Need Help Please - Screen Flickering with GTX 295

[XtrPsy]

Hello,

I just bought a Zotac GTX 295. However there have been some problems with it.
I installed the card and 181.20 XP Drivers, and i tested it with Red Alert 3, Bioshock, 3dmark 06. In the intro videos and menus of Red Alert 3 there has been massive flickering although the in game graphics seem fine. Bioshock's loading screen has massive flickering too and again in-game graphics seem fine.(Both ingames are not completely flicker free anyway)

But in 3dmark 06, although not as much as the loading screen, there is flickering while testing. When i force V-Sync on from Nvidia control panel the flickering not completely but mostly disappears. Is this natural? Or is there a complete solution for this problem than forcing v-sync on from the control panel ?

BTW I tried running with one gpu (Disabling SLI), the flickering disappears.
There is also a heavy buzzing sound coming from the card under load.
Shall I try to return or replace the card ?
Any help would be very much appreciated,

Thnx

My Specs,

Core 2 Q9300 @ 3.0 Ghz
2 Gb Kingston DDR2-1066 Mhz Memory
Gigabyte EX38-DS5 Mobo
Zotac GTX 295
Creative X-Fi Elite
5x Seagate Hdd
750 Watt Silverstone Zeus PSU

 

[hsetir]

Just disabling SLI fixes it or disabling any particular gpu of the two ?
And does it completely/mostly fix the issue ?
Flickering also has many related sources. Can you post image of the type of flickering.

 

[ovaltineplease]

If the card is making a heavy buzzing sound under load which ISNT THE FAN, then there is likely faulty hardware at play.

a few suggestions:

send it back for replacement

try it in another machine

if you're technical and have careful hands, open the card up completely and cover the capacitors in clear nail polish to seal them.

 

[XtrPsy]

Its definitely NOT the fan, i searched in google and found out some of the cards have buzzing sounds under load. I disabled SLI by nvidia control center's setting and the flickering was gone.
The flickering is not like the whole screen is flickering homogenously, only some parts of the image displayed is a little bit blurry and flickery, but forcing v-sync also solves the issue. I'll take it back to the shop where i bought it and try in their machines.
Also I'll post the images of the flickering when i get home from work.

Thnx for your help

 

[merlinbadman]

Ok im no expert on SLI but I remember reading about how SLI divides the "screen" up to get each GPU to process its share the image. If I remember correctly there shoud be several differnt ways the card can achieve this ie they do alternate frames or divide each frame etc.

Try and see if you can change that.

 

[MorUmbar]

I'm having the exact same issues with my EVGA GTX295. I've tried in many games many configs in the nV CP, but with no luck. If I disable sli it all goes away and everything is rendered properly. So, out of curiosity I decided to run all my games on split screen rendering to perhaps determine if it was an issue with one gpu or just the whole shebang. During all games run on split screen render (both sli enhanced and games that aren't) the bottom half of the screen would flicker while the top half was just fine. I tested this particular card out in two machines, both had the same results in all tests. I also tested Forcewares 181.22, 182.06 and 182.08 - all had the same issue.

So I RMAd that card. Its replacement arrived today and has the same problem. I'm currently RMAing it as well. Just to make sure it wasn't some kind of general problem with the 295s, I popped in a friend's 295 and everything ran perfectly well. All games worked with SLI enabled without issue, even nonSLI enhanced games. I wonder if he'd notice if I gave him mine and kept his working one... Anyway, I've probably seen 2 dozen threads on various forums about this problem which no one can seem to find a solution to, other than RMA over and over and over until they get a good one.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Hmmm, and nVidia has better driver support? Or are these cards totally bad?

 

[MorUmbar]

Here's a little glimmer of sideways hope for you guys, I got my 3rd RMA (4th card total) GTX295 today - IT WORKS !!!!!!! HOLY BEJESUS FINALLY!

 

[XtrPsy]

I returned the card and got my money back. Dont want to bother with returning every time
I'll stick with single gpu cards from now on.