Why did my X1900XT die?

[amheck]

I'm confused here. Most of the time I have seen when someone OC's and then says they are going to RMA the card, everyone jumps on them. But here, the owner admitted OC'ing and a bunch of people are saying to RMA it. I guess feelings have changed about screwing over the the video card companies?

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: amheck
I'm confused here. Most of the time I have seen when someone OC's and then says they are going to RMA the card, everyone jumps on them. But here, the owner admitted OC'ing and a bunch of people are saying to RMA it. I guess feelings have changed about screwing over the the video card companies?

Overdrive is ehst i used and its built into the ATI control panel, its supposed to determine a safe overclock for the card and use it when the card kicks into 3d mode. Plus i turned it down from what it deemed to be a safe overclock so that the card was only overclocked my 15mhz on the core when in 3d mode.

In addition to that theres absolutely no evidence to say that overclocking killed it. I think it was dodgy from day 1. Also, a 15 mhz overclock is unlikely to kill anything these days.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
Well yours lasted longer than mine! My Sapphire XT spit out random green pixels all over m desktop when I exited Oblivion for the VERY FIRST time. I only played for about an hour or so. It's RMA's so now I wait for Newegg to replace it. I have to say though, I'm now using the CF Edition x1900 and this thing runs HOT. Alt-tabbing from Oblivion to look at Everest's readings shows upwards of mid-90's!

Should I be worried?

I would be

90C+ is pushing it, to say the least.

I'd go with an Accelero X2 or another third-party cooling solution. My XTX cards never break 60C under full load. (And that is overclocked to boot.)

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

One thing I notice in 3d mode with my X1900XTX is a slight hissing sound the RAM modules make -- at STOCK settings! I don't think these cards are built to last; good thing they come with good warranties (well, non BBA ones at least ).

What PSU are you using? I've heard that the electronic hissing (best way I have to describe it) people hear sometimes is from capacitors. Usually a result of not enough power being supplied to the card.

Doubt it's the PSU - I'm using a new Enermax 535W FMA II (22A +12V1, 22A +12V2, 34A combined). Also, I can get the sound to quiet down or crop up when I overclock the RAM on the card a bit... Definitely sounds like it's coming from the video card itself.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
Well yours lasted longer than mine! My Sapphire XT spit out random green pixels all over m desktop when I exited Oblivion for the VERY FIRST time. I only played for about an hour or so. It's RMA's so now I wait for Newegg to replace it. I have to say though, I'm now using the CF Edition x1900 and this thing runs HOT. Alt-tabbing from Oblivion to look at Everest's readings shows upwards of mid-90's!

Should I be worried?

I would be

90C+ is pushing it, to say the least.

I'd go with an Accelero X2 or another third-party cooling solution. My XTX cards never break 60C under full load. (And that is overclocked to boot.)

Ugh, that's not what I wanted to hear I really don't wanna customize the cooler as that voids my warranty. I think I'll try re-arranging my case fans first and see if that helps.

I also need to adjust the fan speed so it runs higher/faster (probably in ATI Tray Tools). Even though it's on, it really doesn't crank up very much while gaming. I would expect it to be running almost top-speed during Oblivion. Thanks for your input.

 

[covertash]

The first thing I would say to do is to download and use ATI Tray Tools and adjust the fan speed settings. Yeah it's a bit noisier, but personally, I don't find it to be annoying at all. From reading all the reports of how loud the X1x00's coolers were and hearing it for myself, I think a lot of it is blown out of proportion.

Also make sure you have good airflow going through your case. If it's messy, clean up the clutter as that also tends to make a dramatic difference in overall system temperatures.

And if you feel bold enough, take off the stock cooler, clean it off and reapply a good layer of thermal paste on it. All this should not void your warranty.

I just reapplied a layer of Artic Silver 5 on my Sapphire X1800XT and after doing all of that my card sits between 51-55C at idle and reaches a max of 63C. Yes, the aftermarkets offer better and quieter cooling but if you're adamant about keeping that warranty like me then try any or all of the above. Good luck and have fun!

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Thanks for the advice. I have some good Arctic Silver Ceramique that I used on my CPU and HSF, so maybe I'll try that on the vid card if my other ideas don't help too much. It's good to know my warranty will still be in tact if I do this

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024

Doubt it's the PSU - I'm using a new Enermax 535W FMA II (22A +12V1, 22A +12V2, 34A combined). Also, I can get the sound to quiet down or crop up when I overclock the RAM on the card a bit... Definitely sounds like it's coming from the video card itself.

Sounds like both of you are using PSU's with enough juice. I'll see if I can find the threads about that subject. I really need to bookmark more.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper
Ugh, that's not what I wanted to hear I really don't wanna customize the cooler as that voids my warranty. I think I'll try re-arranging my case fans first and see if that helps.

I understand, but most people just keep the stock cooling laying around in case they ever need to RMA it. Additionally, the X2 is incredibly easy to put on.

I also need to adjust the fan speed so it runs higher/faster (probably in ATI Tray Tools). Even though it's on, it really doesn't crank up very much while gaming. I would expect it to be running almost top-speed during Oblivion. Thanks for your input.

That might well be your problem. I believe by default it may be set to run as low as 5% duty cycle and that may definitely explain 90C+ temperatures. ATT can handle that for you.

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: CreepieDeCrapper

I also need to adjust the fan speed so it runs higher/faster (probably in ATI Tray Tools). Even though it's on, it really doesn't crank up very much while gaming. I would expect it to be running almost top-speed during Oblivion. Thanks for your input.

That might well be your problem. I believe by default it may be set to run as low as 5% duty cycle and that may definitely explain 90C+ temperatures. ATT can handle that for you.

I think that's a large part of the problem too. I feel like ATI doesn't set them to ramp up fast enough.

 

[CreepieDeCrapper]

Once I get my new machine working properly (currently diagnosing some HD problems), then I can experiment more with the ATT fan settings and case cooling options. It's imperative that I keep things as cool as possible as I'll be adding another x1900 for a CF setup. I'm using the P180b case, BTW. I think I'll move the bottom fan that's between the HD cage and PSU up to the middle so it's drawing in fresh outside air and blowing it directly (more or less) over the vid cards. Now if I can just figure out how to REMOVE the fan from its mount