9800Pro Issues

[Kahuna Mas]

Ok had my ATI 9800Pro for about a year now and I went to upgrade to a 850Pro. Long story short I returned the x850pro. I then added ram to make 1.5 DDR400 speed (all same mafg). Since reinstalling the 9800pro, I now have some crappy graphics bugs.

To make this simple, here's what I have done:
- uninstalled and reinstalled Catalyst drivers
- pulled out the new ram and went back to my original 1gig

At first everything works great, but then the graphics start have issues. Not sure the best way to describe, but anything that moves draws these huge messed up triangles looks like the mystify screen saver.

Part of thinks there may be a heating issue, but I am out of knowledge at this point.

Any suggestions?

Having this issue on BF2, AOEIII, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. Haven't tried any other games.

[K2]

Not to sound too negative here... but you may have inadvertently shocked your 9800pro, as in static shock from handling it without properly grounding yourself first.

The only times I have ever seen a vid card act that way, was if the cooling fan failed (I had a gefore 1 that happened too) or when the onboard memory went bad from a electrical discharge (TNT2 came out of the agp slot while the system was still on... dont ask).

You're troubleshooting things correctly... I'd suggest getting ahold of another vid card ya know without a doubt works 100% and drop it in, see how it performs, that way you can isolate the issue to the card instead of it being another hardware component - then go from there.

[Catalyst22]

My system was doing the same thing and the culprit was the chipset fan. System runs fine for about the first hour or two then BAM glitches and shity frame rate. I replaced the chipset fan with a spare 80mm (until I get off my butt and buy a real one) and it runs great. If the 80mm fan gets to close to my vid card then I get major glitch issues.

I have an Abit IS7-E Mb (good performer, horrible fans. I had 3 die before I realized what was causing it).

[Oreo]

What you're seeing is called artifacting. This usually happens when your card is:
1) not getting enough voltage (happens when overclocking usually, or if you don't have the aux power plugged into the card.
2) has a core or memory overclock too high with cooling that doesn't match it.
3) overheating due to dead fans, hot case, or incorrect placement of heatsink/fan.

Hope this is slightly helpful.

[Kahuna Mas]

Great feedback guys. Thanks!

I'll try it tonight.

After your feedback, my instincts are telling me that it is a heat issue on the card itself. Thought my computer was somewhat quieter. It only sounds like a generator and not like a 747.

Hypothetically, if the fan went out on the card, how can that be replaced?

[EatMoreLead]

get a new video card already!

[Kahuna Mas]

I am secretly hoping it doesn't work so I can justify it. Problem is I have AGP and the biggest card I can get is the x850. Its hard to justify buying a new card for $250-400 that basically gives me the ability to run BF2 one rez level higher with a few extra settings.

While I'm thinking about it, does anyone have any feedback on the difference between the X850 Pro ($250) vs. the X850XT ($400)?

I'm trying to find out why the XT is worth $150 more.

[K2]

I am secretly hoping it doesn't work so I can justify it...

Secretly hoping with a pick-axe usually does the trick.

[Kahuna Mas]

I can't have a pickaxe in the house right now. If I get caught paying $250-$400 for a video card that doesn't wash dishes or clean shitty diapers then my wife will use that pickaxe on her husband.

[GoatX12]

Water cooling is the way to go, I switched over a while back and boy does it make a difference, and no overheating problems. Downside is make sure all your connects are secure, I had an o-ring leak on my first attempt and fried a video card (thank god for manufactures warrantys) but it helped me to justify to my wife why I needed the XFX 7800GTX.

If your sure it's a video card problem, and the card is under 3 years old try to get them to RMA it, before you go and buy a new card might save yourself $250-$400.

Oh and max settings actually makes a diference in BF2 I've noticed that depending on resolution settings, on the lower settings the fog is closer and you can't see as far.

[Oreo]

I use low settings on BF2 (everything low) while I was using an x300SE and didn't notice the fog being any closer or futher. You just make the max view distance 100%.

To replace the fan you would have to buy a VGA cooler. on the 9800pro the fan is built into that heatsink, so you could probably just buy a VGA cooler for $20-$30.

[Catalyst22]

there is a heat pipe heat sink thingy that is supposed to be top notch, but you need a 80mm in/out running across it.

READ THIS
Trick to replaceing a video card fan is:

Run a video bench test a couple of times to heat it up nice and hot. Then pop it off with a plastic kitchen knife. The little push pin things that hold it onto the gpu can be pushed out with some needle nose very easily. If you don't heat it up nice and hot before you disasemble your system, you are prob going to find it difficult to remove without prying. If its hot, it will slide right off and its also easier to remove the excess HS compound with a credit card or razor blade.

[Kahuna Mas]

Well the GPU fan is working like normal. Not sure where to go from here. I will try to see if ATI will replace.

[DocNsane]

Every card just wants to know,
Will you give it good airflow?

[Kahuna Mas]

Well dammit, all I needed was a reason...

I have a x850xt agp due to arrive tommorow

[Servo]

I would first run with the case oppen so you can actually see if the fan is spinning, if it is, you might be able to avoid replacing the cooling system. Then make sure everything is hooked up correctly, use a power plug that is on its own rail from the PSU.

I had a similar problem with BF2 and my 9800 pro. One of the issues I was having was overheating, but the problem was airflow through the case, not the heat sync. I took my computer appart and put it back together while paying attention to cable management and the problem went away. Plus, now I can put a window on my case. If I suffer major head trauma that is....

I would aslo reinstall everything, chipset drivers, video drivers, and the game itself. That is sort of the virgin sacrafice of computer mantinace. Do a little dance and shake a rain stick while doing it for best results.

[Kahuna Mas]

Done all those things. At this point ATI has suggested an RMA which is fine, but I also wanted the x850xt. With that said, I'll have a new 9800Pro for sale in the near future for anyone interested.

EDIT- dropped the x850xt in tonight. My FPS on BF2 went from about 60fps on low settings to at 1024 rez to 70 on medium high settings at 1280 rez AA & AF 2x. A nice improvement!