QUOTE (w6kd @ Mar 11 2010, 08:14 PM) I just broke down and put an ATI 5870 into my FS machine, and it's performance in FSX is at par with the GTX285 it replaced, except I'm not getting black screen crashes with the ATI like I was with the 285 after a couple hours of flight. From reading the eVGA forums, the black-screen issue is continuing to plague many GTX285 owners, and nVidia has been talking about a fix for months. ATI's Catalyst 10.2 drivers finally fixed the problem of not being able to use adaptive AA in FS, which for me was the big showstopper. My only (minor) beef with ATI now is I haven't found a way to make program-specific settings like I did with nHancer.The 5870 has put a smile back on my face after months of wrestling with the 285 as well as with numerous nVidia driver issues. Fortunately, I had already swapped in the 5870 when nVidia released the now infamous GPU-melting driver that wrecked who knows how many 285 boards by buggering the cooling fan control.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, COhi Bob,i have an eVGA GTX285 (o/c version) as well. the "black screen" crashes that you were having with the GTX285 did your monitor go into low-power mode within a split second or two after the screen went blank? because this has been an ongoing problem for me with FSX for as long as i've had the card. the "black screen" (for me) has occurred at times b4 i can get the engines started (on the PMDG 747X) to as much as 6-8 hrs. or less into the flight. could my "black screen" probs. be the result of a different kind, ie...bad video card? i've had the black screens with FSX using the GTX285 under WinXPx64 and Win7x64. also, is the black screen crashes a FSX only issue or with other games as well?thanks in advance for the help.happy flyin, fm

hi Bob,i have an eVGA GTX285 (o/c version) as well. the "black screen" crashes that you were having with the GTX285 did your monitor go into low-power mode within a split second or two after the screen went blank? because this has been an ongoing problem for me with FSX for as long as i've had the card.

Yes...the monitor loses the video signal when this happens, and goes into power saver mode.

the "black screen" (for me) has occurred at times b4 i can get the engines started (on the PMDG 747X) to as much as 6-8 hrs. or less into the flight. could my "black screen" probs. be the result of a different kind, ie...bad video card? i've had the black screens with FSX using the GTX285 under WinXPx64 and Win7x64. also, is the black screen crashes a FSX only issue or with other games as well?thanks in advance for the help.happy flyin, fm

The theory I think has the most credence is that the voltage regulators on the 285 boards are undervolting the GPU just enough to fault under load. With mine, if I underclock the GPU from 648 MHz down to 625 MHz core clock, the black screens get fewer and farther between, but they still happen, usually some hours into a long flight or sim session.I just duplicated the black screen issue with my 285 in my other (Core2Duo) machine as well, which runs fine for days on its 8800GTX.I saw the black screen a couple of times on Call of Duty MW2 with some of the later 196.xx drivers, but I generally don't play that sort of game for hours like I run FS.My GTX285 is getting RMA'd back to eVGA next week.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

thanks for the info. Bob. looks like i'll be going back to ATI when the 285 bites the dust. btw, in your opinion, how's the 5870's performance with heavy clouds? the same or worse than the GTX285? happy flyin, FM

I'd be curious to hear how everything goes when you replace your EVGA GTX 285 Bob. I've run into the black screen troubles resulting in the continuous bashing of my head against the wall for some time now. This is actually the first time I've heard these screen troubles pinpointed specifically to the GTX 285. Is this enough information to get me to sell it and upgrade to the ATI 5870? I've been lucky so far - I just completed my first flight in a long time with no problems. Just ran a second flight for about an hour and tried to purposely crash or cause a "black screen", no troubles! Reverted back to 182.50 drivers, updated sound card drivers and erased the FSX cfg file. However, at this point, who knows if this will continue, for good or bad. Perfect stability in FSX is like trying to talk politics with Rush Limbaugh :)

Yes...the monitor loses the video signal when this happens, and goes into power saver mode.The theory I think has the most credence is that the voltage regulators on the 285 boards are undervolting the GPU just enough to fault under load. With mine, if I underclock the GPU from 648 MHz down to 625 MHz core clock, the black screens get fewer and farther between, but they still happen, usually some hours into a long flight or sim session.My GTX285 is getting RMA'd back to eVGA next week.RegardsBob Scott

First just for the sake of others with the FSX black Screen, This is not the same thing. The FSX Black Screen problem is unrelated and does not put the monitor in power saver mode.2nd, before people start to panic This is not ALL 285GTX, so what boards are you talking aqbout? For instance my BFG 285GTX is Overclocked to 760 core and has never suffered this and it is more than one year old.

thanks for the info. Bob. looks like i'll be going back to ATI when the 285 bites the dust. btw, in your opinion, how's the 5870's performance with heavy clouds? the same or worse than the GTX285? happy flyin, FM

Cloud performance is at least as good as the 285...just ran a couple test flights with 5 layers, and there's no hint of slowdown or stutters.And...I just figured out how to make V-Sync work with the 5870 hehe.CheersBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

hi Shockwave,mine is a eVGA GTX285 FTW edition. factory o/c'd to 702 Mhz (GPU) and 1333 Mhz (i think) on the Mem. i replaced my monitor recently and i'm running FSX at 1600x1200 res. now (monitors native res.). with my old CRT monitor i was runnin' FS at 1280x1024 res. i had another black screen crash about 1/2 hr. away from landing tonight - an 11 hr. flt up to that point. i'm sure that the higher res. is putting a bigger load on the 285 now. i've had 2 black screen crashes since i've been using the 1600x1200 res. with the new monitor-less than 2 wks.that's more than i had with the old monitor at the lower res. in the last 6 wks. looks like the 285 will be going back to eVGA sooner than i expected. if what's happening here is not the "typical" black screen crashes i'd like to know the differences between the two. the black screens are getting old to say the least. i never had these type crashes/black screens until i got the 285. looks like i should've stuck with ATI. typical black screen crash or not.btw Bob, after the black screen occurs, the only way i can get back into Windows is to restart the computer via the reset switch or turning the power switch off on the PSU then back on. and, "occasionally" during the POST after the forced reboot i get a BIOS beep code that (according to the Mobo. manual) indicates the Video Card is not being detected. however, the reboot process will continue on and the PC will still boot into Windows and everything is ok. weird i know. i've Never gotten that BIOS beep code during a Normal reboot or cold boot. Only after a forced reboot as a result of the FSX black screen.happy flyin, FM

First just for the sake of others with the FSX black Screen, This is not the same thing. The FSX Black Screen problem is unrelated and does not put the monitor in power saver mode.2nd, before people start to panic This is not ALL 285GTX, so what boards are you talking aqbout? For instance my BFG 285GTX is Overclocked to 760 core and has never suffered this and it is more than one year old.

Nope it's not all of them, but there are a lot of people seeing the problem. Mine is a 9-month old eVGA 1185-AR 2GB GTX285.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO