P-6860fx Gpu Problem

ok i purchased this laptop for my friend (REFURB) and it was running okay. installed xp (SP3) with everything working exept mic. she's not a gamer but i thought the price was pretty good for such specs. about 6 months later (past 3 month warranty) she decided to install some games. and that's when the problems started.

i took the laptop for test and don't know if the GPU is lemon or something.im battling with it since the beginning of the day and still have no clear answer as to why this is happening. first i was trying to run Crisis demo, and for some reason every driver i tried it wouldn't run it. It'd start and either go one image and then go blank and hang/freeze and hard restart was required. after trying many dox's/original i had the same result. i really didn't know if it was perhaps XP issue or hardware.

On the hardware side the PC would only hand when game was started, 3dmark06 would freeze too (not even start). I was following some thread on overheating issue but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I checked with HWMonitor the temp is around 43C which is fine i assume? Cores were a bit less than GPU. The i found out about ATITool and when i started it it showed very under clocked freqs for core and mem, GPU-Z was displaying the same #s as well as RivaTuner. I guess she never noticed it because everything was 2D and it was fine for the low underclocked speeds, until she tried 3d and that's when the problems started. I read also about Nvidia OptiMizer and that this feature might be causing that, but i think that once 3D kicks in it shouldve set it to default highs. I'm wondering if it was physically flashed to low clocks since that's what shows up as the freq in all three progs.

So no game would start, btw the temps are not high at all, so i don't think it's overheating issue because if it was PC would shut down or something. Now i tried to set the clocks with rivatuner and force high performance (default 8800M GTS speeds even less because Riva wouldnt let me go up to those numbers 500/1250/800 core/shader/mem) and it boots up to window but then any game that is started only goes few frames and then goes into halt/sound loop. 3dmark with this soft "OC" will run but artifact like crazy making it impossible to run fine.

I'm really out of ideas and also out of 3 months warranty.
I know that there were posts about overheating and applying thermal paste on cpu/gpu but i'm not sure this is the case here. I'd really appreciate if someone could shed some light of what could be possibly causing this behavior. It's really frustrating but hopefully there is an answer to that. Do i still have a chance with Gateway if this turns out to be hardware related? Thanks for any help/tips in advance. Ill post some screen shots of temps etc, or anything else you may request. Thanks

 

That sounds like an OS problem to me, but a borked GPU shouldn't be ruled out. My 6860 does the sound/black screen halt when i overclock and don't properly cool my machine.

 

I think your temps are OK: just over 40 at idle, and about 70 at full speed are normal. The problem appears to be your GPU. My guess is that it was defective to begin with, and their refurb fix was simply to downclock it.

 

also when it first came with vista installed i tried to run Crysis demo and it worked few mins and then hanged (could be driver issue), wheras in XP it wouldn't even start, so could be OS. if it turns out to be bad GPU can i still demand some sort of fix from gateway? (no warranty but the issue with the laptop was somehow "hidden" from the user).
also i dont have the original recovery CD, would anyone be willing to make an ISO and send it to me? (PM for details) id really appreciate it.

 

did a clean vista install (32bit) with all the drivers downloaded from the website, even vista shows artifact around icons right after boot. really strange. video driver was the latest from nvidia.

im sending the laptop to gateway. they said theyll fix it up.

 

just wanted to update this thread. i received my laptop back from gateway and they replaced mobo + hd. everything works great now. thinking about T9300 and another HD for raid0.

 

Congrats on the fixed computer. Judging by your post dates, that makes it about 2 weeks for turnaround time?

 

yes that's about right. shipped it out apr 1 and it was back @ my door on apr 13. i did 2 days of testing and included piece of paper with all the things i've done and tested so maybe that sped things up. already tested crysis and COD4 demos and they work great. i guess T9300 will do wonders since i don't see anything wrong with the stock cpu. Temps are great althou i'm waiting for thermal paste ive ordered. Is it okay if it's <1% conductive? Or should i just avoid ny thermal paste that conducts electricity (even it's a really low %). thanks

 

I avoid conductive TIM in laptop, but I've used Arctic Silver 5 which is more than 1% conductive lol and never had an issue. However I would avoid using conductive TIM on the graphic card.

 

I did both of these things you mentioned and it really makes this laptop even more powerful ... glad to hear things worked out and fast too.... also I use Arctic ceramique which works pretty well and doesnt have the same risks as using liquid metal

 

well i did put T9300 and it boosted the performance quite a bit. after that i saw X7800 and kind of regret not getting it instead of T9300 . you know the extra OC is always nice heh. as far as raid i didn't put another HD in yet. but after reading some threads im pretty much set on just getting 72k HD making it my OS drive and then the stock 54k will be data drive. buf of cousre if i get time i may try raid just for kicks .

as far as thermal paste i did apply it onto CPU die even thou it's <1% conductive and everything seems fine. when i get around applying it onto 8800m ill get one that's not conductive (thanks for the tip H-Emmanuel)

 

To me... all things considered I still believe the T9300 is the best cpu for the FX... such as cooling, power, price.... although it does depend on your uses so you made the right choice haha..... when it comes to harddrives you should look into just getting another WD 5400 and array them in Raid-0 with a 128 stripe..... I heard when it comes to our motherboards the 128 works the best.... Personally I have had no problem... saved some cash, and am getting great performance.... so check it out

 

hmm weird didn't know 6860 comes with 54k WD. i never really checked when i got it and after it came back from repair center the HD is Hitachi 54k hts543232l9a300. i may order same drive and just do what you are suggesting. decisions

 

It was most optimal as far as price vs performance: to just raid another 5400 drive (yours is Hitachi ???) and get another identical one if you can....

But...

By all means if you have the extra cash get 2 7200 drives or even a 500gb 5400 drive.... which are pretty close in performance unless you want the overall best deal by doing as I suggested