Bizarre 6800GT graphic anomalies

[Hatchet]

S~ all.

Hopefully you all can help me. I have tried about 6 different driver versions before settling into 76.45 as the most stable. I have an AGP Leadtek 6800GT, and on another comp, a PCI-E version of the same card. AMD 2600+ mobile on Shuttle AN-35 Ultra with the AGP, and an ASUS A8N-SLI with an AMD 64 3800+ with the PCI-E one. Problem is the same on both systems. I get huge, weird shadows that extend across the entire screen (for miles) and/or weird psychedelic, LSD colors.

 

I have a 420 watt Enermax on the Shuttle and an Antec 480 on Asus machine. I have tried all different (hundreds of combinations) of settings from very low to high within LOMAC, and still have these problems. Now don't flame me, but I am still using 1.02 UNTIL my two copies of 1.1 get here the week of June 20th. I hope at the least that 1.1 will fix these problems, but there has got to be something else wrong. I have NEVER had these problems flying with three different ATI 9800 Pros and two GF4 4600+s. I am attaching a screen shot of the LSD colors. Next time I get the huge, obscuring shadows problem again, I will post that example too. Thanks in advance for the help. (BTW, cooling is not an issue here. Multiple Panaflo fans with Enermax controller and temp readout.)

 

Hatchet (frustrated A-10 pilot)

[Hatchet]

Gonna retry the attachment

 

pic follows... (hopefully)

 

 

[Jammer]

Shot in the dark: I get that effect when I have the DX9 debug runtime enabled. If you have the DX9 SDK installed, make sure you switch to release before running Lock On.

[Hatchet]

Shot in the dark: I get that effect when I have the DX9 debug runtime enabled. If you have the DX9 SDK installed, make sure you switch to release before running Lock On.

Thanks for the reply. Not my issue though. I am a mere "DX9.0c user"; I have no where near the ability to do any SDK stuff. Nice lead though, thanks.

Hatchet

[51GRIZZLY]

Have you tryed to reformat your system and a fresh install of all components?. Did you use a Driver/Cab cleaning program ( Like 3D Driver Cleaner ) after uninstalling the old Driver?. I'm asking because i read somewhere on 3D Gurus forum that without a thorough uninstall of the old driver you will get different results even after installing the same Driver twice.

[oxking]

I also have a 6800 GT, but no problems with Driver Ver. 77.30 (coming with battlefield 2 Demo).

Its the only driver i ever installed. (yes the card is verry new) :)

[coldcrew]

check your case/video card for overheating. During last weeks heatwave where I live I noticed whenever I joined a game I got missing cockpits and weird textures, So I opened the case put a fan beside it and the problem went away. Just something to try if you have a heat problem.

[Hatchet]

CountryCowFreak, Oxking, and Coldcrew,

Thanks for the replies. I really do need to do a driver clean. I will do that today. And as OxKing says, I will try 77.30. As far as cooling goes, I am fairly certain I am good there. 6 intake/output fans with cumulative CFM in the 100 CFM range (Vantec tornado...yes it is loud on the CPU), and massive copper cooling on the Leaktek 6800GT. CPU never gets above 38C and ambient case temp is around 30-32 normally.

This system did not have a fresh install, but it was less than 4 (working) months old, and that second system, the one with the 3800+ was brand new. Fresh install.

 

Thanks again for the leads. I will driver clean this one, wipe LOMAC clean, install 77.30, and test. I will post the results asap.

 

Hatchet

[Hatchet]

S~ all,

I ran Detonator RIP from guru3d.com and installed 77.50, but still have the same type problems. Next step will be to totally reformat and re-install XP, LOMAC, and 77.62 or 77.50. I sure wish I could paste / attach some pics with these messages, but it does not seem to load properly.

Hatchet

[Hatchet]

Ok, the latest: Ran driver Cleaner Pro, and installed 77.62. Still same prob. No weird shadows yet, but the canopy on the A-10 is smoked with yellow stripes. Unless this canopy is part of the new "Hog Up" upgrade program, I am still hosed. I appreciate all the leads, but I am still frustrated. Lock On is the ONLY program that is giving me ANY kind of graphics problems. (No lock ups since 71.89 though, thank goodness!)

Hatchet

[VMFA-Blaze]

S~ all,

I ran Detonator RIP from guru3d.com and installed 77.50, but still have the same type problems. Next step will be to totally reformat and re-install XP, LOMAC, and 77.62 or 77.50. I sure wish I could paste / attach some pics with these messages, but it does not seem to load properly.

Hatchet

 

If that doesn't work it could be that the card is fried even if it's running other games without any problems.....

 

You might consider a RMA from whom ever you purchased this GPU....

 

~S~

 

Blaze

[VMFA-Blaze]

As far as copy and pasteing screen shots, are you useing a hoast site like Photo Bucket or Angle Fire or something like that?????

 

 

Blaze

[Hatchet]

VMFA-Blaze,

Thanks for the lead on some place to host my pics. Here are the ones that I tried to load here on past posts.

