Can only run BF2 if I underclock my Video Card??

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Greenthumb
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Can only run BF2 if I underclock my Video Card??

Post by Greenthumb »

the only time BF2 or any game for that matter will run without getting pixelated and crashing is if I underclock my vid card. any ideas?

ATI 9800 Pro
AMD 2200+
768 DDR

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Rickey
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Post by Rickey »

underclock? It won't run at standard setting? I have 9800 pro and no problems with video function. Maybe temps or PSU?
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Greenthumb
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Post by Greenthumb »

nope, It runs for five mins then gets all pixelated and crashes, won't run at standard setting?
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Smudge
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Post by Smudge »

Could be a broken card, I had a Power Clor 9800 Pro a couple of months ago and it kept crashing my machine after a few mins playing in a Source game (HL2), playing anything else was fine. I returned the card and got a 6600GT instead.

I think my 9800 was over heating - sent it back.
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Night_S
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Post by Night_S »

Most defenetely it's PSU - get stronger one.
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Mat-Moo
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Post by Mat-Moo »

Check that the fan is running as expected, and also check your system temps in case your system is overheating.
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PsycoGeek
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Post by PsycoGeek »

Yeah, your system sounds like there may be too much heat there, and more than likely it's because you vid card fan is hogged up with dust. Some of the air coming off of the heatsink is meant to help, albeit very little, keep the ram cooled as well. If you blow out the fan/heatsink hold the blades and keep it from spinning while you do it. If you don't you could ruin the fan's bearing (even if it is a ball bearing) from having it turn faster than what it's rated for.

The power supply may also be getting weak on the 12v rail. Pixelation like that (or snow/multi colored snow) is usually a product of under voltage to the ram and occurs most commonly when overclocking, which is a good indicator of a weak PS. It occurs because the ram is running at a clock speed greater than the voltage can sustain.
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ChickenSalad
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Post by ChickenSalad »

Er... yeah. Either it's some PSU related thing (which I'd highly doubt tbh.) or it's the much more common overheating issue: Bad air circulation, weak heatsinks, failing g'card vent.
While artifacts may come due to undervoltage (actualy the game would mostly crash then as data would get lost, not miscalculated), it's much more common that it results from overheating vram.
Now the things posted in the other thread look a lot like an overheating gpu. If we take both issues together then it looks like the g'card vent might not be spinning and thus neither vram nor gpu get enough airflow which results in bad cooling and thus overheating.
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