yes, but for some reason the game didnt load due to daemontools, nero, or god knows what, so i was forced to use a cracked executeable only, which has been proven to work on multiple systems flawlessly (afaik).

Thanks for all of your help

The last thing I would suggest is to try it over other sticks of ram and another hdd. The freezing and texture corruption also point to virtual memory error so, and as me also having same problem with no spare parts to try on, please reply back with results.

Note: the card itself was at between 58 and 60 degrees at this point.

Thanks guys, i really appreciate it.

I'm spending as much time as possible to solve this, but my lack of knowledge is bringing me to a dead end now the last thing i can think of is having the card replaced and hoping for the best

+1

Could be corrupt memory modules also. And a lot of other things... If u can RMA it, do it and get another one.

Esop!

Thank you for that post Blackhawk, i am definitely going to RMA the card now.

But in response to underclocking; f*ck that. I did not pay over £300 for a barely functional, and if underclocked, miniscule upgrade to my previous 8800 ultra. I really hope that Ebuyer don't attempt to screw me over with their half-arsed testing procedures and proclaimt he card as "perfect working order"

aha there it is

I wouldn't call the 5 hours of play with no magor glitches with fan speed at 85% conclusive, since the major glitching usuallyt doesnt happen until the system has been on for around 12 hours, but fingers crossed

Update: the objects randomly appearing and disappearing in crysis seem to be an issue with the game, but the main problem remains the strange visual behavior or artifacting when anti aliasing is on, plus the more serious problems.

I can confirm that the problem with AA only occurs after the game has been run for a while (with GPU core temps elivated). If the sensors are accurate, then it is possible that the card is unstable at far lower temps than the stated threshold of 105 degrees. The average temp of the GPU in my case is between 75 and 80 degrees in crysis with the stated settings.

well even if you dont use all 4 gigs of ram and saying you never use 2gb of ram, once ram usage goes over about 60% about, it slows down. Better to keep ram usage always under 50% I would suggest for best performance. About your operating system seeing less ram then you have, there can be a couple possiblities to look into, defective chips, does your motherboard support that, and something might be wrong with your OS.

Good luck with you. FINGERS CROSSED

omg 8800ultra is such a nice card lol Give it to me man. Just kidding. I am getting a new card in a couple months, most likley i am going to get sli for 9800gtx.

we will see then i guess our results when the new card comes.

lol nice, it was faulty after all. Test new one and say results.

Well, if its so far so good "playin til pass out", it looks good to me . Enjoy!

I am not quite sure about that, but if you started a topic about it, i am sure you will get more and better answers, cause this topic is somebody elses. Also zalgradis, enjoy your card man, you got your money's worth, have fun with it.

I know the topic is sorta old....but that glitching in Crysis wasnt your card, I noticed it while playing Warhead

I just wanted to say that this thread was very helpful. As I have the exact same video card with the same exact issues. Time to RMA. Thanks for everyone's help, research, and input!