My leadtek (winfast a400 GT TDH) geforce 6800gt is doing crazy things

[Sabertooth]

Hi again everyone,

My second replacement (third card) arrived today without much fanfare, I guess getting two prior defective cards has now made me ambivalent. Without wasting anytime, I opened the box and looking at the card even a blind man can tell it's NOT new. So with my fingers crossed, I installed the 6800 hoping to eat my words since I said I won't be surprised if the replacement is once again defective.

Well I am sad to let you all know that this card is again DEFECTIVE :-(, I hurried down to my neighbour and the same artifacts and lines shown on my monitor was evident on his. I normally leave no stone unturned and tried the computer shop near me (they call me the LEADTEK guy now after two prior tests ) , and they got the same anomalies on their monitor too. They felt real sorry for me but I'm sure they are probably saying good for him since they sell video cards too.

I am short of words at this time and don't know if I should just accept the loss and get another brand of card or contact Leadtek again. This is ridiculous that after 50+ emails and three cards am still where I was back in October of last year. I don't know why Leadtek can't issue a recall on these darn cards because there is a problem and it is across boards. I've got screenies below and open to suggestions.

Hello guys,

I got my fourth card (6800) today and with my fingers still crossed installed it. Lo and behold, no anomalies in the BIOS and none in windows. Hooray!!!, finally a card that worked right out the box (confirms my computer is OK). I'm glad the ordeal is over after close to four months of run arounds and extreme frustration.

Now that I have a working card, I am going to try to see if I can get them to send me a ship label, after paying return shipping on the three prior cards; I think Leadtek should cover this return shipping, but eitherway they have lost my business.

Goodluck to everyone going through a similar fate as I did.

 

[dethalis]

Shipping

they sent me a lable for the two i have to send back so they should

 

[daverowan007]

Leadtek A400 GT TDH

I'm completely new to this site and joined simply through reading this thread! I've just bought a Leadtek A400 off ebay (wish i'd read this first!) and on installing it in my computer i got the same patterns of dots and lines that everyone else has spoke of! I managed to get it working by re-installing my old ATI card, completely removing all traces of the old graphics driver and then sloting the Leadtek back in and installing the drivers on the cd. All was well! That was until i ran a HL2 Lost Coast video stress test! When it had finished and returned to the menu screen the pc froze in game and the lines and dots began appearing again!! They got worse with every movement of the mouse until it reset itself! After that it booted up with lines, dots and garbled characters everywhere, and then blue screened, repeatedly reseting itself! :dead: I addmitted defeat and turned off the pc and UNPLUGGED it from the mains. An hour later i connected it all up again, turned it on and its now working fine...very strange! Really not sure what to do as I might be able to return it to the eBayer i bought it off, but if theres a fix out there for it i dont mind keeping it! Has anyone come to any conclusions about the problems with this card?! WOuld love to know! Cheers! :slurp:
Ps. My spec is.....
P4 3.0GHz; P4P800-vm mobo; 400w PSU (i think); the Leadtek isnt connected directly to the PSU but on the same cable as HD!

 

[dethalis]

hmmm.....

I'm completely new to this site and joined simply through reading this thread! I've just bought a Leadtek A400 off ebay (wish i'd read this first!) and on installing it in my computer i got the same patterns of dots and lines that everyone else has spoke of! I managed to get it working by re-installing my old ATI card, completely removing all traces of the old graphics driver and then sloting the Leadtek back in and installing the drivers on the cd. All was well! That was until i ran a HL2 Lost Coast video stress test! When it had finished and returned to the menu screen the pc froze in game and the lines and dots began appearing again!! They got worse with every movement of the mouse until it reset itself! After that it booted up with lines, dots and garbled characters everywhere, and then blue screened, repeatedly reseting itself! :dead: I addmitted defeat and turned off the pc and UNPLUGGED it from the mains. An hour later i connected it all up again, turned it on and its now working fine...very strange! Really not sure what to do as I might be able to return it to the eBayer i bought it off, but if theres a fix out there for it i dont mind keeping it! Has anyone come to any conclusions about the problems with this card?! WOuld love to know! Cheers! :slurp:
Ps. My spec is.....
P4 3.0GHz; P4P800-vm mobo; 400w PSU (i think); the Leadtek isnt connected directly to the PSU but on the same cable as HD!

From what i understand there are no fixes for this so i would see if you can rma the card to leadtek and they send you a new one.

 

[daverowan007]

Oh Well!

Thanks! Ive just spoken to the guy I bought it off and he's going to send it back to Leadtek for me and post the new one to me when he gets it.....could be a while though by the sounds of things! :zzz: Chances are i'll probably get a faulty one back too! :suspiciou Any suggestions of anyone for an AGP card of same quality if he gives me a refund instead?!

