Radeon 9800 Pro malfunction

[Patrick Troyer]

I recently posted here about a problem with my hard drive, and thanks to the advice I recieved here I was able to resolve it.  Thanks a lot to everyone who offered advice.

Unfortunately, my happiness was short-lived, as my new Radeon 9800 Pro 256mb suddenly malfunctioned while I was testing my computer with Unreal Tournament 2004.  During the game the graphics were completely corrupted for a short time, but then went back to normal, leading me to believe it was just a bug in the game.  After a few minutes the game went back to being corrupted, but did not go back to normal.  After restarting my computer I tried the game, a few video card demos, and a few screen savers, all of which were in 3D and all which displayed the same corrupted graphics.  I then began to notice patches of color on my desktop and in Internet Explorer.  When starting my computer I notice short lines on my motherboard's start-up screen and on the Windows start-up screen.  With the appearance of the lines so early on in the boot process, I think the problem must be either hardware or an incorrect BIOS setting, but I haven't changed anything on my BIOS and the graphics did display correctly for a few hours before the problem occured.

I thought that with the good luck I had here with my last problem, I would ask for help again.  If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate the help.

[Raptor]

I assume you have scanned for viruses?

It could be that your videocard is overheating, what are your system temperatures?

[Patrick Troyer]

Although I don't have a virus scanner installed yet, all of the files I have put on the computer have either been drivers downloaded directly from the hardware manufacturers or files downloaded and scanned on my old computer.

As for system temperatures, I have a thermometer on my cpu heatsink that has just barely hit 100°f, and the video card is just below my cpu heatsink.  The previous day I had played the game for about an hour with no problems, and I had only just begun to play the game when the problem first occured the next day, with temperatures on the heatsink in the upper 90's.

[Patrick Troyer]

I just started up my faulty computer to double-check a few files for viruses and to check the system temperature.  I checked the fan on my video card, and it was running, but after I turned off my computer I touched the video card's fan/heatsink and it seemed abnormally hot, and I only had the computer on for a few minutes to load Windows and copy a few files to a disk.

[Raptor]

Your videocard temperature can not be read off your CPU temperature.  Even the case temperature would be more accurate.

Are you overclocking your videocard? - I suggest you set your videocard to it's default Core and RAM speed.


- There are Omega drivers that allow you to monitor your videocard its temperatures. You will have to uninstall your older drivers. These drivers are optimized, I have been using them ever since I installed my 9800Pro and I have yet to run into any kind of problem at all.

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

[Raptor]

You may not be able to monitor your temperature. My 9800Pro has not got a temperature chip.

I am not aware of a 256MB 9800Pro edition. I believe you are referring to the 9800XT.

[Patrick Troyer]

I am starting to download the Omega drivers you recommended, but I am on dial-up so it will be awhile.  I'm not sure if drivers will make a difference; but here's a link to the card, maybe you will be able to tell if there is a way for me to check the temperature on it:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-361&depa=0

I haven't overclocked anything on my computer and almost all of the BIOS settings are still factory.

If my card is damaged (and I believe it, or something else, is) is there any way for me to tell if it was just a faulty card or if for some reason my system is running too hot?  My case came with four case fans and a 420-watt power supply, which I would thnk would be enough to keep it cool.

[Raptor]

I was not aware of a 256MB version.

Do you have a proper airflow inside your case? It could be that a lot of heat that is supposedly to be sucked out is now blocked due to the 9800Pro (Which is quite a large videocard) or by cabling and building up near your videocard.

If there is still a warranty on your videocard, I suggest you take it back or have it looked at. If there is not, you may me able to try it on someone else his PC.

I suggest you contact the manufacturers technical support and see what your choices are for warranty and/or technical support if you have not yet done so

Perhaps installing these new drivers will help you solve your problem. Usually, heat is not much of a problem for any type of videocard unless you have overclocked it. Standard coolers are built to solve the heat  emanating from the videocard, and yes, they can become quite hot.

[merlin_2]

http://www.ladydragon.com/z/atiradeon9800pro256mb.html

[Patrick Troyer]

I was able to get an older video card and put it into my computer, and it worked fine, so I'm sending the defective Radeon back to be replaced.

Thanks for all of the help.