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/35d021dc.jpg

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/LOMAC77.jpg

 

I have this trouble on two diff machines, so I think the likelihood of two pad cards ordered a month or so apart is pretty low. (Considering that LOMAC is the only program that is giving any trouble.) 1.1 was shipped today, so maybe that will solve the problem.

 

I'm interested in seeing if these pics get loaded on this post. Again thanks for the lead.

Hatchet

[Hatchet]

Thank goodness it worked. I thought the titles would appear too, but obviously they did not.

 

First pic is with driver 76.45, and the second is with 77.62. 77.50 gave me some weird black patches on the cockpit glass (no pic.)

 

Hatchet

[Wombat1940]

This is no solution just a simpathetic ear.

 

I had a similar problem when re-installing a G-force 2 GPU. I'd "upgraded" to a FX5200, mistake, frame rate just half. On re-installing the sea (water) in LOMAC flickering black and grey flashes. Yet when previously installed worked perfectly. All other flight sim programs worked perfectly. Eventually found I had not installed the driver update correctly and card was still using the boxed driver. Updated driver fixed the problem. I'm about the update my computer which includes two 6800GT cards in SLI. Your problem is making me nervous, particularly as you seem to be far more computer literate than me.

 

I assume your problem is with FC1.1 and LOMAC. If or if not, have you tried posting at other forums? eg Frugals, Unbisoft, etc.

 

All the best, I will monitor your progress. If it helps, thanks to the help of forums and the contributors out there, I have been able to solve ALL of my computer/game problems and ther's been a few. Keep posting.

 

Wombat1940

[Joe]

That first pic looks like massive driver corruption, but the second looks like artificating due to damaged/malfunctioning hardware.

[Nate Dogg]

I would be checking the temps of your gpu, you would have got nvidia monitor with your MB probably or use the temp monitor, right click on the desktop and then go to properties/settings/advanced/6800GT then look for temperature. It shouldn't be over 75-80 on load.

Uninstall your drivers, then use driver cleaner or something like that and reinstall the latest official nvidia drivers from their site. I usually do a disk clean up and defrag too just to keep it all nice n tidy.

hope it helps,

cheers

[Hatchet]

S~ all,

And AGAIN, thank you all for helping/contributing. I guess I am so frustrated, because I know that the simple things are not causing this issue. (Cooling, driver installs, and an old, cruded-up windows installation.)

As I have said in the first few posts, this is occurring on two machines, with diff CPUs, motherboards, memory; but using the same Leadtek 6800GT (although one is PCI-E, and one is AGP.) NOW I have a third machine with the same issue! Same video card, but different mobo (Asus a8n, I think) and AMD 64 3500+. This is my brother's comp, and I had him install and patch Lock On, to 1.02 to test it. He has had his comp for 6 months, and has no trouble with other "games." He was running 71.84 until I had him install 77.62 to test it. Same trouble with both drivers. We even flashed our BIOSes on the video cards! The latest for the Leadteks is Oct 2004, where we had a July 2004 date BIOS when purchased. I AM NOT saying this is a Leatek issue, I just am saying that all three cards are Leadtek 6800GTs. (My brother's is the AGP version like mine.)

 

Wombat1940, my trouble, and the trouble on the other two is with Lock On 1.02. My CDs for 1.1 were shipped today from NaturalPoint, and will arrive Thursday. I will test like mad after they arrive. Thank you for weighing in.

 

Joe, I would be inclined to agree with you, if it wasn't happening on three different computers. I built two, but the third is out of state and besides recommending the hardware, I had nothing to do with designing/building it. (Thank God!) System 1 (mine) did have a 9800 Pro in it before, but I stripped the old drivers before I installed the 6800GT. System 2 (new one) was built fresh, with the 6800GT PCI-E card, and System 3 had a GF 4600 in it for a month before being replaced with the 6800GT. (I am sure my brother removed the old drivers before installing the stock drivers that came with the Leadtek 6800GT.) Thank you for the lead though.

 

Nate Dogg, I have never seen a temp over 56C, as far as I can remember on the card itself, and that was right after hours of flying PF (with no trouble, I might add!) I really don't think temp is the issue. I appreciate the lead though.

 

I have encountered many comp problems over the years, that were very hard to diagnose and fix, but this one is really giving me fits. I have even bumped the AGP voltage up on System 1 up to 1.55v to see if the card was just a little low on juice. (Made no diff. I may try 1.6v tomorrow, if I am feeling lucky.)

 

I think my next step is to monitor the boards (Ubi, here, etc.) for those with Leadtek 6800GTs, and ask them directly if they have, or have had, any trouble. It is all I have left... :-(

 

Please, please,please... (too needy? hmmm.) '-) Please feel free to offer any more suggestions (and a fix! lol) if you all can think of anything else, because I have just about had it! lol. Thinking of buying an ATI X800XL or something else, if I can not get my buddy's system (System 2) working real soon. I really don't want to be out $300 bucks, but I feel bad that I built him a system almost exclusively FOR Lock On, and I can't get the dang thing to work!!!

