Artifacts everywhere ?!

[npyrhone]

I tried overclocking my x1900gt with catalyst control center. I did not get very far before my system became unstable. I figured that was due to too low voltage. So, yesterday I downloaded the latest beta version of ati tool overclocked and adjusted voltage.

I raised the core to 614 and memory to 625 and scanned for artifacts. There was some. Then I raised the core volts from 1.125 default to 1.250. No artifacts. Then I ran 3dmark. Everything was fine, I got 4800marks. Then I turned off the computer. After I came from work, everything still worked fine.

This morning when i turned on the computer, there were artifacts everywhen. The booting screen was full of red and blue pixels and $$ -signs. The windows started, however. Now the mouse cursor looks funny and whenever I search for artifacts with ati tool the search window is full of yellow lines and pixels.

No matter what I try with catalyst control center or with ati tool, nothing helps. Not raising volts, not lowering them, not using catalyst control center's "restore defaults" -setting. How could I get rid of the artifacts?

Please help.

 

[trog100]

hmmm.. if uninstalling (disabling) atitool and reinstalling your cat drivers back to default.. dont get rid of em u might well have buggered up your card..

go back to scratch..

trog

 

[pt]

one less good card in the world...
it is probabily damaged, did you have artifacts in games, or just ATITOOL?

 

[charlespayne]

hi problem with overclocking is over heating so if you dident upgrade your cooling system it will start to play up bad on you.

 

[npyrhone]

Yes, there's so much artifacts in 3dmark06 that it is impossible to watch. Also, as I mentioned, the whole boot-up screen has weird signs and colors in it, even after I had uninstalled catalyst drivers and ati tool.

My whole system is new, I bought all the components just week ago, so I was wondering if the problem could be in my PSU. When I listen to music, it sometimes changes into this electric scrachting noise for a second or two. I'm not sure.

The reason why I doubt that the card could be irriversibly buggered is that I only raised the volts from 1.225 (I wrote 1.125 in the first post, but it was incorrect) to 1.250. There's of course always the possibility that the card was damaged to begin with, I guess...

So, no one knows anything to try here except for uninstalling catalyst & ati tool?

 

[charlespayne]

sounds like to me you got a faulty motherboard as if the psu was to low you get a error message telling you that you dont have enough power.

 

[charlespayne]

a friend of mine had a simuler problem with sound and graphics and took it to a shop and had the motherboard replaced, you could do a full system diag to find out the problem also dxdiag too.

 

[npyrhone]

Heating was no problem here. The highest temp was 76C and even it occured during the catalyst control center's "determine max values" check.

 

[npyrhone]

What is an easy way to do a full system diag? I'll try dxdiag now.

 

[charlespayne]

there is a easy optian do a system restore to a date just before you altered it just goto start and programmes then accessories then system tools then system restore.

 

[charlespayne]

i will never overclock my system if it starts to run slow i just buy upgrades saves damageing the mainboard.

 

[Ketxxx]

sounds like corrupt drivers largely, but hers a checklist to work through.

1. uninstall atitool and catalyst drivers
2. run drivercleaner and be sure the atitool and catalyst folders are deleted
3. shut system down
4. remove power cord from psu, push and hold power button a few times to be sure the capacitors are discharged. remove your cmos battery and leave for 5 mins
5. take out your X1900 and reseat it, while your at it u might want to remove the stock cooler, replace the thermal compund and generally check the cooler is making proper contact.
6. power it all up and see what happens.

 

[npyrhone]

Yes, I'll have to try that. First, however, I thought I should try the card in my friend's computer and see if it works. If so, then the problem is most definitely in the mobo. Thanks guys for help. If you come up with any other good ideas, please, let me know. I'll post what has happened here.

 

[KennyT772]

rma the card if possible. sounds like a heat/voltage issue moreso then powersupply. try it in your friends pc first then u will know what to do from there. but jsut for the sake of certianty what power supply do u have?

 

[npyrhone]

It's Antec Sonata II 450W with smartpower2.0.

 

[trog100]

if u have reinstalled the relevant drivers.. its looking like a faulty card.. damaged by u or on the edge to start with..

u will get another one no problems.. dont mention the overclock attempts thow..

prove me wrong if u can but i doubt u will..

there is no easy system diagnostic tool.. and i have only ever known two things to cause artifacts like u describe.. an overclocked or faulty card.. not what u want to hear but that cant be helped..

trog

ps.. my 1900 hits 90c under full load for reference heatwise..