 

[atomicplayer]

ok that damn card is really pissing me off. I thought I could play bf2 *correctly* only with big black lines on my screen every 2 minutes. That's ugly but supportable... considering that it is a LEADTEK 6800 gt...

but the ****ing card crash randomly while playing bf2. it has happened 5 or 6 times since i have card and twice within like 10 minutes. strangly, all is going well playing the f.e.a.r. demo and call of duty. ok its maybe a software problem but all was going well on every games with my radeon 9200. I think its a gddr problem since bf2 eats a lot of it. yeah f.e.a.r. is a big game but maybe its better optimised for geforces.

I don't know if I should rma the card again.. I worry about receiving something worse than now.

I'd so want to take that card (if we can call it a card, that's more an industrial waste) out of my case and throw it out the window.

Edit : now im having the same crashs in FEAR . no black lines but the pc has just crashed and i had to reboot it like in bf2. Ive tested my memory during 8 hours with memtest 86 and no probs found. my p4 is at aproximately 43 degrees so the problem seems to come from the gfx card...

 

[dethalis]

Hmm...

Thanks! Ive just spoken to the guy I bought it off and he's going to send it back to Leadtek for me and post the new one to me when he gets it.....could be a while though by the sounds of things! :zzz: Chances are i'll probably get a faulty one back too! :suspiciou Any suggestions of anyone for an AGP card of same quality if he gives me a refund instead?!

Ok first if i were you i would send it back to leadtek and get the new one. If he gives you a refund... How much you spend on it? If 230 then get this 6800gs with lifetime warrenty on it. BFG Asylum 6800GS OC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143045

But seriously i would get leadtek to send rma to yourself that away if you get a good one you atleast have a good card or get the one above your call.

 

[daverowan007]

Leadtek aftersales...?!?

Thanks for the advice. I actually paid £165 sterling for it, so i'm not sure if it works out good or not against the GS, but the same card seems to be going for more on ebay at the moment so think i got lucky (?!?!) :haha: The guy says he will give me a refund if I want one, but first i'm going to contact Leadtek to see if they'll give me a brand new card. One guy selling his on ebay says he had problems with it until he got a better PSU, so might do that if I get a new card.

 

[dethalis]

Leadtek Really Really Suxors

OK i have just recived my new rma the second one that i had them send and its bad right out of the box as well. If i didn't spend 500 on it i would take a shot gun and use it for target practice. So i have contacted leadtek again with a nasty email. Maybe i can get them to buy me a brand new card of newegg and have it shipped next day. Otherwise i will probably just recieve another broken card and thus have more problems. I wish they would really test their cards before they send them out. I think it has to do with maybe because they don't make this card anymore that they are just sending out stuff that was returned cuz the person who returned it said it was bad and yet they test it at leadtek and for some reason it works there and they send it to me and it doesn't work. I have a Athlon XP 2600+ 2gig of Dual channel DDR 400 and a 400w powersupply i know its not my computer cuz i wouldn't be on it right now if it was. I have had less problems out of my Radeon 9550 that is bios flashed to 9600 pro and overclocked from 250 to 475 core than this pos. I hope something good happens with the card this time.

 

[Sabertooth]

....... I hope something good happens with the card this time.

How much you wanna bet ?

 

[Stingray_]

Me too!

Like a few of you guys, I have also joined this forum just because this card (although after browsing a little, I see that it will be a good site to have bookmarked). I purchased my original A400 in Jan 2005 and had to send it back the first time in July of 2005. Until that time it had worked perfect on high settings for far cry and America’s army. They sent me back a different card, but it was obviously not new (discoloration on the heat sink). It worked fine for awhile but then the fan started going out on it and it started a few of the artifact problems described here by so many people. I sent it back and now a month later I have received the card back...it is the same card they sent me the second time, but the fan has been replaced. It would not load the first couple of times but then, magically it worked once and I played postal2 for a few hours with no real problems (the game played fine, but on boot-up there were lines that were vertical but moved horizontally across the screen). It only worked that one time though, then I found this thread...I propped up my card with a cd case and it has loaded fine since (2 or 3 reboots). It is a ridiculous solution for a $300 card, but it seems to work. Thanks. I plan on sending some *****-mail to 3btech.com, NVIDIA, and leadtek...not that it will do any good. If enough people respond where these folks can feel it (the pocket book), then maybe someone will fix the problem. I plan on buying ATI from now on.

