9800GX2 help and advice

[Scott_J]

Hi everyone, I have a 3 questions, 1 that may not be relevant here but might as well ask (its a bit long so broken it down for those tldr people out there

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first of all, would like comfirmation that the following problems are a definate indication of GPU faliure.
(only reason I ask this is that it partialy works as a generic device, explained below)

Post screen artifacting at startup
windows running it as a gineric vga adapter
device manager reporting GPU to have error code 43 (reported by many as a problem with the card)
using another gpu as the primary adapter (GTX 570) windows doesnt activate the device at all (not as a generic vga as before) but still has the error code 43 in device manager and shows as the 9800 gx2

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Part 2


So here is the situation,
The card itself is a replacement card from about 10 months ago as the one I purchased from original retailer malfunctioned (PNY replaced this under the warrenty)

with about 3 months use until I upgraded to the GTX 570, it has then been in the original box and packaging for about 7 months, until a week ago when I put it in my PC as a second gpu, this has never been and was never intended for gaming setup, just purely to run 3 monitors as I am a digital artist (recently purchased a 3rd monitor.) with possible plans to use it as a dedicated physX card.

I have not had time to use it as a physX card and as such only used to drive a 3rd screen, this worked fine for a week until the aforementioned problems occurred.

as the card is capable of running this way would that mean it is supposed to be designed to work this way, my main concern is that I know the 9800GX2 can run hot, as I ran this card for 2 years before I knew this and so took precautions to ensure maximum cooling, keeping the side off and placing the GTX 570 below the GX2 as the fan blows downward from that card, this ensured that neither the cpu fan or gpu fan blew directly over the GX2. (cpu uses the coolermaster V8 fan and more or less blowes directly into a rear case fan)

I also watched the temperatures, these never went above the temps on the original GX2 (around 80 deg and fan speed at aprox 60%)


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part 3 a

the problem is it has just came out of its manufacturers warranty, now under UK law certain products have to be void of defects and last up to 6 years (england and wales, 5 for scottland) I remember reading this some time when reading up on the PS3, the advice that I read was because it was a high end machine it should last longer than the provided warranty (I can not remember what it is on the PS3) IMO I would class this as a similar case, the GeForce 9800 GX2 was the top end cards, to a point daul gpu's in a single card (1 of only about 4 models from nVidia) with the fact that a lot of people still use the older and less powerfull GeForce 8800 series.

So my question here is would this be covered by this law (sales of goods act http://whatconsumer.co.uk/the-sale-of-goods-act/)
(also the PS3 example http://whatconsumer.co.uk/faulty-playstation-3/)

Part 3 b
would it be adviseable not to mention that it has been ran as a secondary gpu as retailer could argue that it was a consumer related problem due to heat and just to put a simple description of that it is not working as intended?

 

[jyjjy]

I'm not sure how well an old dual gpu card like that will play as a secondary gpu. Try it on its own if you want to see if the card itself isn't functioning properly.

 

[Scott_J]

thanks for your help, all the results in part 1 are with the card on its own
Post screen artifacting at startup
windows running it as a gineric vga adapter
device manager reporting GPU to have error code 43 (reported by many as a problem with the card)

apart from the last where I used the gtx 570 as the primary card
using another gpu as the primary adapter (GTX 570) windows doesnt activate the device at all (not as a generic vga as before) but still has the error code 43 in device manager and shows as the 9800 gx2

 

[jyjjy]

Especially the artifacting says the card is failing. Sounds like it should be covered by the law you are talking about. Using it as a secondary GPU, even if it didn't work, would not damage the card so you don't have to avoid mentioning that.

 

[Scott_J]

thanks again for your help, much apreciated, I was sure that it probably was on its last legs (again ) however had not personaly had or seen this before, only mention on the net and was confused how it was still working without any artifacting in windows.

will contact the retailer about it, wish I didnt have to as they have been a great company thus far, im just pushing my problems on them, but on the other side, cant afford a replacment

 

[jyjjy]

I'm surprised they even had another 9800GX2 to give you 10 months ago. It was likely refurbished to begin with.

 

[thently]

Did you uninstall the drivers then put the 570 in then reinstall the newest drivers? Most likely the GX2 is toast no big deal since you are not gaming and the 570 would kill that old card anyway. Just pick up a cheap aka 520 - 550 nvidia card as a 2nd and go with it.

Thent

 

[Scott_J]

thank you for all of your help, the 570 is going strong still and no issues, I have contacted the company and they are in compliance with the law thus far, however as I understood the law I would have to prove that the 9800 gx2 was faulty at sale.

they are requesting "You will need a detailed testing report from an unbias third party company proving that the card was sold to you as faulty"

has anyone got any advice on the matter, I was considering going to one of the many PC world stores that have their techguy repair centers, would this be suitable or has someone got a better solution.