For about two weeks (as far as I can remember), I've been experiencing lock-ups with my GTX-280 that I'm pretty sure have nothing to do with drivers, applications or heat.

Every so often - sometimes more often than not - when playing anything (ROF-Il2-WOP), my system freezes and the screen looks like this (pic taken from my Iphone - as I can't screen capture since the system is locked):

(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/280-lockup-1.jpg)

1. My GPU temps never get hotter than 72C under the heaviest loads I can put on it from my applications, PCB is much lower than that value.
2. I've tried various drivers - using Driver.Cleaner.net to remove all Nvidea cabs/drivers before installing new Drivers
3. I've gone back to 185.85 on my Vista partition and still same issue
4. I've experienced the same issue in XP with newest drivers
5. I've rechecked my P/S connections (modular) - and even changed the connections from PS to video card (both of them) so that the video card electrical load was distributed across both rails.


As near as I can tell - it's either the vid card or the PSU

What do you think?

S~

Gunny

The other issue I seem to have - which has made me suspect the PSU - is that I can't seem to have too many USB items plugged in (back panel), before one or two of them don't work and I have to remove something or plug it into a different port after booting to get the detected and operable by windows.

May be related, maybe not....

Sometimes, I can have everything plugged in and it's ok - and other times not.

S~

Gunny

185.85  i'm running 185.52 x64

OK here make sure to test again with your PC stuck speed.. first. ( due to OC or not enough voltage ) Make sure your PCIE's GPU(s) are locked with regular speed and try again .. If you have 750 W or more your are way OK.
Make your GPU fan at 100 % speed and locked. ( it seems like GPU is dying OR your heatsink do not touch correctly the GPU or the Vram and overheat it happen to my old 6800 GT but i did fix it replacing the thermal paste on GPU and memory modules )

PSU for GTX 280's
http://www.evga.com/forumsarchive/tm.asp?m=100483867 (http://www.evga.com/forumsarchive/tm.asp?m=100483867)


if you have an other PSU or Video card change and test. GPU first.

Partition drives are always slower and trouble some for 80 $ get a separate one with Windows 7 x64 on it and junk Vista.

Give news plz

All this is occuring at stock clocks - after I started to have the problem.

Thanks for all the other data - will do and will check back when I"ve run those to ground....

PSU is a TOPOWER 900W....

S~

Gunny

Gunny 900 W is way enough hopefully it does work ok.. check the warranty of your GPU if it is ok check the void warranty problems first before all.. and in case just do a RMA quick.. EVGA are fast. i did it for my two GTX 280's..

But to me the image you posted looks like you have to open it and check and replace thermal paste or just RMA if warranty problem.. Plz look into EVGA forum and site for more ..

Sorry gunny for this trouble it's quite frustrating and you dont need this at the moment.

Hoo and make sure the GPU is well in it's socket and clean.

Makes much sense.  I'm sure I registered it at EVGA.

I spent some time last night researching - and I saw where some folks had done what you suggest - checking the thermal paste and physical coupling of the VRM/GPU/RAM...

I was hoping to aviod that - but I'll pull it and check it now.

I was using EVGA Precision and GUP-z to monitor timeps and fan speed.

Thanks More later....

S~

Gunny

Those links helped tremendously.

When I think about it - this started on the the last Nvidea driver update back in Dec.  At that time I did reinstall drivers - but in following another thread over at the EVGA forums I found I'm missing a step in how I'm using Driver Cleaner Pro - i.e. in Safe Mode........

Let me go back and do that part exactly - and target drivers 185.52 (good stable driver version helps loads)

Let's see if it's the software Before I attack the hardware....

S~

Gunny

Ok - I finally beat Windows update to the punch and got a good install of certified drivers - windows update is off now for good.  Let's see what happens now.

Biggest difference in the procedure I just used was to uninstall ONLY the Nvidea Driver software and nothing else (like PhysX and the other Nvidea spam).  I hate Nvidea, btw - about as much as I hate Microsoft (have to blow some steam off every once in a while).  My greatest prayer will be answered the day ATI returns......

Now, upon reboot I F8'd and ran Driver Cleaner in Safe mode - ONLY selecting "Nvidea" versus multiple Nvidea related cleaning filters.