 

Thanks again all, for weighing in and helping,

Hatchet

[ztrl]

I have leadtek gt6600 and it had same kind of problems, crazy color textures and other problems in and only in lock-on. ..it must have something to do with leadteks cards.. We all know how temperature programs give different results for same device in one computer.. so try the temp of your card with fingers in load. If I remember right, I got away with this by adding fan and cardboard box tunnel to guide the airflow to leadteks heatshield.

[Guest EVIL-SCOTSMAN]

I got gainward 6800gt gs and to me those pics look as tho its ur vid card that is borked or its clock is set to high and thats why you getting those problems, I could be wrong but that doesnt look like a driver problem, to me I would say its your vid card thats the cause. Look at the core and mem clocks, core being the main one and see if its set higher than its specifications and turn it down if it is, but i think ur vid card = buggered :(

RMA looks like your best/only option i think

[Hatchet]

ztrl,

Wow, a lead (tek) that I really did not want to hear. ;-) So, did the improved cooling fix your Leadtek 6600GT's problem with the bad textures? Or does it still mess up? I am very interested in knowing.

Like I said earlier, I have a case with three 80mm intake fans, and (not counting the two in the PS) two more output fans. So I think I have sufficient cooling. One of the intake fans, blows directly on the Leadtek from the side window. I will move the temp prob (Enermax temp probe and fan control) from my memory to the card for immediate and constant monitoring right now. I can't rule out cooling as a contributing factor, but I never have any trouble in any other sims and games.

Thanks so much for your input, and please let me know if you are still having the texture problems with your new cooling. One reason I bought the Leaktek above others was the huge, heavy, massive, stock cooling system on the card. (It must weigh 2 pounds!)

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/Leadtek1.jpg

 

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b32/Hatchet_47FS/Leadtek2.jpg

 

I have OC'ed mine to "Optimal Overclocking" as determined by the XG 77.62 driver to 439/1170, and did not experience any more severe graphic problems than at stock speeds of 350/1000. (This alone leads me to believe that cooling is not the issue, BUT I want (need) to rule it out, so I am moving the temp probe as soon as I get done typing this. I am also going to contact (email/call) Leadtek and ask them to look into the issue. Maybe they just need to tweak the card's BIOS a bit.

As I said a couple posts ago, my brother and I both flashed ours, and I think it helped a bit. I flew for almost two hours last night and just got a couple instances of bad textures. (Enough to be pestering, annoying, and not right, BUT not enough to stop me from testing, and certainly not enough to stop me from TRYING to quench the withdrawl ;-) of not flying Lock On in months!)

 

Thanks again everyone for helping with this issue,

Hatchet

[Hatchet]

EVIL-SCOTSMAN give frustrated A-10 pilot idea...

 

I got gainward 6800gt gs and to me those pics look as tho its ur vid card that is borked or its clock is set to high and thats why you getting those problems, I could be wrong but that doesnt look like a driver problem, to me I would say its your vid card thats the cause. Look at the core and mem clocks, core being the main one and see if its set higher than its specifications and turn it down if it is, but i think ur vid card = buggered :(

RMA looks like your best/only option i think

 

Thanks for the input. I don't think it is the card, because I have three of them all doing the same thing. And for 90% of the time on Card 1, I have run at stock speeds, and on Card 2 and Card 3, they have been run at nothing but stock speeds.

BUT, you have given me an idea. I am going to severly UNDERclock this card and see what it yields.

I will try to post asap with the results.

Thanks,

Hatchet

[ztrl]

I havent had those problems in few months, so they are gone somehow. My highest temps reach to 78 celsius but no problems. Temps has gotta be low on that card, unless the fan is broken? but but, get Driver Cleaner Pro and uninstall you card drivers, remove everything driver cleaner finds, boot in safe mode, run driver cleaner again, boot and install fresh drivers. That card needs also that power connector to work, but i think it wouldnt work without?

[Joe]

Nope, Leadtek 6800s emit a horrendous screeching sound when booted without power.

[Hatchet]

ztrl,

I connected my Enermax temp probe between the pc board and the heatsink, as close to the GPU as possible, and got temps in the 36-38C degrees today while flying. Only 1-2C degrees difference between severly underclocking the card down to 175/500 and 428/1119 OC. (Remember stock on that card is 350/1000.) I have just started to OC that card; I was experiencing problems before I even thought about OCing it. And also remember, that the other two problem cards have never been OC'ed. (I mention this to head off comments like, "Your OC'ing has caused these problems...etc.) I don't think the temp sensor on the 6800GT is low: I think the temps are low because, (1) it is a massive heatsinkfan, and (2) I have very good cooling within the tower.

Thank you all again for submitting ideas. I had to restart the sim several times today because of graphics so bad, that I could not even see. Sometimes the corruptions were just on exterior shots of the aircraft and sometimes they were views from the cockpit. It is so strange.

BTW, the Underclock made no difference whatsoever as far as the anomalies were concerned, and surprisingly to me, it did not have the FPS impact that I though it would also. I expected to get half the FPS of stock speeds, and got about 75-80% of normal stock FPS.

Thanks again to all offering help and advice,

Hatchet

Hatchet