GTX275 OCX /cry

[Triton05]

Well I orginally bought a GTX 275 OCX. After installing it with the latest Nvidia drivers I noticed Id randomly get lock up's in 3DMark06 and CoD4 anywhere from 5min to an hour of playing. I thought maybe it was my drivers, so I started driver sweeping and installing every Nvidia Driver back to April of this year. NO LUCK. So I decided to swap out some graphics cards to see if it was my New GTX 275.

8800GT - worked flawlessly
GTX 260 Maxcore - workded flawlessly

So I stuck the GTX275 back in, no luck. Good for about 15min in any application then freeze. Black screen, Artifacts, Nvidia Driver fail errors. Application hangs.

So I contacted BFG, they sent me out an RMA, another GTX 275 OCX. Guess what?! SAME PROBLEM. But this time I can only play CoD for about 30 sec before I get a black screen / artifacts.

Im so tired of this card. I wish I never bought a GTX 275. I contacted BFG last night and requested the possibility of getting a Stock GTX 285 as a replacement. Since two GTX 275's have not worked.

My System:

E8400 @ 3.0Ghz
2 Gig DDR2 800Mhz ( 1333Mhz FSB )
OCZ 600w SWX PSU ( rated for 700watts )
Currently running Windows XP SP3

I have two intake fans ( one being a VGA cooler ) and 3 exhaust fans. System temps are great. The GTX 275's both get around 78 - 85*C full load, other then that they idle at 44*C

Im running out of idea's. Ive reformated windows twice now. Also, let all updates download and install. Just very very frustrating. Downloaded my latest chipset drivers / sound drivers / LAN drivers / Power mangement drivers / flashed to the latest BIOS.

Any advice? Im hoping BFG doesnt send me another 275 Im really tired of this card. More so venting to you guys more then anything.

*sigh*

 

[faint545]

I would say, go with EVGA. Never had issues with EVGA but also I've never bought BFG so I cant say BFG is bad or good. I just know that every EVGA card i've got has worked without problems.

What kind of motherboard do you have?

 

[Triton05]

DG33FB ( Intel Board ) G33 Chipset. I know I know, but rock solid and very up to date chipset drivers and BIOS support.

When I WAS able to make it thru a run of 3DMark06 I was able to pull 14700 for a score.

 

[hardwaretechy]

I never trust temperatures that high on a video card -- which doesn't mean that they aren't in the "safe zone" but i prefer having them lower than 60. My 4870 which is OC'd doesn't go above 46 on load.

There could be a number of things going on here. First thing i'd try is to turn the fan speed up -- this behavior is typical of overheating. However is is also typical of improper voltage, which could mean that the factory OC that they have going on for that card is just bad (not your fault -- but a pain since you have to RMA till you get one that works).

As a test, you could try downclocking the card to stock speed and see if its any more stable.

 

[Triton05]

It is but I don't want to tell them that. IF I lower it down to 684Mhz core then I don't get any lock ups. But Ive been afraid of telling them this to avoid an warranty issues. ( modifying the core clock speed )

 

[Mousemonkey]

If down clocking the card stops the issue then it could be either PSU or heat build, can you try the card in another PC?

 

[Triton05]

I have a brand new OCZ 600 SXS power supply. Only one hard rive and a E8400 Proc. I should have WAY more then enough power for one GTX 275. In the review of my PSU they were able to push it to 720 watts before it hit 80% efficiency. Basically they determined that it could of been labeled a 700watt power supply without any concern.

As for heat. Idle the card is 44*C, Running 3DMark06 or CoD4 it only gets up to 75* - 80*C. I also thought that heat might be an issue so I bought a VGA cooler which is pumping in cold air directly under the card. I also mounted another intake on the front of my case which blows cold outside air directly into the intake end of the GTX 275.

My CPU / Mobo only get to 45*C on Avg. Plenty of good air circulation. I just think the GTX 275 OCX card suck. I think they tried squeezing too much out of it. They should of stopped at the OC2 and kept a max factory clock of 684Mhz.

We shall see what the outcome is tomorrow, Ill keep you all up to date.

 

[deadcell]

You may have a defective card. But the chances of that is slim to none. Very well venilated if you ask me, so can't be heat issues. Try to keep the temp. maxed out at 75. I may have a solution for you. Try this driver with your GTX275. Search for Forceware 185.66 beta driver. I was informed that this driver will outperform any other nvidia drivers out there. I have your card, but the oc edition, and I have been extremely happy with this driver ever since I have uninstalled the one that came right out of the box. They overclocked the pants out of this ocx edition and I think the 700+ core clock speed has to do something with your problem. If the driver I recommanded didn't work for you, definitly return the card to BFG and get the GTX275 OC. I overclocked this card in my machine to OC2 specs (core clock 684mhz, shader clock 1520, etc) and I am pleased with the performance. Also, I seem to maintain a constant temp. of 75 at full load and maximum graphis, such as Crysis. Triton05, I belive that our cards are the same mechanically, but yours is just too overclocked for the cards capacity. I got the same results you described when I overcloked my card to OCX specs. I sure hope that you come to a good solution with the what I just concluded. Let me know how it went.
deadcell

 

[Triton05]

I agree with you. Its funny cause mechanically like you pointed out, the OCX card is NO different from the reference stock card in terms of heat sink/fan combo. They just cranked up the clocks / memory. I just think they went too far with this card and didn't test it throughly enough before releasing it.

I can under clock it to 684Mhz and it will remain stable, as yours does. But I paid a good 40 bucks more for the OCX edition. While that may not seem to be a lot to some, its the fact of the matter. If I buy something under the advertised claim, I expect it to work.

So we shall see. Currently Im using the 182.5 drivers which out of every single driver Ive tried so far, seems to be the most stable.

Ill def. update you guys tomorrow when I get back in touch with BFG.

-Triton

 

[deadcell]

Yeah, I agree. Triton05. You did pay more for the OCX and the advertised claim clearly states core clock of 702mhz. You paid for this kind of performance and you should expect no defects and heat issues. I don't think you should have to under clock it. You are running my specs right now, and I just have the OC. So much for value for your money. I personally think people should overclock, not the other way around. Maybe you should just get my card and OC it to OC2 specs like I stated before. Thats a good value. Also, did you check out BFG's website latley. Apprently they have this GTX285OCFU that excels in Memory Bandwidth and a 512 memory interface compared to the 275s. I just don't know how much you are welling to spend on a GPU. If this costs not too much more than you 275OCX, I would get the 285OCFU. Than again, I hope it does deliver what it claims. I am sorry you had to go throught this kind of crap, its a headache. Don't give up on BFG though. Thay have some of the best cards out there. Good luck!
deadcell

 

[Triton05]

Well Ive only have my card now for a month, so they owe me something that works. I did tell them tho that I do not want a 275 OCX and would prefer a GTX 285 at this point for my troubles, since there RMA they sent me is crap. Worse then my orignal. They are " emailng " coorporate and will let me know ASAP. Which I dont think is too quick since its been 48 hours and not response yet... *sigh* so for now. My gaming rig is nothing more then an internet browser. Hopefully Ill hear something soon.

 

[deadcell]

They realy should give you the 285 in exchange of all your troubles. But sounds like those basterds are giving you a run around. At the end, they should make you happy with your purchase. Best of luck and keep me updated...
deadcell

 

[Triton05]

Well no email, so I decided to call again today. The Support rep was very nice. I swear its hit or miss. Some reps there are horrible.. rude and seem like they hate their job. But tonights rep actually attempted to get a GTX285OC auth so he could send me one ASAP. But because the price difference between a GTX275OCX and a GTX285OC is so much, they "have" to get it approved thru corporate.

