1900xtx artifact issue and i have a lan today!

[mrkram]

hey everyone...been a while since ive last posted but here it goes:

been learning the hard way with wc'ing as this is my first setup and so far ive lost a 7900gtx and nice crt monitor(nec multisync fp912). that was about a month or so ago and since then ive replaced the 7900gtx w/ a 1900xtx through a purchase program from work...

I ran the 1900xtx for about 2-3 weeks with no problems at all on stock cooling and the only bad part about it was the rediculous temps i was hitting(78 degrees Celcius...ouch). Since i wanted to be dressed to impress for my lan today i decided to get the card in the loop so i could lower temps of the card dramaticlly.... loop test went fine(24 hours).


To make this ramble short ill just get to the point of my problem now...the card will not stop artifacting...and its not just in windows. It does it in the bios and other low level places also....I never had this problem before....the artifacting causes complete lockup and the entire screen has jargoned lines

So far i have tried both pci x press slots and that has not solved my issue....the card itself is not running hot at all(mcw-60 on it w/ a pa 120.3 , rd-30, and mp-05 backing it up)...i honestly dont know what the heck could be going on....

what really baffles me is how this could of happened...the only thing that was changed it the stock cooler was taken off and the mcw-60 w/ heatsinks were put on(heatsinks were freakin epoxied on making an rma at this point impossible...GRRRR!!!)

i have a lan today....if anyone has ANY suggestions please post and help a beat up overclocker out....i really hope for my sanities sake this can be fixed somehow someway.


thanks in advance.

[OV3RCLOCK3R]

Sounds like the ram is gone. RMA time :(

[mrkram]

ram on the mobo or the ram on the video card?

and why do you think its bad??

thx for reply

[Sparky]

Did you crank down the waterblock too tight? I know when my brother first put a zalman heatpipe air cooler on his 9800pro (which he still has BTW) he cranked it too hard and the system wouldn't boot or would artifact like crazy. Loosened the bolts ever so slightly and it has been working fine now for 3-4 years.

[clokker]

been learning the hard way with wc'ing ...so far ive lost a 7900gtx and nice crt monitor(nec multisync fp912).

Just curious but how did you kill a CRT with watercooling?

[mrkram]

i wired my secondary powersupply wrong....i guess it grounded on the case and shot a crazy current through the video card...literally shooting sparks out of the back of my case and exploding some of the capacitors....that current apparently went to my monitor(which was hooked up at the time) and destroyed it....it turns on but i get no picture : <


i will try loosening the water blocks now...thx for all the replies guys...im open to all ideas at this point.

[v0dka]

Are you 100% positive no water is leaking into the PCI-E slot?

Have you by any chance knocked a cap off your card while installing the WB?

How are your volt regulators cooled?

Last but not least, try swithcing back to the stock heatsink, There has to be a way to get these ramsinks off and you will need to do it for a possible rma anyway.

[mhorgel]

Did you crank down the waterblock too tight? I know when my brother first put a zalman heatpipe air cooler on his 9800pro (which he still has BTW) he cranked it too hard and the system wouldn't boot or would artifact like crazy. Loosened the bolts ever so slightly and it has been working fine now for 3-4 years.

I will second this idea. When I installed my GPU waterblock the first time, when I looked at the card edge on, it was bowed, and I'm sure the block wasn't making good contact. Loosen the screws until the card is straight. My GPU was running in the mid 30's according to ATI's software.

Mark

[mrkram]

at this time the "too tight" quick fix seems to be working.
gods be praiseD! :woot:
ty sooo much

[DVL73]

Yes, good preassure of the waterblock is the essence and card shouldn't band in any case (as this could be fatal). If that doesn't help, card was borked already and before it was placed in the wc loop. Maybe all that air cooling heat did the justice at the end.

[OV3RCLOCK3R]

Guess i was wrong then. Still a n00b to watercooling :D

[Patriote]

Happy to see that you got it all fixed! Have a Nice Lan-Party! and show off your parts ;)

[dnottis]

Happy to see that you got it all fixed! Have a Nice Lan-Party! and show off your parts ;)


hahaha - ewwww! :p:

[thunderstruck!]

show off your parts ;)
What kind of "LANs" do you attend?:confused:

[Mr Footlong]

Before the invention of truly top class full cover gpu blocks I used to make custom retension clips that applied all of the pressure directly to the back of the card exactly over the centre of the GPU die. Seeing how the card used to bend and warp like mad when using the 'traditional' nut & bolt methods scared the hell out of me and also I like to do thing 'Man tight', as in to within an inch of their lives ;). By making/modding these clips up I always got great core pressure on the blocks, no card bending or warping whatsoever and not one single card death. If you are wondering what on earth I am going on about then just look at the back clips on things like X800 heatsinks etc and you will catch my drift :).

/edit: typoo

[_G_]

might want to get a fan to keep the memory and Vreg chips cool