Whats causing this Artifacting?

[Feeroper]

Hey everyone,

I have been having a problem with my BFG GTX 285 OCX 2 gb card lately. It will artifact when running games, or sometimes cause the game to crash to the desktop. I was checking my temps and they didnt seem out of the oridnaty for this card (around 82 - 90 on full load) so I thought it may be an issue with the card itself. I tried a couple other cards in my system (250 and a 260) and they worked fine, so I figured I had a faulty card. I sent it in for the lifetime warranty, and just the other day I got my replacement back.

However, this one is doing the exact same thing as my other card.

Once again, I tried other video cards, and they all worked fine. I tried a different CPU with the GTX 285, and still, the same problem. Also, the temeratures on the 285 are the same as before. My ambient temperature is good, and I have good airflow in my case (Antec 902). I found that if I manually turned up the fan speeds, the artifacting took longer to show up, or was eliminated for the most part, but I dont want to have to always manually adjust the fan, or set up any rivatuner profiles, as I am not doing any OC'ing.

However, as a test we decided to put the GTX 285 in my brothers computer, and so far, it has not produced any artifacting at all, although we havent tried all the same games yet, but it did run Crysis Warhead fine for 45 mins and no issue. So I am wondering now, what component in my computer could be the problem? here are my specs.

M2N32 SLI deluxe
Phenom II 940 X4 BE (I also tried it with an Athlon 64 5000+)
4 gb of RAM (cannot remember the type)
BFG GTX 285 OCX 2048
700 watt power supply (cannot remeber the type)

All the other video cards run fine in my rig, with the exception of the one I want to work, so I cant figure out what is causing this issue. I tried calling BFG tech support and they suggested that my Power Supply may be the culprit. Anyone have any insight?

 

[vvhocare5]

It is a real pain trying to fix artifacting issues when you are right on the edge.

If the card runs fine in another system then that tells you there is something wrong with YOUR system. You are trying lots of stuff that isnt helping you to isolate the problem.

First open the case and let more air in? Add a fan blowing right at the card. Very easy and simple. Does that help?If so you have a cooling issue and you either add more airflow or downclock that graphics card.

Opening the case didnt help delay the artifacting? Thats going to point a finger at voltage being on the edge. Again, people connect the craziest stuff on those 12 v lines. Try different power lines to your graphics card. Dedivcated only - no sharing with other devices.

Nothing else overclocked? Double check and turn it down.

Personally, I think your card is getting too hot.. When you turned on the fan you said it delayed it.

Why does your friends system work? What does his cooling look like? What are the temps? You are probably 1 or 2 degrees away from stability...

 

[awknathan]

If the card is NOT able to run smoothly with NO artifacting in a different computer, that means that the card was damaged by either too much movement, or overclocking in most cases.

 

[awknathan]

So in your case, in your brothers computer its fine?, that makes me think it might be something wrong with your motherboard? Maybe a flaw in the pci slot?

 

[jonnyboyC]

what's the clock rate on your card, I have a somewhat similar problem with my 275 but it's pretty highly overlclocked, so it can reach all the way to mid 90's sometimes which isn't too cool with me actually(just ordered some thermal paste to replace the original stuff) but when it get up that high it crashes out the the game surpisingly this happens most in the new starcraft 2 beta, which pretty much bakes my card so i have to crank up the fan speed, and lower the clocks to play

 

[awknathan]

One more thing, can you manually change the fan speed on your graphics card? cause i used to have a 9500gt, now i have a gtx 260. and if i turned the fan on the 9500gt up too high, i would get artifacts. try turning the fan speed down then see what happens

 

[Feeroper]

Not sure what clock speeds the card is at (im a noob in this regard), but I havent touched anything in regards to OC'ing, it is at stock settings (BFG GTX 285 OCX 2 gb). No other card has any problem in my system, just this one. My brothers system is very similar in terms of airflow, and his case is very similar (Antec 900), but it is working fine there. It is obviously something with my system, just cant figure it out. Is it possible this is a motherboard issue?

 

[Feeroper]

Hey everyone,

The card has started to artifact like crazy in my brothers rig too now, so it seems likely that it is a problem with the card. Im gonna send it back again and see if the 3rd times a charm .

 

[AsAnAtheist]

Check the ram make sure the timings, voltages, and frequency (speed). Set them manually on the BIOS and confirm the RAM's specifications in google. (if you dont know how to do this, Google is your friend).

 

[jonnyboyC]

it always a problem that i can just be the cards, btw what is your exact psu model as well as your brother?