Radeon 9800PRO 128mb - artifacts

[imported_erc]

Sorry in advance for the long post... just wanted to provide as much info as possible.

I've got a machine.. Asus P4P800, P4 2.8, 512MB Corsair TWINX, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb.

I'll start by saying I'm not overclocking anything.

A friend of mine needed their computer upgraded, so I offered to sell the guts outa mine for cheap. I put my motherboard, RAM, Processor, Video Card, and a spare 350 watt power supply into her machine.

It all worked fine in my machine... and it worked fine in hers for about 20 minutes.. then little glitchy lines and artifacts started popping up all over the screen. (while just surfing the web)

I started The Sims 2, and it was unplayable, the artifacts were so bad. This is on a brand new fresh installation of Windows XP with all drivers installed. (Tried both current catalyst drivers and an older backup of the catalyst drivers I had been using when the parts were in my machine)

Now, the side of her case was off, and the fan on the video card was spinning and not making any more noise than usual, although I have no idea what the exact temperature of the card was.. I don't know of any way to measure it.

The processor stayed plenty cool.

I turned the computer off and let the card cool down, and then restarted the machine. No artifacts. Started the Sims 2. No artifacts. About 45 seconds into the game, the artifacts started. When I quit the game, the artifacts persisted when moving windows, surfing the web, and doing just about anything. The video card was quite hot to the touch. Again, this is with the whole side of the case off.

When all of these parts were in my computer, I had zero problems. My girlfriend played The Sims 2 all of the time.. I played Half-Life 2 no problem.

I even tried swapping in my 4xx watt Enermax power supply, and had the same troubling results, so it's not a lack of power. (It's either a 420 watt or 450 watt, I can't remember, but the point is it ran in my machine fine with more drives)

I put big fan blowing directly into the side of the case and was able to play without artifacts... which is what seems to confirm the idea that the video card is overheating.

My question is this: Why? Shouldn't a Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB that's running at stock clock speeds be able to cool itself with the side of the comptuer case off?

Could it be something other than lack of airflow that is causing this problem?

Thanks for any assitance you people can offer

 

[wisdomtooth]

Two things right off the top of my head:

1) Maybe her case is not as well-vented as yours.

2) Maybe the heatsink on the 9800 got knocked loose or something in transit.

You might want to investigate the cooling in her case, and maybe order an Arctic ATI Silencer 1 for that 9800Pro. I got one on mine and it dumps heat from the GPU directly out of the case. Mine runs solid as a rock.

HTH.

 

[imported_erc]

It's true that the ventilation in her case is terrible, and I was going to add some case fans, but I got these results with the side completly off the case...

It would baffle me to think that the card can't keep itself cool, even when just in normal desktoip apps with the side of the case off... maybe the heatsink isn't snug on the GPU as you say.. I'll double check it.

 

[imported_whatever]

if it still artifacts with the hsf seated correctly, just RMA it. you shouldn't have to deal with stuff not working when it should, and it would not at all be abuse of RMA.

 

[mooncancook]

I got a 9800 AIW np. Artifact problem is pretty bad and i'm sure it is due to overheating coz it gets better if i leave the side panel open for air, and really bad if I OC. The ram runs really hot (try touching it after running games), and ramsinks help somewhat. I would have use a Zalman VF700 cooler if not for the lack of space in my SFF case. Try improving your cooling for the card and the case. otherwise RMA it if you can or sell it and get a 6600GT.

 

[imported_erc]

Well, I can no longer get the artifacts to go away, even with the fan pointed into the case. I've tried re-seating the heatsink with new thermal compound, and played with the AGP Aperature settings in the BIOS, but nothing seems to fix it.

I'll test the card in someone elses computer and if there are problems there, I'll probably end up sending the card back for a replacement.

 

[DanDaMan315]

Go buy an ATI Silencer, they are really great VGA fans that cool well and are barely audible:thumbsup:.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Good luck sending it back after you shot your warranty up by screwin with the heatsink. :\

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

My uncle had this problem.

The PSU was crap and couldn't handle it.

Had to go through 3 Dell supplies before they sent him a good enough one.

Dell PSUs suck.

Especially considering that's what it shipped with and it died only 9 months afterwards.

 

[imported_Noob]

The HSF on the 9800 Pro is garbage. I suggest you buy a 3rd Party cooler such as a Zalman HSF or an Arctic Cooler.

 

[DanDaMan315]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Good luck sending it back after you shot your warranty up by screwin with the heatsink. :\

Warranty Smoranty, the fan was too damn noisy and cooled for shit.

 

[imported_erc]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Good luck sending it back after you shot your warranty up by screwin with the heatsink. :\

Hopefully newegg will replace it anyway

 

[dug777]

my powercolor 9800 pro 128mb did pretty much the same thing about two weeks after i bought it i even had artifacts in the XP boot screen

second one has just gone back-but it's just plain overheating causing artifacts-strange that it worked fine for about 4 months before doing this...