So he told me he would go out of his way to communicate with the original rep Ive been working with. He also told me to call back Friday if I don't hear anything from BFG by then.

So we shall see! Until then, I have a kick ass web browsing PC !!! LMAO

/crosses fingers

 

[deadcell]

That sounds good. The 285OC is only 279.00, so there should be no complications here. Its a great card. Jees, I hope mine doesn't give up on me. I don't want to go through all of this nonsense. I probebly OC and fry it, but being it purchased in Best Buy, they have a better understanding of the life time warranty concept. Let me know how it went...
deadcell PC specs
XPS i7-920 2.67ghz
6G Tri-channel DDR3 SDRAM 1067mhz
500GB 7200 SATA 3.0Gb/s
Thermaltake 850 TR2 RX
BFG GTX275OC (overclocked to OC2 specs)
Vista SP1 64-bit

 

[Triton05]

Well Friday came and went without any email from BFG like I was promised on MONDAY. So I took the liberty of calling them and asking for a supervisor. Basically I was told that the intial rep dropped the ball. Hands down. He also told me that if I was able to run a 260 maxcore without any issues then the 275 shouldnt give me any issues, so the problem is most def. with the cards. He basically took the reigns of my situation. Hes in the process of setting up and RMA to get me a GTX285. He understood the situation entirely and agrees with me on every Level.

The two reps I brought up whom I had great service with he even admitted that they were a couple of his best reps. He also informed me that he would be contacting the initial rep who dropped the ball in a not so nice manner.

This might of saved my impression of BFG. After speaking with the Supervisor last night, I felt confident of obtaining a resolution. He promised to get in touch with me Monday to verify the outcome. So we shall see.

Ive always bought BFG cards and never had any issues prior to this, so hopefully come Monday, I can put this all behind me and move on.

Ill let you guys know.

 

[Triton05]

UPDATE !!

Well as you all know, I was having issues with my GTX 275OCX and today I received my GTX 285 OC as a replacement. After speaking with a supervisor at BFG we got everything sorted out.

So far, testing games and applications I couldnt before, everything seems to be running smooth as silk!!

14,700 or so in 3DMark06

100 FPS in Resident Evil 5 Benchmark at 1440x900 AAx2

and no disconnects in CoD4 ... not even going to tell you my FPS in that game LMAO spikes over 200 FPS at times. Thats with AAx4 and AF all the way up. 1440 x 900

Very Happy !

 

[Mousemonkey]

Glad to hear you got the problem resolved.

 

[deadcell]

Happy to hear that you finally got this problem sorted out. Pretty good performance if you ask me. Will guess what, remember I told you that I would probebly OC my GTX275 and fry it one day? Well, it kind of happened. The card didn't stop working, it just performed not so well. I wanted a powerhouse, so I settled for their BFG GTX295, when I returned the 275. This is a $500.00 card, but its worth every penny. You wouldn't believe what kind of performance I get out of this thing. Just check out what I pushing out of this GPU;
1X BFG Nvidia GeForce GTX295 1792MB DDR3 GTX200 GPU X2 (896MB per GPU) SLI takes place internally
Processor Core: 240 per GPU (480 combined)
Core Clock: Each card clocked at 574MHz Stock-Overclocked to 604MHz, perfectlly stable
Shader Clock: 1242MHz-overclocked to 1300's
Texture Fill Rate: 92.2 Billion/Sec (Combined)
Memory Data Rate 1998MHz
Memory Interface 896-bit (Combined)
Memory Bandwidth 223.8GB/sec. (Combined)
Min Power requirement 680 Watts
I am very satisfied with these numbers. The card have plenty of room for overclocking, but at this time, I really don't need to push it more than this. This should keep me happy for well over 2-3 years. I play Crysis like the way it was meant to be played now. I would highly recommend this card to anyone who is only limited to 1 PCI-E X16 slot on their MOBO, such as my setup. You can still run SLI and that makes this a good investment. I will post you my 3DMark06 score once I am done with the modifications. Let me now what you think of this heavy weight. Again, very happy about the problem solved. The GTX285 is an excelent card with a great price tag. Very good value, specially if you got it in exchange of the 275OCX. Thanks for reading this. Only buy BFG, its the best thing that ever happened to Nvidia, or GPUs for that matter...

