Video Card Fried?

[IsenMike]

I've got an ATI Radeon 9800 PRO, and I've been getting sort of weird video artifacts in games, usually under certain lighting conditions. It looks like a spattering of single pixels, in some games blown out pure red, white in other games, and black in some games. (Specifically, black in HL2, white in HL2:Lost Coast, and red in F.E.A.R.)

Here is a screenshot of the problem, from F.E.A.R.

I can't find any documentation of a problem like this, so I posted about it on the F.E.A.R. support forums. The answer I got there was that it was the result of an over-heated and faulty video card. I haven't been overclocking, but I have had a lot of heat issues in my current case, so it seems possible to me.

I also cannot use the current generation of Catalyst drivers. After upgrading, my computer crashed and reset every time I cast the "invisiblity" spell in Oblivion. I'm playing a stealth character so I had to roll back to the version 5 drivers. ATI and BethSoft support were both unhelpful.

Does this sound like faulty hardware to you guys? Apparently the card has a 5-year warranty, so I can send it in, but I'd rather not if they're just going to send it back and tell me it's a software problem.

 

[Captante]

Try pulling the side off of your case & running the game to see if system tempeture is a factor, also make sure the gpu fan is spinning freely and not clogged with dust... you could also try under-clocking the card & see if it helps.

 

[potato28]

Its got a cold. Give it some Nyquil before bedtime.

No seriously, has it been o/ced? Have you tryed cleaning the cooler? What about re-installing your games?

 

[IsenMike]

Tried running the game with the case open, and got no difference. The card is running at the slowest bus speed my system utility has available. I have never overclocked it. It was pretty dusty a few months ago when I gave the whole case a good air-dusting, but the fan seems pretty spotless now.

Any other ideas? Should I send the sucker in to ATI? I hate to be without a decent video card for two weeks. I think my mobo has some sort of onboard video so I'll be able to check my email and whatnot, but no gaming? That's gonna hurt.

 

[postmortemIA]

another 9700/9800 bites the dust.

If you still have warranty left, give it back.

By the way my Radeon 9700 pro died one month after warranty expired.

 

[Gstanfor]

The dead 9700/9800 saga continues on its merry way I see. One wonders how long it will be before the x8xx series start dropping like flies?

At this rate there will be no working 9700/9800's left as historical examples of technology, unlike just about every other video card before them, NV1 included...

One also wonders how many nvidia 7800 GTX 512's have died yet? According to ATi PR they should be failing left right and centre due to over-volting by now....

 

[TheSynth]

I had a problem like that with my x1900xt but it wasn't that prominent. I told a friend about my problem. He said I should try and lower the refresh rate and surprisingly enough it worked. I don't know if the same solution will remedy your situation but give it a whirl.

I even saw some dots on a some websites with dark backgrounds.

 

[postmortemIA]

AFAIK, 9700/9800 die because memory is not being cooled at all. But core itself is running way too hot, and is not properly cooled either.

 

[BassBomb]

9800PRO cooler is total crap...

I hope the 6600GT boys dont start dropping like flies too soon

undust your case! then see

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor
The dead 9700/9800 saga continues on its merry way I see. One wonders how long it will be before the x8xx series start dropping like flies?

At this rate there will be no working 9700/9800's left as historical examples of technology, unlike just about every other video card before them, NV1 included...

One also wonders how many nvidia 7800 GTX 512's have died yet? According to ATi PR they should be failing left right and centre due to over-volting by now....

The heck with the GTX 512's, it's gonna be darned hard to cram that last 9800 in the mailbox with the last of the 7900GT's already in there clogging it up...

 

[Gstanfor]

Not all brands of 7900GT were faulty though - mainly just e-vga, BFG & XFX.

In fact, I'd venture to say that outside of the USA, the problem is virtually unknown unless you were silly enough to buy XFX.

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: Gstanfor
Not all brands of 7900GT were faulty though - mainly just e-vga, BFG & XFX.

In fact, I'd venture to say that outside of the USA, the problem is virtually unknown unless you were silly enough to buy XFX.

point taken.