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6800 ultra problems

nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
08-26-2004 18:10
its a Q TEC 450 watt power unit

Q-Tec 450 watt ATX power unit dual fan
Doug Linden
Linden Lab Developer
Join date: 27 Nov 2002
Posts: 179
08-26-2004 18:50
Hmm, for what it's worth, I can't really find out any information about the Q-Tec 450 Watt PSU, other than that it's gold, and that it's the lightest PSU that one reviewer has ever seen (a bad sign).

http://hardware.meetthegeeks.org/ourreview/archives/qtec450watt/
(FYI, I don't trust this reviewer at ALL. Listing light weight of a PSU as a PLUS doesn't indicate a great deal of cluefulness.)

The one thing that he DID say is that the combined 3.3 and 5V wattage was 225 watts. That's actually not so good - for comparison, one of the medium-end Antec 300 watt PSUs will do a combined of 220.

Unfortunately, the total wattage numbers on PSUs are pretty much worthless as a measure of how well they actually work - what you really want is to look at the specs for the individual rails on the side of the PSU (3.3, 5, and 12V), which give you a better idea of how well it runs.

Since you've got a 6800 in there, I have a suspicion that if the +12V rating isn't at least 20 amps, you may be in trouble.

- Doug
Doug Linden
Linden Lab Developer
Join date: 27 Nov 2002
Posts: 179
08-26-2004 18:53
A good post detailing the power requirements for a 6800 Ultra.

http://www.spodesabode.com/content/article/6800upower

- Doug
Huns Valen
Don't PM me here.
Join date: 3 May 2003
Posts: 2,749
08-27-2004 04:21
Doug is right. Lighter PSU ≅ smaller transformer. Smaller transformer ≅ less throughput. You want a big hefty transformer. That is the component that turns 120VAC into 5 and 12VAC. Then it gets passed through a full-wave bridge rectifier to turn into DC, as well as some capacitors to filter out "noise" on the power line and provide a little bit of surge/dip protection.
Catherine Omega
Geometry Ninja
Join date: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 2,053
08-27-2004 06:24
I thought I'd have a go at figuring out the specs, and I had about as much luck than Doug.

This review is of a 550W Q-Tec PSU, but even it indicates that the output of the 12V rail is a pitiful 14 amps. Even my 350V Antec PSU puts out 16 amps on the 12V rail.

Q-Tec makes a rather big show of peak amperage, which, to be honest, is completely meaningless. Max output is what matters.

This guy explains in somewhat more detail.

I really have to say, the fact that Q-Tec neglects to advertise their products' specs beyond "gold colour" and "lightweight" really doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in me.

Go out and buy a good power supply -- Antec and Enermax are both excellent brands -- and make sure it can output at least 20A maximum on the 12V rail. That should fix your problem. It will be expensive, but you get what you pay for.

An Enermax 460W PSU outputs 33A on the 12V rail. That's more than sufficient for your needs. It costs $85 USD. Were I in your position, that's likely what I would buy.
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nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
08-27-2004 08:37
thanks for all your help i have looked on the online computershop where i got my card they sell these enermax units cand you tell me wich one i should get cause i dont see the 460




Enermax EG375AX-VE(G)SFMA NoiseTaker 370 watt ActivePFC
3920 Enermax EG425AX-VE(G)SFMA NoiseTaker 420 watt ActivePFC
3921 Enermax EG475AX-VE(G)SFMA NoiseTaker 470 watt ActivePFC
3922 Enermax EG335AX-VHB(G)SFMA CoolerGiant 330 watt ActivePFC
3923 Enermax EG385AX-VHB(G)SFMA CoolerGiant 380 watt ActivePFC
3925 Enermax EG485AX-VHB(G)SFMA CoolerGiant 480 watt ActivePFC
3926 Enermax EG485AX-VHB(W)SFMA CoolerGiant 480 watt ActivePFC
Catherine Omega
Geometry Ninja
Join date: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 2,053
08-27-2004 17:08
Okay, first of all, this page purports to measure the current draw of the 6800 Ultra. I'm not sure of their results, but it seems approximate.

