Radeon 9800 Pro gone south ?

[RJ]

Hello there,

a month ago I got a replacement Sapphire 9800 Pro Ultimate card (the original 9600 XT had a defective 3D part). But as of tuesday, the screen is covered with some kind of pattern consisting of colored dots. . . . don't know how to describe it better.

I get that fuzzy colored screen right from the beginning, when I turn on the PC. The first POST screen is already fuzzy.

I have now once again my old GeForce 2 installed, so I can use my PC.

But what is going on with my Radeon 9800 ? Is it really broken, after only 1 month ? I have 1 case fan at the front, and 1 at the back, and I also left the case open on the left side.
The 9800 had no thermal sensor, but I was able to touch that heatsink without getting by fingers burnt, so I don't think it has gotten too hot.

I took the 9800 out and re-seated it. Even waited 2 days, and tried it today. But no change, the screen is fuzzy. With the 9800 installed I entered safe mode and made a screenshot, but that screenshot is fine, with no graphic errors on it.

So apparently the 9800 itself works fine, but what can cause the errors ? Can there anything be done, or do I have to RMA it ?

Board is Asus P4P800, PSU is an Enermax 350W. And yes, PSU was connected to the card.

RJ

[ror_b211]

Whats the specs of your PC, If you have quite a few Hard Drives, RAM Modules etc. Your PSU could be maxxing out although thats still quite unlikely, 350w is usually fine, otherwise it seems like its defective again (where are you buying these from?).

[RJ]

The other specs are these:

Intel P4 2.6
1 GB DDR-RAM (4 modules)
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
TV card
video capture card
SB Audigy

The PSU shouldn't be a problem. My old system, powered by a 235W PSU, had the same kind of things inside, but it was just a PIII 800. Now I have the P4 (since 1,5 years already), and the Radeon 9800. They shouldn't max out a PSU that has 115W more, especially since it's a quality one (Enermax).
Also, my PC is running stable, I don't get random reboots or lockups.

I bought it from a local dealer. I always buy stuff there, and it has always been good quality parts. The graphics cards are now the only parts I'm having a problem with.

RJ

[Force Flow]

Sounds like the video RAM is bad. RMA it back to the manufacturer.

[glc]

The Ultimate is the one with the Zalman passive cooler, right?

I went through three Sapphire Ultimate (?) 9700 Pros on a build once, the video ram went bad on all 3 of them. I'm beginning to think that particular model is a turkey.

It's possible there's something about the i865PE chipset and those too - the board I was using was an Intel D865PE board. After the 3rd RMA, I stuck a GF4 Ti4600 in it, which is running perfectly to this day.

[ror_b211]

My 9700 Pro is refurbished and working fine (since yesterday) on my 865PE

[RJ]

Thank you for the replies.

The Ultimate is the one with the Zalman passive cooler, right?

Yes, that is correct.

I went through three Sapphire Ultimate (?) 9700 Pros on a build once, the video ram went bad on all 3 of them. I'm beginning to think that particular model is a turkey.

I see. So apparently they are using bad video ram for the Ultimate series.
My first suspicion was that maybe the passive cooling isn't enough for today's graphics cards, but the video ram itself is always passive cooled.

It's possible there's something about the i865PE chipset and those too - the board I was using was an Intel D865PE board. After the 3rd RMA, I stuck a GF4 Ti4600 in it, which is running perfectly to this day.

So you think there is a problem with the i865PE chipset and the ATI 9800 Pro series in general ? Or just with the Sapphire cards ?

I will RMA my card, but I'm not sure if I should just get a new Ultimate, or just bite the bullet and get a regular active cooled card as a replacement. I sure would like a passive cooled card, but well, more importantly I do want a card that is working properly.

RJ

[glc]

Originally Posted by ror_b211 My 9700 Pro is refurbished and working fine (since yesterday) on my 865PE

But yours is not the Sapphire 9700 Pro Ultimate with the passive cooler, right?

RJ, my issue was with the 9700, not the 9800. I hope the 9800 doesn't have the same problems. I'd try a RMA for the same thing, yours may just have been a bad card. If it goes too, then I'd look at a different model. I tried 3 times before I gave up. My customer wanted quiet, and I sure tried.

[RJ]

RJ, my issue was with the 9700, not the 9800.

I know. But what troubles me is that I originally bought the Sapphire 9600 XT Ultimate, and it produced errors in 3D mode (http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=130265), so I RMA'ed it. The 9600 XT wasn't available anymore, so I got the 9800 Pro Ultimate as the replacement.

So that is actually the second card of the Ultimate series that I'm having a problem with. One 9600, one 9800, and you've had problems with the 9700 based Ultimate.

I'd try a RMA for the same thing, yours may just have been a bad card. If it goes too, then I'd look at a different model.

Ok, I'll give the 9800 Ultimate another chance. If it goes, too, I'll RMA it for a regular Atlantis, then. The Sapphire 9800 Pro Atlantis series is reliable, right ? I've read good reviews about Sapphire, that's why I chose them, so I hope these errors only affect the Ultimate series.

RJ

[glc]

If your replacement is sour too, I think I'd look at one of the other decent makers such as Powercolor, Asus, or Gigabyte.