 

[Triton05]

That GTX295 should last you a while! Thats for sure. I recently upgraded my Proc to the E8400, previously I had a E6550. Which wasnt that great. I didnt feel like replacing my mobo so I basically nabbed the best Core 2 Duo I could afford at the time. I managed to get the E8400 for only 120.00. Couldnt say no to that.

My next investment will be Vista 64bit SP1, then Ill toss another 2 gigs of ram into my system. I already told my girlfriend that I want a bigger Display for my Birthday!! lmao. This way I can play at resolutions higher then 1440x900. Also wouldnt mind picking up a new HD, since those are cheap as dirt these days.

Eventually my system will be:

Proc: E8400 3.0Ghz 6Mb L2/cache
mem: 4gig DDR2 800Mhz ( 1333Mhz FSB )
video: BFG GTX285 OC ( 666Mhz core ) 1Gb DDR3 memory
Display: 22 - 24" display something to get me to 1600+ resolution ( I want to actually tax my card )
OS: Windows Vista 64bit SP1
PSU: OCZ 600 SWX

I already own a VGA intake cooler and a nice array of fans to keep my system cool at a relitive quite level. Last night my GTX 285 wasnt getting any hotter then 73*C under full load. Cant complain with that!!

So we shall see!!! But atleast Im getting there.

 

[deadcell]

Thats going to be a sweet setup. That E8400 is an excellent choice to include in this setup as well. Fast processor! Money well spent. Definitally invest in the 64bit SP1. I am running that right now and from what I have seen and read, it sure overshadowes the 32bit. Its probebly the best feature in my setup, other than the GTX295 ofcourse. The 4G DDR2 is a good start. You can always add more ram later. Is your MOBO tri-channel capable? If it is and its in the budget, I recommend the DDR3 over DDR2. Three chips interacting at the same time with the CPU is faster. I have 6G DDR3 running at just over 1000MHz and it keeps things going well. Eventually, I want to be at 12G DDR3 at 1600, 6x4G (MOBO contains 6 slots). That sort of thing costs a heafty change now, but eventually it well drop, and I'll be there. Bigger displays are becomming so affortable these days. I am sure that you can get something that can run 1600+ with a resonable price tag. I use to have a Gateway 24" that almost ran that sort of a setting. Something like that really pushes your card and tax it like there is no tomorrow. Right now, I have the 32" Samsung 650. It maxes at 1920x1080. I use it for my 360 as well, so it serves a double purpose. Your GTX285 seem to be running pretty cool at full load. My old 275 use to be in early 90s at full load. I am impressed, it is as cool as my 295. I had to remove the side panel because as you know, everything is stuffed in a Dell 435MT! Best Buy has this Thermaltake case for $100 and this thing has 5 fans, one which is huge 230mm on the top. Have you seen that? Thats probebly my next investment, so I don't have to leave the side open at all times for decent venilation. Again, I am pretty happy that you finally got the 285. You seem to be a lot happier with this one. Its one, if not, the fastest single Nvidia card out there, with a OC2 or OCX potentials. Best of luck with your built and always feel free to update me on it.
deadcell

 

[AlliedSoul]

Hi, I had the same issues, but I had done a few things to fix it! 1) Power up to 1000 W. (But 650 W sould be fine). 2) I had to download RivaTuner to couple my card with my computer, and then it ran fine.. since then never had any issues, and no downclocking! On the Riva Tuner program I had done the following.. fan high 100% when gaming, and on the compatibility I had to hit Nvidia, and that is what fixed the issue for me!