Flashing my 8800GT because i now have Windows 7

JoeFish · Apr 9, 2010

G'day,
I'd first like to apologize if there is already a thread that can help me.

I have a Leadtek 8800GT 512mb and I have recently made the change from XP to Windows 7. I have been having some system crashes during games and a few blue screens. (mainly in Empire Total War, but has also occured in CoD6) All my drivers are up to date so I am fairly sure it has something to do with something overheating.

My graphics card Temp idles at 75 Degree's C (according to Nvidia Monitor). nTune also shows that the GPU (3D) is always at 35%, I have never seen it change. Now i have been told that I will most probably have to flash my graphics card bios because of a fan speed problem that the 8800GT's have in Windows7.

This is the card i have:
Leadtek - We make dreams a reality
I would download the 3rd Bios download.

How do I flash my graphics Card?

Thankyou
Joe

not so gray matter · Apr 9, 2010

Here ya go bud:

Beginners Guide: Flashing a Video Card BIOS - PCSTATS.com

I'm guessing you may have to substitute cd/dvd/usb for the floppy disk

Here's a method to create a DOS cd rom:
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php/7807-How-to-create-a-bootable-DOS-cdrom

Link to Latest Copy of NVFLASH:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/nVFlash.shtml

sygnus21 · Apr 10, 2010

JoeFish said:
My graphics card Temp idles at 75 Degree's C (according to Nvidia Monitor). nTune also shows that the GPU (3D) is always at 35%, I have never seen it change. Now i have been told that I will most probably have to flash my graphics card bios because of a fan speed problem that the 8800GT's have in Windows7.

Hi JoeFish,

To put it mildly, that particular reason is hard to swallow and extremely unlikely to be true.

Needing to do a BIOS Flash on your video card because you’re now running Windows 7 is as plausible as having to up the electricity to your computer because of Windows 7.

Not saying you don’t have fan issues, not saying a BIOS flash won’t fix a fan Issue, I did one when I had an ATI 3870 as it too had fan issues. BUT…it had nothing to do with running Windows 7, or Vista.

Flashing a video card can be tricky and if done wrong will render it dead. This is nothing to take lightly!

If you’re going to flash your card, do it for the right reasons, not because of some misguided information.

Sorry.

As to your issue, have you checked to see that the card isn’t failing or overheating? Thus causing to fan to run faster and louder.

not so gray matter · Apr 10, 2010

sygnus21 said:
JoeFish said:

My graphics card Temp idles at 75 Degree's C (according to Nvidia Monitor). nTune also shows that the GPU (3D) is always at 35%, I have never seen it change. Now i have been told that I will most probably have to flash my graphics card bios because of a fan speed problem that the 8800GT's have in Windows7.

Click to expand...

Hi JoeFish,

To put it mildly, that particular reason is hard to swallow and extremely unlikely to be true.

Needing to do a BIOS Flash on your video card because you’re now running Windows 7 is as plausible as having to up the electricity to your computer because of Windows 7.

Not saying you don’t have fan issues, not saying a BIOS flash won’t fix a fan Issue, I did one when I had an ATI 3870 as it too had fan issues. BUT…it had nothing to do with running Windows 7, or Vista.

Flashing a video card can be tricky and if done wrong will render it dead. This is nothing to take lightly!

If you’re going to flash your card, do it for the right reasons, not because of some misguided information.

Sorry.

As to your issue, have you checked to see that the card isn’t failing or overheating? Thus causing to fan to run faster and louder.

I agree with everything posted, in other words, unless you want a video card sized brick, be very careful when you flash your bios.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/77347-nvidia-graphics-card-flash-bios.html

Make sure that you know what you're doing.

If you get an error, do not restart. Instead flash your old bios back into place via the error section.

EnemyWithin · Apr 10, 2010

The last driver in the line 196 (196.75) had serious problems with fans, if you are using it try updating to the latest
(197.13).
Inspect your card : fixed properly, fan not clogged with dust or simply failing ...

Strictly about flashing; I do use nvflash.exe (version 5.67) from Windows 7 x64, so there is no need to care that much about flashing from a bootable device. The process is fairly simple (but not without risk) .

Regards

archie123 · Apr 10, 2010

JoeFish said:
G'day,
I'd first like to apologize if there is already a thread that can help me.

I have a Leadtek 8800GT 512mb and I have recently made the change from XP to Windows 7. I have been having some system crashes during games and a few blue screens. (mainly in Empire Total War, but has also occured in CoD6) All my drivers are up to date so I am fairly sure it has something to do with something overheating.

My graphics card Temp idles at 75 Degree's C (according to Nvidia Monitor). nTune also shows that the GPU (3D) is always at 35%, I have never seen it change. Now i have been told that I will most probably have to flash my graphics card bios because of a fan speed problem that the 8800GT's have in Windows7.

This is the card i have:
Leadtek - We make dreams a reality
I would download the 3rd Bios download.

How do I flash my graphics Card?

Thankyou
Joe

its nothing to do with windows , the 8800gt fan wont go over 40% untill it reaches 80 degrees , flashing your bios wont help , download and install MSI Afterburner and manually set a fan profile MSI Afterburner

or Riva Tuner and set a custom fan curve (all the instructions are easy to find on the interweb)

yes your GPU is running far too hot for idle that temp is INSANE , but the issue isnt with windows

JoeFish · Apr 22, 2010

Morning,

IN REPLY TO ENEMYWITHIN: The version of my graphics card is 196.21 I just looked on Nnvida and i can download a later driver, so I will do that. I thought mine was the latest since i installed it a few months ago.

Thanks for all the help, really appreciate it!

Well I am just confused as to why my games were running fine in Windows XP and now I am having all these problems in Windows 7.

I was planning on downloading this which came off the Leadtek Website:

Supporting Models : For 8800GT 512MB ONLY
New BIOS for imporving Fan module cooling capability.
Total size::[40 KB]

Due to the little explanation, I thought that might be the answer to my problem.

Ok so i will download MSI afterburn and turn up my fan speed when I am playing games, I shall see how this goes and let you know

(If the latest Nvidia driver does not work)

Thanks again,
Joe

thefabe · Apr 23, 2010

You can also use Evga precision to adjust your fan speed. I have yet to find an Nvidia card that it won't work with. Also for future references and help ,Please fill in your system specs. It helps us hep you should you find yourself with other issues. Thanks. Fabe |MG| EVGA Precision 1.9.1 Download

JoeFish · Apr 23, 2010

Cheers mate,

Well i just installed the latest Nvidia driver and it still froze on me in Call of Duty MW2. The colours went crazy and the sound stuffed up, had to reboot.

I decided to make the fan run at 100% and i didn't even last 10minutes into a game and the PC just blacked out and rebooted itself.

MSI Afterburn says this:

________________________________________________________________________________
Display device : GeForce 8800 GT on G92 GPU
Display driver : 8.17.11.9745, ForceWare 197.45
On-board memory : 512MB
BIOS : 62.92.1f.00.08
GUID : VEN_10DE&DEV_0611&SUBSYS_2AB0107D&REV_A2&BUS_1&DEV_0&FN_0

On-Screen Display server
________________________________________________________________________________
Active client : On-Screen Display module
Active 3D process : not detected

This is really fustrating lol, any help would be much appreciated

Rik55 · Apr 23, 2010

It is likely to be one of a few things.

System memory not stable.
Timeout Detection Recovery that doesn't recover.
GPU teperature.
Failing PSU.

Personally I think it is your system memory. As you said it runs in XP, which can only address at best 3.25GB
Mixing memory is never a good idea and causes system instability. Remove the 2GB G skill. leaving just the 4GB kingston. Is the kingston 2 x 2GB? If it is 2 x 2GB. make sure the sticks are in the correct positions for dual channel. Enter the BIOS and set the memory timmings manually for that memory.

sygnus21 · Apr 23, 2010

I had a similar problem with an ATI 3870 where the fan wouldn't keep the card cool. Turns out the card was faulty and had to be replaced.
You might want to consider that as an option. Especially when you say the color went crazy; that’s definitely an indication of an over heating card.
My opinion.

sygnus21 · Apr 23, 2010

Rik55 said:
Mixing memory is never a good idea and causes system instability. Remove the 2GB G skill. leaving just the 4GB kingston. Is the kingston 2 x 2GB? If it is 2 x 2GB. make sure the sticks are in the correct positions for dual channel. Enter the BIOS and set the memory timmings manually for that memory.

Mixing memory will cause system instability problems. I would agree with Rik55, remove the 2GB of G-Skill and see what goes. And since you have mixed memory, are you also over clocking? If so that too can cause problems, especially if you have mixed memory.

Good catch on the mixed memory rik55. I missed that in his system specs.

JoeFish · Apr 23, 2010

When i was running XP 32bit, I only had the 2GB (1x1GB) of G-skill RAM. Then i upgraded to Windows 7 64bit, i tried playing Empire Total War but the game kept rebooting 5min into a game.

I then bought 2x2GB of Kingston Ram. The computer store (Online Computer Store - Umart online® Your one stop Computer Shop for computer parts,notebook and new system) tested my computer with it and said that the RAM will work fine together. But I soon realised it doesn't. I have just used the 4gb kingston to see if it does screw up and it has, but now with the graphics card driver update, i shall try it again

I will let you know how it goes,

Thanks again gentlemen!

Joe

JoeFish · Apr 23, 2010

JoeFish said:
Then i upgraded to Windows 7 64bit, i tried playing Empire Total War but the game kept rebooting 5min into a game.

I meant the PC rebooted itself, not just the GAME.

Thanks

JoeFish · Apr 24, 2010

Ok so with just running the 4GB of Kingston RAM, the computer crashed during Call of Duty MW2.

Also the GPU got to 82 degree's C and it froze and went all spastic.

Would this come down to cooling? I got a Mid ATX case, with a stock AMD fan with heatsink on the CPU and a fan at the rear of the case.

I also have a Silverstone 540watt PSU

PS: I am not overclocking the RAM..I have not done anything in the BIOS.
Cheers

sygnus21 · Apr 24, 2010

With all the issues you're having with the video card why not just RMA it? You could try pulling the heat sink off the processor and re-lapping it with a fresh coat of thermo paste, but that requires skill and know-how. Again, I'd look at an RMA, especially if you've done quite a few things and the card is still acting up.

As a side note - I still say that mixing memory isn't a good thing. I'm almost certain that if you ran memtest - Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool you'd pop up with errors.

It’s always best to keep your memory matched – brand, timings, voltage, speed; especially voltage and timings.

As for your power supply, maybe, depends on the power supply. You can check my system specs, and I've never had an issue.

My two cents.

JoeFish · Apr 24, 2010

Thanks for the advice

what do you mean by RMA?? Buy a new one? lol

In reference to mixing memory, I fully understand what you mean. Which is why I made it clear to Umart that I don't want RAM that will stuff up my computer. And yes I did do a Memtest and there were no errors.

As stated before, for a while I had been running 2x1GB of G.Skill DDR2 Ram and then i upgraded by adding an extra 2x2GB Kingston DDR2 Ram.

The G.Skill specs are: F2-6400CL4D-2GBHK, PC2-6400, CL4-4-3-5, 2.0V-2.1V
The Kingston Ram specs are: KVR800D2N5K2/4G , 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 DIMM (Kit of 2)
Standard 256M X 64 Non-ECC 800MHz 240-pin Unbuffered DIMM (DDR2, 1.8V, CL5)

(I got the Kingston details off their website and i just typed what was written on the G.SKill RAM.

Thanks, I hope this can help.

PS: Computer still crashes in games with only Kingston RAM which therefore rules out a RAM problem correct??

sygnus21 · Apr 24, 2010

JoeFish said:
what do you mean by RMA?? Buy a new one?

Return Merchandise Authorization. If the card is still under warranty you call the manufacturer's tech support and explain your problem, they in turn will solve the problem of give you an RMA number or code authorizing you to return the item for a replacement or repair at their cost. Some vendors make you pay shipping there, and they ship back to you for free. Find out that info as well, and find out what your shipping options are? For example, If you ship the item over night, they will do the same on their end, at their cost. This helps in getting your item back faster. Ask!!!

As to the RAM, If you feel comfortable that everything is the same between to two brands, well, you have to live with it.

Good luck.

JoeFish · Apr 24, 2010

haha, i am not gonna live with my computer crashing during games, It's just not acceptable =P I really do want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks or elaborating about RMA. The only problem is, my card is about 2 years old now, I don't think Nvidia (or Leadtek or Winfast) offer lifetime warranty's for the 8800GT's. Maybe I should just buy a newer card? I would but if computer crashed during a game of CoD with the new card, I would not be happy lol.

Would come down to COoling? Getting a better heatsink and Fan? Getting a 120m fan instead of my 80m at the rear of the case??

Thanks again

sygnus21 · Apr 24, 2010

I've pretty much exhausted my suggestions here. You could try some of the things you're suggesting as you know what you have, we don't. If you feel you want to try some different cooling methods, give it a try. Once those thing are exhausted, if things remain the same... you'll have a decision to make.

And a phone call to the manufacturer about the RMA isn't going to hurt anything. The most they can say is no, which is what you expect anyway. But... you never know.

Good luck.

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