Problem with Sapphire X1900XT - Overeating, Artifacts & Crashes&#3

[cocksy_boy]

OK, I think I'm going to RMA the card, so I need to put the stcok cooler back on.

 

So, does anyone have any close up high detail pictures of the back of their X1900XT 512MB cards so I can see exactly what screws and washers were attached to the card?!!!

 

I think the Sapphire is the same as the reference ATi card, but I'm not sure of the other manufacturers!

Cheers!

[cocksy_boy]

OK, I have just had a new 'semi-crash'!

 

I was gaming with Oblivion trying some stuff out, when it semi-crashed: the screen went black / to stand by temporarily, then came back after a couple of seconds. The game continued to work, but I quit to windows as RivaTuner was running and I wanted to see what had happened.

Windows came up with a window saying the display driver had crashed and that it had recovered from the error. I looked at the RT monitor file and took a snapshot:

and here is the link to the zipped RivaTuner file if anyone wants to look at it!

 

Basically it looks like when it crashed, the fan went off and the temp shot up (obviously). Before the crash, there was a small amount of artifacting, but you can see that the temp of the card wasn't actually very high at all - low 70's. So maybe its nott he temp of the card causing the crashes?

 

I'm confused!

 

So can this help anyone diagnose the problem at all?!!!

[Waco]

90ish C isn't all that hot at all for a voltage regulator. You could try putting a ramsink on it to see if it helps stability.

 

Have you tried underclocking it by a couple MHz on the memory and core?

 

 

EDIT: Your last post hints at the video card driver locking up. What version are you running?

[cocksy_boy]

How do I know what bit of the card is the VReg to add the ramsink to? I think I have some old ones lying around somewhere!!

 

As for the drivers, I've got the most recent Catalyst (7.12), and installed them after cleaning the previous drivers with drivercleaner.net. I think its a hardware fault somewhere that is somehow causing the driver to crash, but I may be wrong. Could the driver somehow cause the artifacting / flashing screen / in-game-faults ?

Edited January 14, 2008 by cocksy_boy

[SuperROIDS]

Hi, I am new to this forum and i have the exact same issue except that I have a x1900 xtx. My rig specs are as follows:

 

CPU: Intel C2D e6700 w/ Zalman Cooler

Mobo: ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe

RAM: 2gb Corsair PC26400 XMS2 CM3

HDD: Western Digital 150gb Raptor

GPU: Sapphire x1900xtx w/ Accelero X2

PS: 700W Thermaltake

 

About 6-8 months after purchasing this card (around the time I bought bf2142), I started to have the same symptoms. I get artifacts (ramdom flashing textures or distorted textures) and the computer screen will lock up and requires a restart. This also happens randomly. Sometimes it happens after a few minutes and sometimes it happens after an hour. It happens whenever the card goes into 3d mode and artifcats show up on the screen. My computer will crash in bf2142, COD4, gears of war, bioshock, you name it. I always have the fan speed at 100% and cannot figure what the issue is. Initially, i thought it was my mobo overheating since the temperatures went up during gaming so I RMA'd it. I got the new motherboard back and the issue persisted. I then thought that the onboard sound was causing the issue as sometimes the sound would loop momentarily right before the computer locks up. So i disabled onboard audio and removed existing audio drivers and bought a creative Xi-Fi fatliity card. This prevented the momentarily looping sounds before the computer locked up but nothing else. I have updated my graphics driver throughout the year and no solution (currently upgraded to catalyst 8.1). I have the latest bios version. I also get random flashing pixels once I restart during posting.

 

I then went on looking at the videocard temps with ATITool and RivaTuner (have monitored them for 6 months) and none of the core temperatures seemed out of the norm. Whenever my computer locks up, the core temperature is also in the low 70C. I have now had this card for about 17 months and it seems that the artifacts are getting worse with time.

 

I also want to RMA my card but I must replace the HSF. Does anyone have any guidance into placing back the original heatsink? I really do not want to buy another videocard. This thing cost me $500 back in the day and it should last longer then 17 months. Also, if we RMA it, would i get another x1900 xtx back? I heard that these cards a notorious for artifacts and crashing. Only if i would have known that at the time of purchase. Thank you in advance.

[cocksy_boy]

Hey DuperROIDS.

 

Well, I replaced the Accellero 2 with the orignial heatsink with some AS5, and the PC still crashes during gaming. If I set the fan to 100%, some games run OK (like Oblivion), but I still get a bit of artifacting and 'stretching to infinity' in Crysis and COD4. In crysis with the fan at 100%, i get the following:

Core temp is 60

[robAP]

i have the exact same card. x1900xt. iv'e read most of the posts but i thought i would post a catchall just in case it wasn't touched on and i missed it.

 

i use ATI tool. i gave up overclocking cause i could only get +15% more frames and the artifacting would start. it just wasnt worth the effort to me. however using the custom settings you can adjust the fan speeds during various temp levels. i have mine set up to kick in full 100% above a certain temp level. at lower temps than it normally would. i have yet to experience any more artifacting and screen crashing. but it will sound like a hair dryer....thats fine tho cause explosions drown out hair dryers.

 

if this isnt it...then forget what i just wrote

[cocksy_boy]

i have the exact same card. x1900xt. iv'e read most of the posts but i thought i would post a catchall just in case it wasn't touched on and i missed it.

 

i use ATI tool. i gave up overclocking cause i could only get +15% more frames and the artifacting would start. it just wasnt worth the effort to me. however using the custom settings you can adjust the fan speeds during various temp levels. i have mine set up to kick in full 100% above a certain temp level. at lower temps than it normally would. i have yet to experience any more artifacting and screen crashing. but it will sound like a hair dryer....thats fine tho cause explosions drown out hair dryers.

 

if this isnt it...then forget what i just wrote

Hey roPAB, cheers for the catchall! I have set the fan to 'supersonic explosion' 100% speed, and although it works ok in some games (Oblivion), in crysis and COD it still has artifacting and 'textures to infinity' problems. this is without ever doing any overclocking at all!! When the fan is at 100%, the temp of the card remains quite low. So, time for an RMA, I think!

[kingdingeling]

'supersonic explosion' 100% speed

My X1950Pro used to be the same, this 2900XT is as well, they are bloody loud at 100% fan

 

However, I looked in your sig and found a Jeantech 450 Watt PSU in there, and I think this is the culprit. 450W is enough for your rig, however I think that a crappy PSU could be the cause of your problems.

[Silverfox]

Did you get the aftermarkte voltage regulator heatsink with the Acelero whatsit? My S2 came with one much better than stock, as well as RAM sinks (which needed a touch of super glue at the same time)