NoiseTaker 370W
+3.3V@30A; +5V@32A; +12V@14A; -12V@0.8A; +5VSB@2.5A

NoiseTaker 420W
+3.3V@32A, +5V@36A, +12V1@15A, +12V2@14A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A

NoiseTaker EG475AX - 470W
+3.3V@34A,+5V@40A,+12V1@16A,+12V2@15A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@2.5A

As for the CoolerGiant ones, there's a decent chart on the
CoolerGiant site. In a nutshell:

335: 12A/11A
385: 14A/13A
435: 15A/14A
485: 16A/15A

So with the exception of the 370W PSU, all of them have dual 12V rails, which is handy, because you get better power on both.

Without testing to be sure, I can't guarantee that any of these will work, but they'll definitely be better than what you have now. Spend as much as you can afford, and don't get the 370W one. The 330W, I would hesitate to recommend, simply because I could sort of see it not working under certain conditions. The other ones should all be just fine.
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nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
08-29-2004 09:09
thanks for all the info i will let you know when i have changed my power unit
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-23-2004 08:48
well i have the power unit the enermax noisetaker 470 with these spec


NoiseTaker EG475AX - 470W
+3.3V@34A,+5V@40A,+12V1@16A,+12V2@15A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@2.5A

i am waiting for dan linden to help me cause i still think it didnt change my avie problem, i will post more info as soon as i know more, and if someone here has tips for me what else i can do let me know,
Raphael Rutherford
Resident Resident
Join date: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 236
09-23-2004 11:45
I just want to add here that I have the same problems with my ASUS V9999GE board (Nvidia 6800).

After about 30-60 seconds, my clothes will turn to shreds. All others can see it too, so it's a problem with the "baking" of the clothes textures.

Some outfits does work though, but just changing socks may fuck it up.

I have the latest drivers of everything and a 550 W power supply, so that's not the problem.

Furthermore to give the ball to Lindens, my alt av cannot render ANY clothes properly AT ALL !!. Not even when wearing the same outfit that works on my normal av, including all attachements, shape, skin, e.t.c.
Now THAT is weird !

In addition to this, the screenshots don't work, neither does the last position picture that's saved at logoff.


/RR
henri Jacques
Registered User
Join date: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 7
09-23-2004 12:42
I just read your post..

Initially i had purchased a new computer with gigabyte motherboard and a nvidia 5900 card running pentium 4 3ghz and 2 gigs ram and at that time 300 watt power supply and every single game that had 3d would make my computer automatically reboot at different times (UO, sims2, SL, etc).

So i change this computer and now same card from Asus v9999GE, and using an Asus p4p800 SE mother board running on Pentium 4 3ghz with 2 gigs ram, and i have upgraded my power supply is 500 watts.

And with the recent this recent update I can't see the ocean or water in front of my house.. :confused: Now i have the view of grand canyon!

My other machine an older P4 2.5 ghz with 1 gig ram running on an older nvdia 5200 runs perfectly...

I am using all the updated software even for XP pro I've upgraded to sp2.

I am completely confused...
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-23-2004 13:23
well i just been true all kind settings in my bios wich dan linden told me to try out but i didnt change its still the same so i put the setting in my bios back as it was, now i have no clue what else i can do, everything on my system is updated,

my system
amd2600+
msi kt4 motherboard
1 gig of ram
club 3d 6800 ultra

i hope anyone here can give a clue what else i can do
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-23-2004 14:40
From: someone
Originally posted by Raphael Rutherford
I just want to add here that I have the same problems with my ASUS V9999GE board (Nvidia 6800).

After about 30-60 seconds, my clothes will turn to shreds. All others can see it too, so it's a problem with the "baking" of the clothes textures.

Some outfits does work though, but just changing socks may fuck it up.

I have the latest drivers of everything and a 550 W power supply, so that's not the problem.

Furthermore to give the ball to Lindens, my alt av cannot render ANY clothes properly AT ALL !!. Not even when wearing the same outfit that works on my normal av, including all attachements, shape, skin, e.t.c.
Now THAT is weird !

In addition to this, the screenshots don't work, neither does the last position picture that's saved at logoff.


/RR

its the same i have updated all things and it never changes for me/ screen shots i cant take, and when my avie is messed up in need a linden from the lab to go on my acount to fix me, so i have to stay the way my avie is no cause i cant wear something else now till my problem is fixed
Catherine Omega
Geometry Ninja
Join date: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 2,053
09-23-2004 17:12
Hmm, sorry to hear that didn't help, Nightmare.

I think you may have to bite the bullet and flash your video card's BIOS. It's a lot safer than it sounds, but you do have to be careful not to accidentally turn your computer off while you're doing it. ;)

If THAT doesn't work, then it could be a driver problem, a so-far undetected video BIOS issue, or a problem with the actual hardware itself. I suppose it could also be thermal though.

Check your GPU temperatures: click Start > Control Panel > Display > "Settings" tab > "Advanced" button, "GeForce 6800" tab, "Temperature Settings" on the side panel. While running SL, what are your GPU core temperature and Ambient temperature?

On a side note, Raphael, Henri, what make and model of PSU are you each using?
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Catherine Omega
Geometry Ninja
Join date: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 2,053
09-23-2004 17:18
It's possible there's a problem with the current GeForce drivers... this page has some beta drivers available, if you're feeling adventurous. ;)

Just make sure you uninstall your old drivers completely. You don't want the two versions screwing things up.
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Raphael Rutherford
Resident Resident
Join date: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 236
09-24-2004 06:02
Thanks for answering and coming with tips, Catherine.
It's sad that we heve to rely on other users as Linden apparently are on vacation.
I have sent 3 bug reports around these problems last week, and still haven't heard a work back. Just as usual.

It's NOT a power supply problem, or a heating problem, which the symptoms should make clear.
Neither are there any BIOS upgrades available for the ASUS card.
All voltages are measured to be within +/- 2%, and the card is runing at 55 C, well below any limits.

There is a bug in the texture baking code or something.
Whether it's in Linden code or in the driver, I don't care, it's up to Linden to try to fix it. There was a workaround for the ATI cards, why not for these then ? It's the same problem !
That does indicate to me that it's Linden that's at fault, not the graphics card makers.

Anyway, I'll try the beta drivers and see if it helps. Why there are about 10 newer drivers at that site than on the official ones at the Nvidia site is interesting !

/RR
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-24-2004 06:27
i whent back from the 61.77 driver to the 61.76 and yes same problem, so Raphael if you find anything that helps you, thing like bios of my card i have to be real sure to mess with that
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-25-2004 07:32
checked my computer if i had old drivers from nvidia running but i had only one on it, what else i can do i have no clue i dont think i want to mess with the cards bios what i will do is call the shop where i got this card and see what they tell me to do, if anyone has some tips for me please let me know been having this for a couple of months now kinda get sick of it, i wanted to change my membership but with this problem its not a good idea, i want thank all of you for the help you gave me in this post, i am hoping someone will come with a solution to my problem



nightmare1212 knox
Catherine Omega
Geometry Ninja
Join date: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 2,053
09-25-2004 17:17
There is a documented flaw in the early versions of several 6800 BIOSes. You need to flash it to the latest revision, assuming one has been provided. If one hasn't been provided, you need to contact your manufacturer.

This site has more information, and for BIOS image downloads.

According to information on that site, some people have had luck with early revision BIOSes and nVidia 66.** drivers. They're beta, but it's reportedly solved a few issues.
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nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-25-2004 17:30
i whent to that site and my club3d 6800 bios number is the same as that download
Club3D GeForce 6800 Ultra BIOS
Card : Club3D GeForce 6800 Ultra
Chipset : nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra
Version : 5.40.02.10.14


so is it a improved version or do i have to look for another?
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-26-2004 07:30
after reading alot of forums about the 6800 ultra bios versions it seems that i have one that make games freeze alot of times something wrong with the flash, i need to find a updated bios version and need to know how to change the bios, my other option is call the shop and see what they can do for me
Raphael Rutherford
Resident Resident
Join date: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 236
09-26-2004 08:49
I've tried all the driver versions on the site, nothing helps.
I have given up and are back on an old 9950 card which works perfectly.
Whether or not a BIOS upgrade may have worked I don't know, as there don't seem to be any available for the V9999GE card.

Linden support totally sucks, they haven't been able to give ANY advice on this problem.

/RR
nightmare1212 Knox
Registered User
Join date: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 69
09-26-2004 11:38
check google also if you type bios 6800 ultra you will find forums with topics of the bios problem



found this page also


bios change tips
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