X800 Xt retail version PROBLEMS!!!

[PowermacG5]

When I play any 3d game like World of Warcraft cod2 or Americas Army. I get wierd video static. along the edges of polygones and some times frames of contorted shapes pop up. It is extremly annoying. It happens on both my 23 inch cinema and 19" Crt.
running 10.4.7... (10.4.8 does nothing for gfx so not a solution)


PLEASE HELP NO APPLE CARE anymore

 

[Sam0r]

Have you even tried updaing to 10.4.8?

Although it sounds to me like one of three things:

- Bad VRAM on the card
- Card Overheating
- VRAM Overheating

Have you tried to overclock the card at all?

 

[Dreadnought]

I second the card is overheating. Is the fan blowing out of the case or is it sucking air out from behind the mac into the mac?

 

[PowermacG5]

hmmmm

It is always really cold at my place. my g5 is butted up against the wall however. (like an inch a way) I have a funny feeling it doesnt happen right away after playing for a while it comes up.. But why only gaming why wouldnt it spill over into the OS. (10.4.8 had no graphic card updates) i cant do 10.4.8 for front row reasons.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

It is always really cold at my place. my g5 is butted up against the wall however. (like an inch a way) I have a funny feeling it doesnt happen right away after playing for a while it comes up.. But why only gaming why wouldnt it spill over into the OS. (10.4.8 had no graphic card updates) i cant do 10.4.8 for front row reasons.

1. Overheating has nothing to do with the temperature in your room (ok that's a lie, it might be problematic if your room is really hot). It depends on the temps of the inside of your g5. Take off the side after playing awhile and check out the video card. Is it really hot? Does the fan even go on?
2. Waiting awhile before it happens seems to be due to overheating. Check it!
3. Gaming because this is where the videocard will be using most ressources rendering 3d. There's not much 3d rendering going on when checking mail...

 

[PowermacG5]

Test

Test:

Turned off computer all night. ( no really freezing cold in the room) anyway the system was undenyably cold on the inside; turned it on.. started World of Warcraft could not see any distortion what so ever. played about 25 minutes and turned off the system..

Last time I cleaned the inside of the system there was some dust around the agp port. I put the card in after taking it completly out. Possible dust in contacts of card..... have not remounted the card yet...

Should i remount the card even though.... overheating of the card is the likely culpret.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Download Temperature Monitor and see how hot the card runs both when the system is idle (but running) and immediately after gaming. If the temps are high you may need a new heatsink/fan.

If operating temperatures are normal and the software is not the problem (test this by running with another, known-to-work video card), then you probably have a dead/dying card.

Remove as much dust as possuble from the card and AGP port before installing it, and check to make sure the card is firmly seated in the AGP connector.

 

[PowermacG5]

dust

I have taken out both processors and cleaned heat sinks along with the agp slot (that had dust packed into it) blew it out with compressed air. I am runnning the machine without the extra PCI card plates. I have had WoW running for at least 2 hours. and i see no reoccurances. I will download temp monintor now.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I recommend leaving the PCI slot backplates on - leaving them open can actually reduce the cooling efficiency.

Temperature Monitor should show you whether the GPU is running too hot, and it should also give you hard drive and CPU temperature readings. Bear in mind that these temperature sensors can be off by as much as 10C, but they are still useful for diagnosing an overheat situation.

 

[PowermacG5]

ohhh okay

Alright I will put them back on. These are my temps as of a few minutes ago.

 

[PowermacG5]

Solution

I have played WoW for several hours with no break... So heat is out. I think in the end it was the excess of dust in the fan and heat sink of the GFX card. As well as the dust in the actual agp port holes.

Thanks to all who contributed to the orginal post

 

[Dreadnought]

Just for the record: dust = heat. When you have a lote of dust on your components, they can NOT get rid of the heat they produce, and therefore not working as they should (red dots on your screen).

 

[PowermacG5]

Red dots

Dont get me started about red dots my 23 has a dead red sub pixel.. Only viewable on dark and black colors... GRRRR Pixel anomolies that arnt covered make me angry