 

[Jason Novak]

Well, I got a nv5 silencer. It still crashes in the first minute or two of 3Dmark, works fine otherwise (ie no artifacts in Windows/BIOS). The last post though seems to confirm that the card is too heavy and isn't making good contact or something. The back plate doesn't seem very effective since there is a think sheet of plastic under it between the board and the heatsink (I guess so it can't short it out, can't be good for heat transfer though)

I've started messing with the card settings now. I've tried running the card at 1.4v, no help ... I'm starting to suspect it's the memory since it sounds like the issue before. I tried clocking it down to 800MHz and it still didn't fix it. I'm wondering if it's set to less aggressive memory timing it will work. That's a little over my head though, and I can't seem to find any good text on what the line of hex numbers in the timing string means. Sounds like you can kill your card if it's too far off. I've asked for help on another board but haven't gotten any replies yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Stingray_]

here is what i did yesterday

i think $400 is too much money to spend on a card to deal with this crap. i sent a letter to nvidia, leadtek, and to 3btech (where i bought the card) and told them that even though they would not go out of business without my money that if they pissed enough people off with inferior products they would eventually lose to ati. i am done fooling with it - if someone doesn't do something to fix the problem then i will just eat the $400 and i will never again do business with any of the 3 who i mentioned. it's obviously something they did, not a fault of any of us - they should fix it.

 

[slackbladder]

Bit new to this post stuff.
Found this post by accident reseaching other stuff.
It seems by all the posts on this subject a common fault may be to blame,It conserns the engineering tolerance between the MB/case/card if this is out the card will not seat and contact correctly, hence the prop it up dodge mentioned as a cure and the intermitemt nature on some machines.I had this same fault on a 6600 after 3 returns i worked it out.on the companies test (no fault found) I recone they use a bare MB as a test rig( no case ) and the problem stops.
You may try the card on a bare boared,out of the case see if this helps. if it does then work on a solution.
1 lift the MB with fiberwashers
2 bend the mounting plate.
3 hit the machine with a large hammer, then claim on the insurance.
Hope this ramble helps someone let me know.

 

[dethalis]

w00ty w00t

ok that damn card is really pissing me off. I thought I could play bf2 *correctly* only with big black lines on my screen every 2 minutes. That's ugly but supportable... considering that it is a LEADTEK 6800 gt...

but the ****ing card crash randomly while playing bf2. it has happened 5 or 6 times since i have card and twice within like 10 minutes. strangly, all is going well playing the f.e.a.r. demo and call of duty. ok its maybe a software problem but all was going well on every games with my radeon 9200. I think its a gddr problem since bf2 eats a lot of it. yeah f.e.a.r. is a big game but maybe its better optimised for geforces.

I don't know if I should rma the card again.. I worry about receiving something worse than now.

I'd so want to take that card (if we can call it a card, that's more an industrial waste) out of my case and throw it out the window.

Edit : now im having the same crashs in FEAR . no black lines but the pc has just crashed and i had to reboot it like in bf2. Ive tested my memory during 8 hours with memtest 86 and no probs found. my p4 is at aproximately 43 degrees so the problem seems to come from the gfx card...

I finally got somewhere with them 3 cards later i get the manager on the phone of the rma department and he works thing out where i send the two rma cards back that they pay for. I did that and he replied yesterday and said that they found that it had bad ram... go figure i tried to tell them that but they wouldn't listen. Anyway i got an email after asking multiple times if they would upgrade me to the 7800gs. Im proud to announce that i am getting a 7800gs in the mail in a week. Now lets see how this card does when it gets here. i hope it doesn't :dead: on me. OH and from what i can tell alot of manufactures of this card leadtek mainly got a batch of bad ram... They have confirmed it telling me and i quote:

Hi Jason,

I only have time to tested one card so far, and found that the memory location on U16 is damaged. Our guess it is likely a shipping damage.

SHIPPING DAMAGE MY A** LOL
I ALSO LIKE THE BAD ENGLISH GRAMER USED.. figues they are all asian.. Thats exactly what i thought would happen when i called them. :haha:

furthmore if anyone wants to try email elai@leadtek.com he is a manager for their rma dept. maybe you guys can get the same results. Good Luck. wait i should say that to myself :haha:

 

[atomicplayer]

Where do you live ?

I hope I can get the same results if I live in Quebec, Canada.

 

[dethalis]

should be same

it should work the same no matter where you live they are the manufacturer of the card talk to them....

 

[ranmas]

Well I find myself in the same place as most everyone here has found themselves in with this card. After working without a single flaw for about 8 months my card developed video corruption on powering up the system. Unfortunatly it wouldn't even load windows. I does make me glade that I didn't sell off my old fx5900 though.

Anyway I got my Rma setup and they just recived the card a couple of days ago. Reading though this topic has made me dread what they may send back. If its another 6800 gt I almost hope its not working as well, almost. It sounds like alot of the 6800 gt's they are sending back out just have the same problem.

I'll just have to wait and see what they ship back to me. Though with three years on the card I have a feeling more people will see a 7800gs being delivered in the not too distant future when rma this card. As it is right now there are not that many of the leadtek 6800's on the web for sale that are new retail versions. I found only 4 of the agp leadtek 6800's, and not too many more pci-x versions of the card.

 

[dethalis]

Leadtek...