Upon reboot out of safe mode (which takes forever - btw - just in case your using this) - everythings up.

Gozr - the driver version your using does not show up in the archive beta list nor the certified list.... sure that number is correct?

Right now, I'm using the EVGA recommended - certified current version.  I know, I know - however I have never had a problem like this with any other 190 series drivers - so let's see where this goes....

Next step if this comes back is to try 180 series.....

Then hardware...

S~

Gunny

Ho yeas ! 185.50  not 52.. was made for Vista 64 with option W7.. the newer driver do not have yet the Split SLI rendering.. but  i think the new one are good.. you should try.
The 185.50 so far is the best for me. and you can disable physx btw.

lets me know what's up//

Good, good job Gozr.  My entire problem it seems was the breakdown of one of the two-bit thermal pads - in this case, the one over the NVIO chip.  More to follow, but for now......  Thanks!!! Great diagnosis - you were most certainly correct.....


Let me show you where I've been all week :)

S~

Gunny

:)  thx  yes

So, after researching a little bit - I found the GPU-Z utility.  I wished I had d/l this application when I first built my system.  Like many folks, I assumed that the GPU temperature and PCB temperature that some utilities (EVGA Precision/RealTemp) monitor, was the whole story - but not at all.  There are many thermal sensors on these cards, and it just so happens that the one which brought my system to it's knees was VDDC Phase 1 thorugh 5 temperatures.

After installing GPU-Z and ATITool (ATITool is great testing utility which produces a 3D rotating cube of what looks like carpet), I saw my VDDC Phase 2 temperature skyrocket to 171.5C prior to a lockup.   Yes you read that correctly 171.5C

After reboot I selected an 80% GPU Load test (Rise of Flight - test track - max graphics).  During this test, GPU-Z revealed:
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/GTX-280-Initial.jpg)

Is this hot enough, do you think?  And, yes - this is all at stock clocks on the graphics board.

I removed the card and opened it up.  On the cooler side I found:
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/Stock%20Cooler%20Side%20of%20280%20after%20initial%20inspection.jpg)

Compare the picture in the post above, from my card's cooler to this, from a GTX-285 in perfect shape:
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/2.5-gtx285-cooler2.jpg)

So let's examine the chip (NVISO) to which the broken thermal pad is connected ..
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/3-NVIO%20Chip%20upon%20dissassembly.jpg)

So clearly, we need to clean it up, and fix thermal material. I used an ArtiClean kit, and a LOT of swabs.  Cleaned up the whole card, including the "Beetle Dung" on the GPU.
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/4-ArtiClean1.jpg)

After I removed the old Thermal Grease from the GPU, I found a small piece of tape stuck to the GPU - originating from the manufacturing process.  No thermal bond there!
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/5-GPU%20stuck%20tape.jpg)

At this point, I used the "Thermal Surface Purifier" from the Articlean Kit to wipe down all surfaces which I'd cleaned with the "Thermal Material Remover", which is a mild citrus-based solvent that does a great job of helping to remove Thermal Grease.  After placing the thermal pads back - I conducted some more testing.

(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/GTX-280-1stWork.jpg)

Compared to the initial - great progress..... (Initial test repeated below for ease of comparison)

(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/GTX-280-Initial.jpg)

S~

Gunny

I had selected Artic Silver Ceramique for this work, due to it's non-conductive properties and it's density (it's not thin - so it won't leak all over the board).  It's also white, so it's easy to see where you need to do final clean-ups.

I applied a little Ceramique to each chip, particularly in the power section, where the surface is supposed to contact with the cooler.  I also cleaned and reapplied the GPU Ceramique.

(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/6-Just%20before%20final%20reassembly.jpg)

I did clean up the board a little more before re-assembly.

So, how did this all work?
FINAL TEMPS UNDER LOAD
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/GTX-280-Final.jpg)
INITIAL TEMPS UNDER LOAD
(https://webspace.utexas.edu/joem/computer%20hardware/GTX280%20freezes/GTX-280-Initial.jpg)

That's about the largest temperture improvment, underload I've ever seen on a device.

S~

Gunny

Also, notice the significant drop in VDDC current - not using as much power now that we are cooler.

S~

Gunny

Exelent!

So now we can see why I have not been around the last week or so.

Oh yeah, GPU temps a idle are 43C for core and 38 for PCB. 

S~

Gunny

Sorry, and nice work!

Thanks Toad, that means a lot coming from you.   

S~

Gunny

At this point in the thread I am calling it a fact. A series of proofs.

I would like,

1. A shopping list and tooling
2. An estimate of hours to completion. Could I do this in 1 weekend day or 2?
3. Can I call you if I have questions when I try to do this?
4. (should be #1) What do I need to benchmark before and after?

I have to say; under product liability laws for manufacturing in the USA your product was not to the standard of care.

Heheheh..... You know King - your correct.

In celebration of that fact - I'm proud to annouce that my GTX-280 is the last Nvidea product I'll own for a long time.

After much research over the last few days - examining the current state of:

1. GTX-295
2. ATI 5970
3. ATI 5870
4. GTX-300 architecture and implications

I'm going to pick up a new ATI based card and feel better about "investing locally" (AMD is an Austin Company)...

Notice how it's now January, far past Win 7 launch and still no GT-300 series?  Don't hold your breath - it ain't coming.  No reason to release a new vidcard that can't outperform your competitors, in any area.

S~

Gunny

SLI rules

Not for my personal applications, at home - I can't find the use for it.  This last two weeks with this card trouble has just completely driven home the fact that the last thing ol' Gunslinger needs is one more layer of hardware and software complexity.  No - No - No....  I'm on the verge now of the instantity of "overclockers" versus "folks who actually master a game or simulation..... No I'm her at 7:41 PM still screwing with my system - hoping that the last thing I did (last night) - properly isolated the VRM that I think is still randomly overheating.  My other choice was to have no video board for as long as it would take EVGA to turn my board around.

As I've said before, at work I have 18 SLI systems - most are dual 8800 SLI driving 4, 22" monitors with 4 workstations pushing 4, 30" at 2560 X 1200.  Didn't I post pictures a while back?  If I didn't let me know and I will, as I think you'd find it interesting.

The sysadmins are setting up two more new ones, based on GTX-295's.  I wonder now, if they've had to RMA any.  I'll ask tommorow - they have a pile of them on the shelf.

Anyway, I digress - yes your are correct - SLI is a bit faster than either a standalone 5970 or 295 in many applications - but not that much faster.

Anyway, don't take anything I say to seriously right now as I'm kind of miserable with this and would actually like to fly ROF before I forget how :)

My plan is to nurse this 280 until it either smokes or works properly..

S~

Gunny

Dam! and after you guys talked me out of an ATI into the 260 you say this LOL

Well I just got my ISP back.

I lost it Tues Afternoon.

They had a major crash, it effected their entire system nation wide.

They had to call out someone to fix their system Ouch!!!

So sorry if you looked for me the lat two evenings.

I really wanted to be there.

Heh - I didn't talk you into a Nvidea thing, as I remember (you can always provide me with a link).  In fact, I think I'm one of the only people that actually has had an ATI product in the last four-five years besides you.  Of course, I'm senile these days so I might have forgotten......

You have not missed me as I have not been flying (unfortunatley).  My 280 is crashing now at low temps - but it can last long enough to conduct a benchmark.

So, I am going to order a new board tonight - after I finish digging in forums.  Candidates are:

1) ATI 5970
2) ATI 5870
3) GTX 285 - 2 MB
4) GTX 295

I'm really tempted to grab one of the ATI boards so I can benchmark it to compare against all my 280 benchmarks.  The 280 benchmarks can scale to 285 and other Nvidea setups.

S~

Gunny

Before I order though - I have one more thing I need to try with my 280 - now that temps have been fixed and we know they are not the issue.

Drivers 182.50.......

S~

Gunny

All i can say is that ATI are really picky with Flightsim and i will not go there yet myself but maybe they did improved .... I had ATI and ho boy!! a pain,  hard and annoying to tweak.

Everything is about tuning the correct way mostly for SLI.

EVGA had a special test drive program before buying check it out.

But anyway anyone of them would do good tests and for others to know. ;)

Very expensive for this late of the series.

Yes they are expensive for late in the series.

Ok, so 5970 is out - it's too long for my case and I can't justify it's expense.


As far as waiting for Nvidea to produce something new soon:
1. No one has been given a GF100 board for review
2. Nvidea has not even released the clocks/bandwidths
3. The are promising somewhere around 2X performance
4. Promising shipping in Q1

Those 4 things don't add up.  Based on past trendlines - Nvidea won't release GF100 as something you can actually order until Q2 at the earliest.

Two other things that really bother me about the GF100 architecture is:
1. Increased power consumption
2. Increased heat

Here's my problem - I need a new card - best single GPU card on the market is the 5870.  After reviewing all the data over at ROF - most who have switched to this card from Nvidea are very happy with it.

It's got enough legs to stretch me for another year or two and when ROF goes DX11 - well - I'm there.  In the past, I had ATI and really was happy with every product I had.

I'm going to sleep on this - and if I'm ok tommorow - I'll make my order.  I just can't wait any longer.  I'm way behind on beta testing.

Thanks

S~

Gunny

I even revisted SLI (single card version though) :)

Bevo just got a 295 and I can go check out ROF on his system - of course his quad is an I7, so I'd have to factor that in.

What do you think of the 295?

Well anyway, enough for tonight.

S~

Gunny

Well a 295 would be lesser than what i have but better than one 280 and depend on the VRAM load used as well.
A 295 will  not have 1 GB per card or GPU  it has 896MB x 2 .. so it's unclear for me ..
A 295 is two GTX 260 and also actually a SLI 260 can perform better than a 295.

A SLI 280 or a 285 is fantastic for now but i would be curious how ATI perform on Sim

Depend of some factors

It would be good if you could take to test one 295 from your job .. and compare .

That's a good idea!

Let me see if I can sneak one out for the weekend

let you know tommorow

S-

G

Yes great ;)

Interesting stuff

Mega Test GTX295 Quad SLi vs GTX280 Tri SLi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrZwKHOyohg#normal)

411 ?

Wow.  That's pretty incredible.  3 280's match 4 295's.....

Gozr - my friend Bevo is bringing me two cards today for testing.  A GTX 295 and 8800 GTX.  I'm ordering my 5870 right now.

So, I'll be able to benchmark in ROF, Il2 and WOP this weekend on the following cards:

- GTX 280
- GTX 295
- 8800 GTX

And when it arrives:

- Radeon 5870

As I was shopping for the new card - I found myself in the same place I was a year ago when I built my new system - the industry reviewers can't be bothered to test anything but FPS.

I'm going to call this the "TX-Ecodragon Memorial" TX-squadron graphics card shootout, and add a new thread to cover this. 

I wish I had an SLI baseline to test on.   Do you think I could use the 295 to get an idea of SLI performance?

I don't like the shared 1xPCIE bandwith with the GTX 295 in some boards so it all depend but it is considered as SLI .

I think you'll be a bit disappointed with the ATI vs the 295 so make sure to RMA your 280 is something is starting to cook there but hopefully not and it will be very interesting !!! but 295 vs a 5870... lets see.!!! i think the GTX295 will get over the ATI... but the 5870 is a great single card.

Or maybe i could try Tri SLI with yours ;) Tri SLI , i can on my Mobo ( 3x16 ) ;) ( i do have EVGA 780i FTW on both my systems.. my server running 2x8800 SLI/Q9550) a Q9550 runs better than a Q9650 at the same cruising speed 3.6/3.8)

Too bad you don't have FSX to benchmark some numbers. but what i can say is that when you guys are at 49 fps in RoF i think i hit triple digits..

The 8800 is still a good card and perfect for physics card.. but limited on the Vram for simming at 1920x1200

Order done -

http://www.elitebastards.com/pic.php?picid=hanners/sapphire/5870-vaporx/images/board_profile.jpg (http://www.elitebastards.com/pic.php?picid=hanners/sapphire/5870-vaporx/images/board_profile.jpg)

Vaporx - Sapphire 5870 on it's way.  Should have it in my hands on Tuesday.

S~

Gunny

I'm only testing the 8800 because I can.  I'm giving the 295 and 8800 back to Bevo tommorow evening.  He's dropping them off right now.

One of the prevailing opinions is that you are wasting your money on the "new stuff" because of the nature of flight sims.  9800 GTX /8800 GTX

If I can get EVGA to RMA this board (which they will give me a GTX-285 for, as that's what they have been doing for a some months as there are not any 280's in stock) - I'll do it.  My warrenty is void however.  Perhaps they'll cut me a break.

Crossfired 5870's are outbenchmarking SLI'd GTX 285's.

Single 5870 is quieter, less power hungry and lower temperture's than any Nvidea product.

The only question is "How does all this translate to DX9 propeller aircraft combat sims"......

I thought about adding FSX for everyone's benefit - however I'm afraid that all the add-on's and configuration settings I'd have to twiddle with would take too much time and I only have these two cards until tommorow.


Holding 295 in my hands.....

S~

Gunnny

The ATI card is a tight faster but in no way faster than the bigger SLI's .. but the SLI 280/285 crushes the Ati. since a single 295 already get better than the 5870 and the 295 is two 260's.. now saying that 8800 or 9800 is better for flight sim i would NOW disagree strongly the SLI 280 kills the 8800's i can tell you and i can run them side by side on my two system ;)

PS: It just take 3 lines in the config to tweak FSX now and for the addons well it depend what you want really or where.. But King may give you a better feeling for this..

(HD) Radeon HD 5870 Vs GTX 295 CO-OP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlL4aombWyo#normal)

HIS HD 5870 Video Card vs. EVGA GTX 295 Video Card Results (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEs4UEqzsOg#normal)

Now the 295 has two GPU's the ATI one, the 295 has 896 mb Vram the ATI 1GB..

Two 5870's should scream on crossfire!!!.. The wattage on the ATI is much better ..

I like 16XAA + 16XAF, alot I like ROF ground textures on high, I like some of the effects.  So that pretty much kills any card without 1 MB and should crush this 8800 (but I don't know til I test it...).... at 1920 X 1200.

I just uninstalled/cleaned in safe mode - reinstalled in safe mode this January driver (I know there was lots of moaning over on the Nvidea forums about these) but I like to test on the most recent WQHL driver because that's what most simmers are going to go and get.  Anyway... on to the testing  - I'll start a new thread on results....


We will see what we will see :)  GTX 280 rebenched first in ROF with settings max'd out...

Later,

Gunny

Yes that will be hard on the 8800 on High terrain texture, it overload the Vram of the card you will have to go Medium terrain on that one.

News..News..News..News..News..News..News..News..News..News..News..News.. ?  ?

:)

GTX 280 kicks the butt of the GTX 295 in ROF

I just changed from 2 GPU (stuttering in the neoqb green cube at the start)
to
Single GPU (no stuttering in the neoqb green cube and audio)

I would be really mad if I bought this card.... :)

Can you get better frames in ROF with SLI Gozr?

The lack of 1GB of VRAM makes a big difference in what you can run.....  The bandwidth in GPU-Z is less too

Any ideas?

It's like less than a 260 X 2 - and feels like it...

S~

Gunny

Yes Gunny as i said before where you get 49 FPS i get the double basically i'm pretty much in the triple digit on all high ofcourse.. But here a trick that Nvidia suck..  the profiles are wrong.. The new driver do not come with the split format, only on Nvidia recommendation witch is alternate 1 and 2.. and actually i make them split and no alternate crap. The last driver that had this function was the 182.50 ( around that one ) unless you tweak a lot with Riva-tuner ( like me ) or Nhancer to built customs at will profiles..

Yes Gunny 1 GB and above is now a must. I will get 2GB on my next ones for sure.. The lower and stutters are a lot in part with textures load.. i have been saying that years ago while back testing my others SLI's back then..
Same with Il2 many where around 70/90 fps when i was at 300 ;)

I love to tune it's my hobby ;) I was the only guy around that made my 7950GX2 ( dual GPU card worked great and kicking ass )

With the ATI .. a bit harder to tweak or tune but somehow i like their technology of crossfire.. so we have hope.
Now by going ATI 5870 1GB ( gad dam no less than 1 GB ) i think it should be very very interesting.. for the good.. lets see this..

I would of love to test it as well as GTX 285 2GBversion on SLI.. i bet i would of made some nice benchmark for flight sims..

I'm looking at the new GPU  GF100 coming up from Nvidia and i'm quite please to see the GRR5 and more Memory bus width then the ATI .. The new Surround technology coming up also give a great future for us.

But lets see what is next..  exiting isn't it ?

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/01/17/nvidias_fermi_gf100_facts_opinions (http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/01/17/nvidias_fermi_gf100_facts_opinions)
http://hardocp.com/news/2010/01/17/rumored_fermi_videos (http://hardocp.com/news/2010/01/17/rumored_fermi_videos)

Well, read closely the summaries:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/01/17/nvidias_fermi_gf100_facts_opinions/3 (http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/01/17/nvidias_fermi_gf100_facts_opinions/3)

If Nvidea pulls it off, yes - but they don't seem to be all that close right now.  Read closely the conclusions sections to these articles.

It remains to be seen - Based upon what I'm reading, you might not be able to touch one of these below $700 before June.  If you can wait till mid-summer or fall - cool.  Maybe it won't show up at all.

If they had a product ready, it would be on the shelves or at least in the hands of reviewers.  My guess is they are trying their hardest to iron out what much be large issues (heat, power maybe) prior to April (End of 1st quarter sales reporting).  Since the 2nd business quarter runs till June -that would seem to be the "make or break" date for this architecture.

We'll see.  Certainly the incorporation of Tessellation technology for DX11 is super.

If the GF100, shows I might have to get one if it really shows that kind of performance, applicable to flight sim 3D.

Thanks

S~

Gunnny

Gozr, I just re-read your post above from the other day...

So you have SLI working on your two GTX-280's in ROF?

Thanks,

S~

Gunny

Yeas , we will see what will come up of all this  more cards more competitions better for us..  personally i don't care who is making the best cards as long as they perform for us with a low price 700 $ is just bad. but i can wait there is no single card at the moment that can take an SLI 280 yet. I can wait surely wait.
For the moment many Mobo maker do not make SLI well and since i need SLI for higher performances i'm sure i'll stick with the one that deliver as usual but once again i don't care whom.

For the moment i'm still with my Nvidia because it's what i have and I'm still in the highest OC and performance around the hood.

It's all about the performances preferences of each of us. Power ratio money and seeing all those companies battling for the best prices performances .. hell yea!! ;)

100% agreed, the incorporation of Tessellation technology for DX11 cool stuff :)

Yeas .. even with the 8800 SLI that i'm typing now ROF runs great!!! ( stutter all over with Terrain at hight due to 123 % over memory so i'm using Medium on this PC server and dual monitors ) 3 total that why i'm waiting for the new stuff surround !!

Enjoy your domination while it lasts :)  5870/5850 have been out since summer......

What is your highests stable CPU clock btw?

BTW my mobo is 8X for the other PCIE video slot......


S~

Gunny

Terrain high = 123 %
Terrain medium 36 %

Big difference... go figure :)

8x is oK Gunny you should try the mix card thing  look at the bandwith that the card is using.

I did 4.4 on the Q9650 on 4 GB but i'm using 8 GB S0 4.2 is a good max with 4x 2GB but since i really don't need i get wise and run on cruise @ 4050 GHZ ( til summer ) with 8 GB 4 sticks witch is difficult to OC luckly the EVGA FTW is a great strong board and demand some Voltages tweaks

Some how lately i have my network card driver quitting on me.. need to reload my drivers all around

Interesting reading here guys.   How has the testing gone Gunny?

I just upgraded from an 8800 GTS 320Mb...yep...slow card, to an HD 5770 VaporX.  Gotta keep the budget low as I've got one kid eyeing colleges back east...
Anyway, big improvement in ROF, but issues in IL2.  Mostly the Cat drivers, but not unplayable.  It actually really plays nicely.

I'm anxious to see your results Gunny.

V*O*X*M*A*N!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Vox, somewhere in my insane searching to attempt to find the cure for the ATI Il2 illness - I came across a post (probably at UBI) of yours where you had found that playing "The Black Death Track" for a little bit cured the text/gui corruption.

I think that was on Friday.  Anyway - I found another solution (based on your theme), which may be quicker.

Start QMB with all aircraft slots full (helps to save a mission) - and in about 8-12 seconds - the text corruption will dissappear.

I've had to switch back to ROF testing this weekend, but will endeavor to finish somthing soon. 

Here's my conf.ini - except for text corruption at the beginning - it's working very well and the game is very playable with water = 2

[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=3
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=1
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=0
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=0
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=0
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=1
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I imagine you already  have all this, but just in case...

S~

Gunny

I'll post frames soon - the Nvidea's will get better frames with their "Substandard" anti-aliasing algorithms......

Great to see you Vox....  Let me know where you guys are flying these days....  I need a little Il2 action....  I loaded up that UltraPak 2.0 a few weeks ago and realized I didn't even know the game anymore :)

S~

Gunny

NOT TRUE!  :o

It took me considerably longer, and ultimately I don't even know what I did to get it to scream, but my 7950GX2 was pushing 200+ frames when you were doing 300 and everyone else was sitting happily on 80.

I found that card interesting, but just too many quirks and way too tempermental. The switch to a G92 8800GTS 512 was like an epiphany.

I absolutely love my 285GTX and have had no problems at all with it. For me, this card will have to suffice (it's not I'm suffering with anyway  ;D) until something substantially better comes out that is fairly plug-n-play and can easily outperform what I currently have with stable drivers and broad application.

I'm not as willing as some to give up on NV. My last 5 cards have been NV and I haven't had an ATI card since the old ATI 9800 Pro ruled the roost.

I actually, for once in a long long time - decided to get online.    Had a lot of fun on Tides of War - got 3 kills and then got an error I'd seen in the beta (Sopwith Camel skin) - so I reinstaled ROF.

I'm just about at the end of playing with hardware and software.  It's amazing how you can let yourself get distracted from the things you got all this crap for.

I turned in my RMA request over at EVGA about a week ago - and have not hear anything from them.  I'd assume that's normal, right?

S~

Gunny

Well, I had a couple hours to kill this weekend and decided to try to get my IL2 installation back up to speed. What an abortion that whole scene is right now...but I still went through it all.  :-\

Got the Ultrapack 2.0, the UP2.0 client patch, the JSGME mod enabler and fiddled with it for a few hours trying to get it all sorted. At this point, I can join a few of my favorite servers and a few I can't for reasons still undetermined.

Either way, the process is so convoluted, inconsistent and quirky that it has GOT to have a negative impact on the community.

Then to RoF. I like it and have fun with it...at times. I've been such an advocate of the things it does "right" , but it's difficult to post negative things in a constructive manner when they've been so persistent.

#10019 connection errors, server crashes (game servers, NOT the neoqb host server), and the cumbersome....... waiting ......that are a big part of it are deterrents that are hard to deal with for me with so little time "in pit" lately.

[/Rant off]

Got mom & hubby coming into town for a couple days this week and though I haven't seen them for almost 7 years, my stepfather was a long time, positive influence for me regarding my interest in aviation and he's excited about finally getting to see some "real" flight sims in action. Accordingly, I will likely be online doing both IL2 and RoF quite a bit Tuesday eve & Wed.

TB yes I agree :)
I was flying on MiG just yesterday too.. and i agree too for the mess in IL2.
FSX has been a good fun during all of this time in and between mess.

Gunny , Didi you check on your account status at EVGA ? Normally it will be back soon..

Checking everyday since I turned it in.  Nothing yet.  Even sent an email to one of the "heads" in charge of RMA.

S~

Gunny

It took 14 days for mine since the day i sent it... Lets see , hopefully pretty soon.

TB I saw you leave when I was coming in on Saturday.  Oh well.  I actually got some stick time in a couple of nights ago on both ROF and IL2.  Man I'm rusty....anyway, yeah IL2 is so
"pulled apart" for lack of a better word.  I made three installations on my machines....just in case.  The maps on WOP are really well constructed, except for that d*mn Hornisse :) .

Anyway, not sure how much stick time I'll have over the next month.  I'm planning my next business trip and this one I may have mentioned back in the FS days.  It's in Philadelphia at a company that makes flight simulators for various air forces throughout the world.  They put our equipment in these simulators so they can monitor pilot heart rate, eye tracking, and various body metrics.  The folks I'm training are from the Egyptian Air force.  Hopefully I'll get to try out one of the sims...we'll see. :) .

Here's the company's website:
http://www.etcaircrewtraining.com/]
[url]http://www.etcaircrewtraining.com/ (http://[url)[/url]

Wow, Vox - that's big league!  Gozr will want one :)

Hope you get to try it !

S~

Gunny

I wish I'd of got my lazy Dumb ass up and involved enough to land a job like that, instead of taking the easy way out and fixing Diesels, and other components on Semi's.

I'm very good at it, but it doesn't pay, and it's boring as hell in comparison to traveling the world.

Green with Envy Vox/Gunny

As I'm leavin the house this morning at 4:00 Am to catch a flight to DC to all the snow and ice - looking forward to another round with the "Washington Weasels" - I really wish I'd had enough sense to stay home, raise my kids and work on diesels...

More later...

S~

Gunny

Yeh, well you would have to stay home, no money left to do anywhere with  LOL

Lets say you and your job leave you with no money left over.

At least you have an expense account and travel expenses, and new things to see and do.

You've done very well.

I'm just grateful that the folks we work with are still solvent enough to pay for a training.  Interesting enough, this past year has ramped up on trainings..a couple of weeks ago I was in Boston.  Just found out yesterday that I'll be training in Hawaii at the end of the month..then this Philly thing.  A couple in the horizon..one in Montana and one at the University of Missouri Columbia...are you close to the Univ. TOAD?

Funny enough I was lucky to land this job 4 years ago.  I don't know if you recall, but I was laid-off at my previous job with 18yrs. of service.   I just happened to be helping out with one of my wife's friends and she asked me what I did for a living, and I said "science".  She told me that's what they did ( she was in accounting) and put in a good word and my resume to the CEO.  When I interviewed, they were impressed with my computer skills....mind you that was all learned from IL2 and you guys..in fact, you TOAD helped me get my job as well, as I would always check out your Tech support posts over at UBIzoo.

Sorry I missed you Vox. Basically, I ended up removing IL@ and doing a clean install in order to get things to run right. As it turns out, I had some clutter left over from the UI and just didn't see it apparently. So, I did a clean install...DVD(4.07), patch 4.08m, patch 409m, Ultrapack 2.0full (from the torrent), UP2.0 client patch and voila. The only bad things about it are the fact, I was so compressed for time, when I was doing all my backups, I forgot to grab my skins folder and some of my beloved tracks. The skins are really no big deal as we've never really been able to use them online and that's the only IL2 flying I do anyway, but the loss of my tracks really sucks...the TUSA-vs-Russia, TUSA-vs-Warclouds and some other personal recordings that really meant alot to me.

Oh well. I still have the memories and only the potential onslought of alzheimers will ever take that from me.

Vox its 3 hours away.

Columbia is North Central on I-70, I'm located south west on I-44

Well I'm glad I was a useful tool in your job grabbing.

I usually get shun by the IT guys, due to my opposite angle of thinking to get thisgs fixed, compared to theirs.

Case in point, pick up any attitude in this post.  :o

 http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthread.php?t=49800 (http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthread.php?t=49800)

Good go Toad.

So it's not HSFX 4.1 anymore wtf? what a mess Il2 became a circus regarding the files and we are not talking of 2 MB files here but Gigs.

I'm thankful for the luck I've had....

Looks like I'm stuck here in D.C. for a while....

Bad snow and ice storm coming - my Saturday AM flights been cancelled.  I'll juat have to spend a few days spoiling my three little grandkids - which will be nice....

Wish I'd brought my laptop as a long-winded old fart like me has difficulty really getting into stride on an iPhone.

I'll write more tommorow when I find a real computer...

S~

Gunny

Have a good time with the Kids Gunny.

Hang in there and stay warm.   It looks like it's going to be a big snow dumper.

You should have up to 30 inches of snow.

Show them grand kids how to make a fort, tunnels, snowman, etc.

Stay off the dam PC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_img_full/image/image_file/P121909PS-0113.JPG)