By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:38:34 +0000

I just picked up one of my first non-OEM cards in a while — a BFG Nvidia GTX 260OC (216core). I’m not real happy yet — some have said I should have gone for the ATI 4760 or something similar.

So far had nothing but problems — from not enough native PCIE extra internal power adapters (this card takes two 6-pin, the 280 would have taken 1 8-pin+1 6-pin; my previous card, a Quadro (512MB) line, took 1 6-pin). My power supply was fine (750W), but didn’t have the right connectors coming initially.

Now, I’m waiting on a replacement card (another week delay) from BFG — to test against the problem I’m having — which appears to be an Nvidia driver problem. Unfortunately, NVidia has no place for feedback on their drivers unless you are running VISTA. But I think it was the Vista-ization of the XP drivers that’s causing my display problem — namely only a 1080p image is visible in a 1920×1200 display — with the desktop taking the full 1920×1200, but the card is displaying only a 1080p sized image centered in the display and the edge of the desktop all around is blacked out — roughly a half an inch top and bottom and about 3/4″ on the sides.

Before I loaded the Nvidia drivers, with the card running as an unknown VGA-compatible, it would display a full 1920×1600 desktop (but unaccelerated) — loading Nvidia drivers then chopped off the edge of the desktop all the way around the edge. The problem seems to be related to my using a DVI->HDMI cable (that comes with the monitor) or a DVI->HDMI adapter (that comes with the card). Another monitor from another computer at 1600×1200 with DVI works, but my current monitor (Viewsonic) only has an HDMI input (+VGA+SVGA). But the tech at BFG thinks that the card is sensing the use of the HDMI cable and is chopping off the part of the image over 1080p because HDMI apparently is speced to a max 1080p, so the driver, as part of its DRM-control is downgrading the image to 1080p and cutting off what it thinks should be an “overage” (even though the hardware is syncing to a 1920×1200 monitor).

But BFG knows nothing about the driver code and Nvidia doesn’t support do support for their chips — they just provide the driver. So at this point am caught between Nvidia and BFG for support, and Nvidia and Viewsonic for having incompatible card->driver->monitor standards over the DVI->HDMI cable (even though it worked with the previous, non-Vista, Nvidia Quadro driver).

The three BFG tech’s I’ve talked to so far don’t know what to do for debugging beyond replacing the card — since I have the latest drivers for everything else. They are suggesting either my motherboard manufacturer (Dell), or monitor-vendor (Viewsonic) need to supply updated drivers to work with the card — but there are none and the Viewsonic person almost couldn’t stop laughing at the idea of it being a ‘monitor’ driver ‘bug’…(and Dell hasn’t produced any new drivers for my sys in a year).

Stupidest situation — everyone is pointing fingers, but Nvidia who owns the drivers doesn’t support them. Great work guys!

Am suprised no one else has run into this with the previous 260 or 280, unless it is specific to the 216 core 260. Either way, I hate getting caught between vendors who aren’t talking and Nvidia who’s implementing DRM for Vista to downres display’s if it detect “improper hardware hookups” — which the BFG tech would like me to believe “is normal” — even though the 896MB GTX 260+ is easily supposed to handle 1920×1200 and supposed to use HDMI transparently as a substitute for DVIDVI connections.

Right now it’s looking to me like DRM related code run-amok. *sigh*

By: Daniel Turnbough

Daniel Turnbough — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:11:26 +0000

Hum... Ever heard about a website named Google http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/vista32/theater550-vista32.html

By: Jake Barnard

Jake Barnard — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:51:50 +0000

Hey Jeff… totally understand your pain. Same reason I stopped getting ATI myself years ago. It is a bummer to hear their support still sucks.

I would say try again – maybe just got a bad operator.. but I think you are right on the OEM being the kicker there with them.

Comments on: Now I Remember Why I Don’t Buy ATI…

By: Linda

By: Daniel Turnbough

By: Jake Barnard