Well I find myself in the same place as most everyone here has found themselves in with this card. After working without a single flaw for about 8 months my card developed video corruption on powering up the system. Unfortunatly it wouldn't even load windows. I does make me glade that I didn't sell off my old fx5900 though.

Anyway I got my Rma setup and they just recived the card a couple of days ago. Reading though this topic has made me dread what they may send back. If its another 6800 gt I almost hope its not working as well, almost. It sounds like alot of the 6800 gt's they are sending back out just have the same problem.

I'll just have to wait and see what they ship back to me. Though with three years on the card I have a feeling more people will see a 7800gs being delivered in the not too distant future when rma this card. As it is right now there are not that many of the leadtek 6800's on the web for sale that are new retail versions. I found only 4 of the agp leadtek 6800's, and not too many more pci-x versions of the card.

Ok so i see your going to do the same thing rma that card. From what i can tell they either:

A.) don't test the card before shipping it to ya or
B.) Just send out a card they got back from someone else like yours that works for a while then fails they test it which is it turns on and everything looks fine. So again Leadtek A400GT Blowzors. If they send you another bad one email elai@leadtek.com and demand something done.

 

[ranmas]

Just a quick question this time. When they ship the card back do they send you an email letting you know they have shipped it out, possibly with tracking info?

 

[dethalis]

oh yeah

Yes they give you the ups tracking number. And for me i live in Virginia, usa and they are in california it takes 5 buisness days so answer is yes

 

[CrashDome]

Fourth card and I finally got one that works!!!!!!

I'll give everyone a good hint. If the next card you receive is completely crap bypass RMA altogether. Contact the sales department. There was a gentleman there named Eric who was really nice. Not rude at all or emotionally defunct like the RMA dept was.

Once I talked to him and explained everything he actually sent back a UPS label for me to send the card back and mentioned that he would have a card sent out that was completely tested before being shipped and BEFORE they recieved my card back.

I got the UPS label and shipped the card back. About the time my card was due to arrive at Leadtek, a replacement had already arrived at my door and it has been working flawlessly for 3 weeks so far.

I had only contacted the sales department to ask for a complete refund and explained that it was costing Leadtek and myself more money in shipping replacements back-and-forth and a refund would be more cost effective for them. I did not threaten or complain and he was extremely nice enough to offer this one chance of sending a fully tested card to me at no cost to me. (Apparently they don't test their RMA replacements as normal policy *rolleyes*)

All-in-all I have a working video card now. It took 3 months and an additional $30 in shipping charges, but the important thing is it is working.

If you have a broken card... contact the sales department and ask them to test the card first!!!

 

[dethalis]

Lolz

Fourth card and I finally got one that works!!!!!!

I'll give everyone a good hint. If the next card you receive is completely crap bypass RMA altogether. Contact the sales department. There was a gentleman there named Eric who was really nice. Not rude at all or emotionally defunct like the RMA dept was.

Once I talked to him and explained everything he actually sent back a UPS label for me to send the card back and mentioned that he would have a card sent out that was completely tested before being shipped and BEFORE they recieved my card back.

I got the UPS label and shipped the card back. About the time my card was due to arrive at Leadtek, a replacement had already arrived at my door and it has been working flawlessly for 3 weeks so far.

I had only contacted the sales department to ask for a complete refund and explained that it was costing Leadtek and myself more money in shipping replacements back-and-forth and a refund would be more cost effective for them. I did not threaten or complain and he was extremely nice enough to offer this one chance of sending a fully tested card to me at no cost to me. (Apparently they don't test their RMA replacements as normal policy *rolleyes*)

All-in-all I have a working video card now. It took 3 months and an additional $30 in shipping charges, but the important thing is it is working.

If you have a broken card... contact the sales department and ask them to test the card first!!!

Dude its not the sales department read above i already had talked to him... He is head of rma department... I talked to him on the phone after talking to the peon at rma... and btw i got a 7800gs coming now what you get another ****in a400gt

 

[CrashDome]

yeah....

Dude its not the sales department read above i already had talked to him... He is head of rma department... I talked to him on the phone after talking to the peon at rma... and btw i got a 7800gs coming now what you get another ****in a400gt

If you call his extension it is listed as the SALES department in the directory.

Try calling up the main line and listing for the option for sales... his extension is the one listed.

 

[ranmas]

Is their turn around time always this horrible? They have had my card for more than a week now and I've not heard anything from them. I've had to rma a couple of other parts before and have never had to wait this long. In fact the other companies didn't make me wait at all, or not very long. One place I rma'd to sent out a replacement part before I sent them my old one. The other had the replacement heading to me the day after.

What is with them taking near 40 days to get a part back to anyone, thats just wrong. There is almost no reason at all for it to take that long to get a replacement part.

Its going to be an email or a call to them soon about this. :unch: