9800 pro = dead :\

[Maskirovka]

so my brand new 9800 pro started making my monitor flicker...it got steadily worse until now i can't read anything...i've already put in an RMA request...i just wanted to post the things i tried just to make sure i didn't miss anything or do anything stupid.

tried:
-using the monitor on another computer (works fine)
-changing which power cable was going to the card (internal)
-unplugging all my fans and my extra HD to make sure it wasn't draining the power somehow (i have an antec 430W power supply)
-reseating the video card
-reinstalling drivers (mobo chipset and vid card)
-checking the video cable for bent pins

the only things i couldn't try that i thought of were:

-using a dvi-to-vga adapter to see if the vga port on the card is the problem
-putting the card in another computer (i don't have another computer with an AGP slot)

that's probably the biggest thing i haven't done...i guess i could have a bad AGP slot on my mobo but i'm not sure how to rule that out. does anyone know if this sounds like it's definitely a vid card problem?

 

[YouAreForbidden]

sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer:

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer

You're advising him to disassemble his BRAND NEW 9800Pro, rather than just RMAing it?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer

You're advising him to disassemble his BRAND NEW 9800Pro, rather than just RMAing it?

It can save him and ATI a ton of time and money as long as he knows exactly what he's doing.

 

[YouAreForbidden]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer:

seeing as i said check. and i never said "do what i doeth" dont be an ass.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer:

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer

You're advising him to disassemble his BRAND NEW 9800Pro, rather than just RMAing it?

It can save him and ATI a ton of time and money as long as he knows exactly what he's doing.

Defective Hardware + Under Warranty = not his problem. Bad hardware is ATI's responsibility; that's why they have a warranty.

You don't even know if this will fix his card, AND it will void his warranty. I suppose it saves you the RMA turnaround time, but that seems like a bad deal to me.

 

[Moonlapse]

I had the same issue when I got my 9800pro, screen flickers, the whole middle of the screen so blurry that you can not read text. I tried everything that you had stated - then I decided to hook my machine up to a different monitor, and all seemed fine. Had to replace the monitor. Though it seems like your problem is not the monitor - just sounds like a bad card to me. Good luck though.

 

[jim1976]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer

You're advising him to disassemble his BRAND NEW 9800Pro, rather than just RMAing it?

It can save him and ATI a ton of time and money as long as he knows exactly what he's doing.

Defective Hardware + Under Warranty = not his problem. Bad hardware is ATI's responsibility; that's why they have a warranty.

You don't even know if this will fix his card, AND it will void his warranty. I suppose it saves you the RMA turnaround time, but that seems like a bad deal to me.

:thumbsup: Well said..

 

[Ages120]

Yeah don't ever mention anything thats voids warranties here. People pull out thier warranty bibles and start bashing.

 

[Maskirovka]

thanks for the replies, guys...i've got it all boxed up with the RMA# on it...sucks when i don't even have a crap backup AGP card to use...my last card (gf4 ti4200) overheats a lot now and is unusable (and i didn't bring it with me...i'm running the computer lab for a summer camp and i won't be home for like 2 months)

 

[Maskirovka]

UPDATE:

horribleness....

first bad news: checked the RMA status today and it tested OK.
2nd bad news: the return shipping is going to take 7 days
3rd bad news: the card is going to my house in michigan instead of to me at summer camp in new york.

what a horrible mess. it's bad enough that they say my card is fine. if my card's fine then that means i have a RAM or mobo problem. i've already RMA'd one of my two sticks of ram and my mobo isn't under warranty anymore (i don't think). but on top of that, it's going to take until next thursday to get to the wrong address...AND NOBODY WILL BE THERE TO SHIP IT TO ME.

i specifically asked them to ship it to my summer camp and they agreed and sent me an email. meh...maybe they'll send me a free motherboard or something since that would be cheaper than sending me a free card. it'll be interesting to see what they do to fix this problem.

anyway...does anyone have any ideas for what else to test? i mean...if my video flickers when i'm in the BIOS, how can i run memtest or anything? i don't have another computer to put the RAM into...how do i know whether or not to replace the RAM or mobo?

sucks

 

[Maskirovka]

i almost never bump posts...i let this get down to the 3rd page before doing so...doesn't anyone have any ideas about what to do? i can test my RAM by switching the two sticks in and out...does that mean my mobo is somehow fried if neither stick works? i've already RMA'd one of my 2 512MB sticks...i'm pretty sure it's not the RAM...but of course anything's possible.

 

[cw42]

can u try it in a completely diff comp with a diff mobo/ram, everything?

 

[ScottFern]

Originally posted by: YouAreForbidden
sounds dumb but check to see if the heatsink is seated properly. mine wasnt and i had to play with it, reapply some thermal compound and all was merry....until i scratched the PCB and really killed it. R.I.P brave 9800Pro.... *sniff*sniff*

the part where it goes from fine to nada makes me think of a heat problem.

Regards,
Y.A.F.
:beer:

Thats interesting, I am having cooling issues with my AIW 9800 PRO. In any video or gameplay I get this "snowing white dots" across the screen. EVERYONE told me its heat related, but I wasn't sure if the oh mighty ATI would send me one with a poorly mounted fan, so I went ahead and ordered a Artic VGA cooler rev 3. This is supposed to keep it uber cool, so I hope this does the trick on mine.

Does ATI ship their video cards with poorly mounted HSF ????? Is this common ???

 

[MDE]

Try a different monitor. I saw an 8500LE do the same thing with a crappy monitor and now it works perfectly with a new monitor.

 

[Maskirovka]

i would be really really pissed if it was my monitor...it's basically brand new...and i had to RMA two before i got this one....fcuking took forever...now this one has worked like a dream up until now (if it's what's borked)

i already RMA'd one of my 2 ram sticks as well...such bad luck :\

 

[AristoV300]

Also might want to try changing the monitor cable.