XFX 6800 graphics card ... fault???

Hi all I just bought an XFX Geforce 6800 graphics card from someone and installed it into my pc. I reformatted the pc at the same time and installed windows XP with the SP2 etc. The card worked fine right through installing windows until I came to installing the graphics driver. I used the one that came with the card (version 60.08) and when I restarted the PC the screen was all garbled and then the computer reset itself. This contiuned, so I went into safe mode and uninstalled the 60.08 driver and installed the newest driver on nVidias site. This didn't work and the pc still didn't recognise the card.
I then installed the AGP bridge drivers from the motherboard driver cd and re-installed the 90.00 driver and it worked. Later after playing a game for 20 minutes the screen went garbled again (lots of artifacts) and then the pc reset itself. After restarting all was fine until after about an hour (I wasn't even playing a game this time) the same happened. I checked the temp of the card and it was a stable 50.
I have checked with rivatuner that the card hasn't been overclocked and non of the masked units have been enabled (the card registers as a vanilla 6800 with 12 pipes and 5 shaders). Also when I tried to run ATI tool the same thing happened. Can anyone give me ideas? Should I take the card back or try something else?
The card has dual DVI connectors and I am using a DVI-VGA converter so I can use my CRT screen.
Could this happen if there is a shortage of power from the PSU?
Im at a loss as to what to do.

cheers

Jedandjess

 

what PSU are you using? how many watts, brand....u know the drill

 

The PSU is an unbranded (ie. cheap) 300WATT that came with the case. It is only 2 years old at most. The pc that the card is in is not mine I've been fighting with the machine all day trying to get everything sweet - just installed a new external HD and this card and reformatted. The only thing that's wrong with the machine is this card but I've been using it now for about 1.5 hours and all has been fine. But the artifacts/crash has happened 4 times in one day so thats no good. Any ideas Viper?

 

yea, its most likely ur PSU. Maybe a major brand like an Antec or similar could run it with 300-350 watts but with one that came with a case its doubtful. Im guessing that the recommended power is maybe...350-400 watts? If thats the highest u plan to go as far as video cards are concerned then something like an Anter TruePower or SmartPower 400+ watts will do fine. If you plan on re-using your PSU for another build then go with something more powerful (and more expensive... ) like an OCZ GameStream (thanks ASUS lol) Personally, Ive had no problems at all with my $40 thermaltake 430W; on newegg its got over 800 reviews (860 at time of this post) with a 5 egg rating, although its tough to judge a product by reviews of usually uninformed buyers... But if ASUS reads this, which im guessing he will lol, he will go crazy on me for recommending it (apparently thermaltake has hurt him in the past lol)

try this to see if it gives u an idea what u need: http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

and if anything, buy one with more than enough power

 

Nice one viper i'll look into that. I ain't got cash to replace the PSU so what I'll do is - if it happens again - I'll let me friend test the card in his PC which has about a 20000WATT PSU. Then if that solves the problem I'll get a PSU. I just want to make sure the card is fine - cos the longer I leave it the harder it will be to return. It was a private sale.

cheers man

 

glad i could help. lemme know how it turns out

 

I found a website concerning problems with artifacts and rebooting with geforce 6800's. The screenshots of the problem and description matches my problem exactly. Turns out the card is broken (bad memory - possibly caused by overclocking). Lesson to be learned - buy NEW hardware - especially graphics cards - as you get the warranty and will be given a replacement should this kind of thing happen.

 

XFX has a double lifetime warranty tho; it covers the card, even after reselling it. So, technically it should still be under warranty and u can return it

 

only for the 70 seris, not for the 6. I'd replace that PSU first to be safe, the memory might be under powered. The recomended power for a 6800 is 450W from a generic PSU though a good quality can get away with about 380W

 

yea i agree; even if the video card was the problem, when the card DOES work you dont want to have to worry about not enough power. Most people dont realize it but the PSU is the base for the whole system