GIGABYTE GTX 480 Super Overclock (GV-N480SO-15I) artifacts

[TheRockMonsi]

Hi everyone, this is my second GTX 480 SOC that I'm experiencing artifact issues with.  The first one I sent away for an RMA to newegg, and this one is what they gave me in return.  I've tried the card in different slots, different drivers (260 and 266), and different PCI-E plugs too.  I have a spare 260 (which I upgraded from) and that thing works perfectly in both slots, no problems at all.  I really don't want to have to RMA this thing, simply because I'm having to pay shipping to newegg for it, and that's sort of killing the value of this card (the sole reason why I bought it).

However, there has been one thing that has helped in getting rid of these artifacts - and that's by messing with the voltage.  When I installed MSI Afterburner, it read that my card's voltage was set to 1.05v.  In online reviews, however, they stated that the voltage was at 1.06v.  At MY stock voltage (I don't know if it's really stock for everyone else though), OCCT was coming up with 16k errors of the GPU test - set for only 6 minutes long.  Right now I'm running at 1.1v, but I haven't tested it out yet.  At 1.09v, I had 3 errors in 6 minutes, so I think at 1.1v it might just be fine - I'll have to play some BBC2 to see for sure though.  The only thing I'm not crazy about is the heat that this voltage creates - I might have to water cool my CPU because of it.  And in case you're wondering, no I didn't test the voltage stuff out with my first card - it simply never crossed my mind that the voltage could possibly be set wrong.

With all that being said, does anybody know what the stock voltage for this card is?  Also, I'm running the Default BIOS for this card, I don't know what number it is or how to find out, but maybe somebody can help me out with that.

Any and all help is much appreciated.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

If you download and run GPU-Z it should give you details of the sensors etc as well as the cards firmware.

[TheRockMonsi]

Thanks for that Dark.  I downloaded the GPU-Z utility, and based on that I currently have the 70.00.21.00.02 BIOS version.  Would flashing the BIOS do any good, and would it void my warranty?

[Dark Mantis]

Ther is no reason why updating your firmware would void your warranty however as with any update of this kind you must take care.

Whether it will help is another matter. Obviously the firware was changed/updated for a reason but they don't usually give much of a hint as to why so  it is usually a case of update and hope for the best.

[TheRockMonsi]

What I ended up doing was using the LN2 BIOS that comes with this card to see if things would change there.  I ended up with less artifacting, but that's relatively speaking.  I contacted GIGABYTE on Saturday about this, and they've yet to reply.  I think I'll talk to newegg about this and consider getting a refund. 

[Dark Mantis]

So it would appear to be something that can be sorted out by an update then.

[elajt_1]

If running OCCT on default Voltage give you artifacts it's pretty clear that this GPU hasn't been properly tested.
When I overclock I make sure the card can pass 30 min in OCCT without errors. Then you can be 100% sure u
won't get any artifacts no matter what game or app u'r running. Btw.. and this goes without saying, be sure to
check your temps when running OCCT or else u might have a lump of coal attaced to the pcb instead of a GPU.

An increase in Voltage works in many cases but then what was the point of payin more for a cherry picked GPU.
Cherry picked GPU should equal a chip that goes higher (in Mhz) on a lower voltage.

Send it back!

[TheRockMonsi]

I certainly did send it back after testing it in a friend's system.  I have my 3rd 480 in my system now, and thankfully everything seems to be working just fine.  Tested it using OCCT 2 separate times during the past few days and it's come up clean.  I haven't seen any artifacts in-game either.  Hopefully things stay this way...

[Dark Mantis]

Oh well fingers crossed for you then.